AFC Playoff Picture: Bills take a step forward, Texans stumble in Week 7
By Mark Powell
The AFC Playoff Picture is just beginning to take shape after Week 7. There is more than half the regular season to go, so there is a good chance that the current postseason predicament will look a lot different come Week 18, but it's never too early for projections.
The Buffalo Bills took care of business against the Tennessee Titans just a week after widening their gap on arguably their greatest competition in the AFC East, the New York Jets. While the Jets face the Steelers on Sunday night, they won't be able to make up that game since Buffalo defeated the Tennessee Titans rather handily on Sunday.
Meanwhile in the AFC South, the Houston Texans fell to the Green Bay Packers, thus dropping a game in the standings. However, thankfully for Houston and CJ Stroud, the South doesn't feature much competition for them moving forward assuming they can defeat the likes of the Jags, Titans and Colts.
AFC Playoff Picture after Week 7: Bills extend their advantage
The Bills soundly defeated the Titans on Sunday in a game they were supposed to win. In doing so, Buffalo established themselves as an obvious contender for the conference, regardless of the Kansas City Chiefs result in their Super Bowl rematch against the San Francisco 49ers in the later slate. Here is how the standings look as of this writing.
Playoff seeding | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
No. 1 | Kansas City Chiefs | 5-0 |
No. 2 | Houston Texans | 5-2 |
No. 3 | Buffalo Bills | 5-2 |
No. 4 | Baltimore Ravens | 4-2 |
No. 5 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 4-2 |
No. 6 | Los Angeles Chargers | 3-2 |
No. 7 | Indianapolis Colts | 4-3 |
AFC Wild Card standings after Week 7: Indianapolis Colts take care of business
The Colts took care of business against the Miami Dolphins, which are still without Tua Tagovailoa. Indianapolis is set to start Anthony Richardson the rest of the way, despite his struggles through the air. Richardson completed under 50 percent of his passes, but his effort in the ground game played a big role in Indianapolis' win, as he ran for 56 yards on 14 carries, leading the Colts in rushing as a result.
Playoff seeding | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
No. 5 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 4-2 |
No. 6 | Los Angeles Chargers | 4-3 |
No. 7 | Indianapolis Colts | 4-3 |
Much of this could change in the late window, but for now the Steelers hold the top AFC Wild Card spot. Pittsburgh will swap quarterbacks this week. Justin Fields got them this far, but Russell Wilson is set to take over in a critical Sunday Night Football test against the New York Jets, which just added Davante Adams via trade.
The Denver Broncos have the same record as the Colts, but as of this writing would lose the tiebreaker to the Colts.
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