AFC playoff picture: Chiefs provide breathing room with Week 11 win

An updated look at where the Kansas City Chiefs stand in the AFC playoff seeding.

The Kansas City Chiefs have advanced their playoff seeding with a win over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 11. They’ve now moved to a 7-4 record with just five games remaining in the 2019 season. The win in Mexico City has provided the team with some valuable breathing room, which could help them during the stretch run.

If the playoffs started tomorrow, here’s what the AFC seeding would look like:

In the playoffs:

New England Patriots: 9-1
Baltimore Ravens: 8-2
Kansas City Chiefs: 7-4
Indianapolis Colts: 6-4
Buffalo Bills: 7-3
Houston Texans: 6-4

In the hunt:

Oakland Raiders: 6-4
Pittsburgh Steelers: 5-5
Tennessee Titans: 5-5
Cleveland Browns: 4-6

What lies ahead:

The Chiefs have a much-needed week of rest with a Week 12 bye. As they get healthy and take the week off of practice, they’ll also look to do some self-scouting and improve in a few key areas.

Three of the Chiefs’ last five games come at home and they’re all against teams in the AFC West. Since Patrick Mahomes’ first start in 2017, the Chiefs have won 9 of their last 10 meetings with AFC West opponents.

Their upcoming Week 13 game against the Raiders was flexed to Sunday afternoon because of the implications it might have on the AFC West playoff race. If Oakland wins against the New York Jets in Week 12 they remain a half-game back for the AFC West division lead.

The only road games remaining for Kansas City are Week 14 in Foxboro against the Patriots and then Week 16 against the Chicago Bears. Even if the Chiefs lost both of those road games, they’d still have a strong chance of making the playoffs so long as they win all of their home games. While the goal should still be for Kansas City to win out and attain optimal seeding, there is more room for error given the win in Week 11.

Remaining opponents:

Week 13 vs. Oakland Raiders: 6-4
Week 14 @ New England Patriots: 9-1
Week 15 vs. Denver Broncos: 3-7
Week 16 @ Chicago Bears: 4-6
Week 17 vs. Los Angeles Chargers: 4-7

AFC Playoff Picture entering Week 12

The AFC playoff picture features the Ravens, Patriots, Chiefs, and Colts as division leaders heading into Week 12

We didn’t learn much about the AFC playoff picture this week. The Ravens and Patriots seem like the cream of the crop in the AFC. Both those teams are poised to secure byes and the only thing in doubt is whether Baltimore or New England will have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Texans are flawed and are in a battle with the Colts for the AFC South. The Chiefs should win the AFC West. The wild cards will be a battle between the loser of the Texans-Colts battle, the Buffalo Bills, the Oakland Raiders, and maybe the Steelers or the Browns. Yes, somehow the Browns are still alive, folks.

AFC East

New England Patriots 9-1

The Patriots have one concern: their offense. The New England defense can’t keep bailing out the other side of the football. That hasn’t been the case for a long time in New England. The good news for the reigning Super Bowl champion is that they only play one very good defense the rest of the schedule. The Cowboys should be a good defense but haven’t really shown it on the field. The Texans and Chiefs can be scored upon. There’s probably two losses left on the schedule, but 13 wins should be enough to get the top seed unless the Ravens continue to dominate opponents.

Remaining Schedule: Cowboys, @Texans, Chiefs, @Bengals, Bills, Dolphins

Buffalo Bills 7-3

The Bills need to beat the Broncos or their playoff hopes are in deep trouble. The four games after Week 12 are in tough situations where they play the Cowboys, Steelers, and Patriots away and have to try and stop the Ravenswhich doesn’t look possible right now. What looked like an easy path to the playoffs now looks a little scary.

Remaining Schedule: Broncos, @Cowboys, Ravens, @Steelers, @Patriots, Jets

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Bills playoff picture: Damien Williams rejoined Chiefs ahead of Mexico trip

Buffalo Bills playoff picture: It appears the Chiefs will have the services of running back Damian Williams against the Chargers on Monday Night Football in Mexico City.

It appears the Chiefs will have the services of running back Damien Williams against the Chargers on Monday Night Football in Mexico City.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Williams, who was listed as questionable coming into Week 11’s final game, made the international journey down south with his teammates.

Williams missed the Chiefs’ practices on Friday and Saturday due to personal reasons. In Week 10 during a Chiefs loss to the Titans, Williams was their starter. Former Bill LeSean McCoy was actually a healthy scratch.

Per Chiefs Wire, Kansas City head coach Andy Reid cited McCoy’s age and workload for the decision to make McCoy inactive. McCoy has also struggled with ball security with KC. Williams had a costly fumble in the Chiefs’ loss to the Titans, too. Other than the fumble, Williams had a productive game, averaging 4.1 yards per carry (77 rush yards) while adding another five catches for 32 yards.

Even Chiefs Wire admits that there’s “no telling” which of those two will be the starting back on Monday Night Football.

The upcoming game against the Chargers on Monday is a big one for the Chiefs and Bills in regards to the AFC playoff picture.

If the playoffs started today, the 7-3 Bills – the first wild-card team – would face the 6-4 Chiefs, who lead the AFC West and hold the fourth seed in the conference.

But the Chiefs have the Raiders right on their backside, who also sit at 6-4.

