NFL playoff picture update: AFC Wild Card belongs to Chiefs and the Patriots tumble

The Kansas City Chiefs remain the No. 5 seed and the top Wild Card team in the AFC playoff picture. The Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders on Sunday to move to 7-5 on the season with their sixth straight win. The Chiefs are really hitting on all cylinders right now and proving they can face adversity - down 10-0 to the Buffalo Bills in Week 12 and down 20-14 in the fourth quarter against the Raiders - and still win.

The Chiefs would play the Indianapolis Colts if the playoffs started today. There are plenty of bad memories of Chiefs-Colts playoff games, including The Kicker Who Shall Not Be Named in 1996, the no-punt game in 2004 and of course the 2014 Wild Card comeback.

The Chiefs have four more remaining games against the Chargers, Ravens, Browns and Raiders. They very well could be favored in each of those games so the odds would be on the Chiefs running the table. After they started 1-5, that's simply incredible to think about.

The other big note in this week's AFC playoff picture is that the Bengals now hold the top spot followed by the Broncos and then the Patriots. New England lost to the Eagles on Sunday which dropped them from the top seed to the third seed. There is going to be some poor Wild Card team who has to travel to New England on the first playoff weekend if things hold like this. That's why it's really important for the Chiefs to make the fifth seed where they would likely play the AFC South division winner (likely Colts or Texans).

Here is the NFC playoff picture. The AFC playoff picture is below.

AFC playoff picture

1. Cincinnati Bengals (10-2, 8-1)

2. Denver Broncos (10-2, 6-2)

3. New England Patriots (10-2, 7-1)

4. Indianapolis Colts (6-6, 4-4)

5. Kansas City Chiefs (7-5, 6-2)

6. New York Jets (7-5, 5-4)

In the hunt

7. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5, 4-4)

8. Buffalo Bills (6-6, 6-5)

9. Houston Texans (6-6, 4-4)

10. Oakland Raiders (5-7, 5-4)

11. Miami Dolphins (5-7, 3-6)

Chiefs remaining schedule

Week 14: San Diego Chargers (Dec. 13, 12 p.m, CBS)
Week 15: @ Baltimore Ravens (Dec. 20, 12 p.m., CBS)
Week 16: Cleveland Browns (Dec. 27, 12 p.m., CBS)
Week 17: Oakland Raiders (Jan. 3, 12 p.m., CBS)