Fansided

AFC Playoff Picture if NFL Playoffs started today

By Mark Powell

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 18: Mac Jones #10 of the New England Patriots and Nelson Agholor #15 of the New England Patriots react after a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons in the second quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on November 18, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 18: Mac Jones #10 of the New England Patriots and Nelson Agholor #15 of the New England Patriots react after a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons in the second quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on November 18, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

If the season ended today, how would the AFC Playoff Picture look? Thankfully for some teams, there’s still plenty of time remaining.

With the NFL season more than halfway done, it’s time to start looking towards the playoffs.

The AFC is wide open in 2021, and not necessarily in a good way. Few teams have separated themselves from the pack, with most pundits assuming the top squads in the league all reside in the rival conference.

AFC Playoff Picture: NFL Division Standings after Week 11

AFC East standings

AFC North Standings

AFC South Standings

AFC West Standings

The Titans have maintained a significant edge in the AFC South despite the absence of Derrick Henry. A loss to the Texans in Week 11 was a brutal blow, but Tennessee was benefited by a Buffalo loss that didn’t allow the Bills to close the gap.

Speaking of that loss, however, it allowed the resurgent New England Patriots to leap into first place in the AFC East as well as out of a Wild Card slot all the way up to the No. 3 seed.

The chaos in Week 11 also opened the door for the Kansas City Chiefs to catapult themselves into a position to potentially control the AFC playoff picture depending on whether the kings continue to be humbled.

Matchups if the NFL Playoffs started today

Here’s what the NFL Playoffs would look like on the AFC side of things if the postseason started today.

  • (1) Tennessee Titans  — First-round bye
  • (2) Baltimore Ravens vs. (7) Buffalo Bills
  • (3) New England Patriots vs. (6) Los Angeles Chargers
  • (4) Kansas City Chiefs vs. (5) Cincinnati Bengals

NFL Playoff format: How many teams make the postseason?

This year, seven teams will make the playoffs out of both the AFC and NFC.

NFL schedule: How many games are there?

There are 18 weeks, and 17 games per team on the NFL schedule.

NFL tiebreaker scenarios

For division and Wild Card record ties, here is how seeding will be decided, per NFL.com. Here is how teams are seeded:

  1. The division champion with the best record.
  2. The division champion with the second-best record.
  3. The division champion with the third-best record.
  4. The division champion with the fourth-best record.
  5. The Wild Card club with the best record.
  6. The Wild Card club with the second-best record.
  7. The Wild Card club with the third-best record.

Breaking a tie within the division or Wild Card becomes way more complicated, and is decided by any combination of head-to-head record, division record or conference record.

Next. 3 NFL quarterbacks who should be benched after Week 10. dark

Home/NFL