After the Dolphins fall to the Chargers on Sunday Night Football, let’s check in on the AFC Playoff Picture and AFC Wild Card standings.
As things descended into chaos over in the NFC on Sunday, the AFC side of the bracket continued to tighten up.
Buffalo, Kansas City, and Baltimore all won to remain atop the conference, but losses by the Titans and Dolphins shift things in the projected Wild Card matchups. Tennessee was embarrassed at home by the Jacksonville Jaguars — who aren’t yet officially eliminated from the playoffs — but still remain in the AFC South driver’s seat. At 7-6, though, the heat is starting to get turned up a bit as only two games separate the Titans from the Colts and Jaguars. It would be an almost unfathomable fall from grace but it’s not quite out of the question.
Miami’s loss means they miss a golden opportunity to leap into the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Next week the Dolphins head to Buffalo for a Saturday Night showdown with the Bills, which could have been for all the AFC marbles had Miami not lost on Sunday night. There’s still a lot on the line next Saturday and the Dolphins are very much still in play to win the AFC East but it’s looking less likely that the No. 1 seed is in Miami’s future (unless the wheels fall off in Kansas City, which seems unlikely).
With Week 14 almost entirely in the books, let’s take a look at what the NFL Playoff Picture looks like on the AFC side of things after Sunday Night Football.