An added nugget as well: If the Chargers lose this game, their playoff hopes are likely done as well as they enter the game at 4-6.

All three of the aforementioned AFC West squads will be teams the Bills scoreboard watch the rest of the 2019 season. Buffalo has no meetings against any of them down the stretch.

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Jags have the league’s eighth easiest remaining schedule

The Jags may have an uphill battle to endure to make the postseason, but at least their schedule is favorable in the process.

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The Jacksonville Jaguars may currently sit at 4-5 with the No. 10 seed in the AFC playoff picture but it appears the hardest part of their schedule is over with. In fact, as of Week 11, they have the league’s eighth easiest schedule according to the NFL Media Research Department as their opponents combine for a record of 29-36 (.446 percent).

FWIW.
Cardinals with the most difficult.
Browns with the easiest.@NFLResearch pic.twitter.com/W5qdDDwoxt

— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) November 12, 2019

This is great news when considering how the Jags have struggled against opponents with records of .500 or better. As of Week 11, the Jags are 1-5 against opponents who fit the bill. Of course, that one win was against the Tennessee Titans Week 3. Heading forward they will have to face four opponents with records of .500 or better in the Indianapolis Colts (twice), Tennessee Titans and Oakland Raiders. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Chargers, and Tampa Bay Bucs are the teams they face with losing records.

Another plus is that the Jags will have veteran quarterback Nick Foles back to help them navigate through the next two months. Given his résumé during his run with the Philadelphia Eagles, it’s possible he can string some wins together and get the team into the postseason, but only time will tell.

As for the rest of the AFC South, the Titans came in with the third toughest schedule (against a .611 win percentage), while the Houston Texans have the ninth toughest schedule (against a .554 win percentage) and the Colts came in with the 13th (against a .531 win percentage).

NFL rooting guide: Who Jaguars fans should root for Week 11

As the No. 10 seed in the playoff picture, the Jags need some help to make the postseason and a loss for the Steelers would be a huge help.

With it being Week 11, the NFL playoffs will be here before fans know it. Of course, at 4-5 the Jacksonville Jaguars are one of the teams who are currently in the hunt, however, if they are to make the postseason they will need some help in addition to handling their own business. That said, here’s a recap on how the AFC playoff picture looks after Week 10 and a rooting guide on who Jags fans should watch on Week 11:

1. New England Patriots (8-1)
2. Baltimore Ravens (7-2)
3. Houston Texans (6-3)
4. Kansas City Chiefs (6-4)
5. Buffalo Bills (6-3)
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-4)

7. Oakland Raiders (5-4)
8. Indianapolis Colts (5-4)
9. Tennessee Titans (5-5)
10. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-5)

Rooting guide

(Thursday Night Football) Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns – root for the Browns

Hardly ever will you catch Jags fans rooting for the Steelers and they will especially have a reason to root against them this week. After starting 1-3 during the first quarter of the season, Pittsburgh has clawed their way back to a 5-4 record by winning their last four games and have found themselves with the last wild-card spot. Needless to say, the Jags would gladly take some help from the Browns, who aren’t in the playoff picture currently but could spoil things for their divisional rival.

Sunday, 1 p.m. games

Houston Texans vs. Baltimore Ravens – root for the Ravens

The Texans are the AFC South’s divisional leader with a 6-3 record and it would take a miracle for the Jags to catch them because they own the tiebreaker over them. However, Sunday’s game against the Ravens is the start of a tough stretch for Houston as they also play the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts afterward. That said, a skid can begin here for them as the Ravens are playing solid football as the No. 2 seed.

Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins – root for the Dolphins

The Jags have a rivalry with Buffalo (6-3) as it is, however, they will really have a reason to root against them Week 11 as the Bills have the first wild-card spot. That said, they would gladly take some help from their Florida rivals Sunday. With the Dolphins being a divisional rival of the Bills, this could be a close one as they are on a two-game win streak currently and have some momentum.

Sunday, 4 p.m. games

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Oakland Raiders – root for the Bengals

The Raiders (5-4) are knocking on the door of getting a wild-card seed as they are the No. 7 ranked team in the playoff race. However, with the Bengals (0-9) being the league’s only winless team, Jags fans would unfortunately be asking for a lot here. Still, as we witnessed Week 10, upsets can happen and teams need to bring it week in and week out.

Ravens extend lead for No. 2 seed in AFC playoff race

The Baltimore Ravens inched closer to the top seed in the 2019 AFC playoff picture and are even closer to locking up a first-round bye.

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The Baltimore Ravens took care of what could have been a trap game, beating the Cincinnati Bengals 49-13 to improve to 7-2. They moved a little closer to the top seed in the 2019 AFC playoff picture, while improving their lead on a first-round bye, thanks to help from other teams in Week 10.

Let’s take a closer look at the seeding in the AFC playoff picture and how things changed this week.

2019 AFC playoff picture:

Seed	Team	Overall record	Conference record
1	New England Patriots	8-1	6-1
2	Baltimore Ravens	7-2	5-2
3	Houston Texans	6-3	5-1
4	Kansas City Chiefs	6-4	4-3
5	Buffalo Bills	6-3	4-2
6	Pittsburgh Steelers	5-4	4-2

The Bills, Colts and Chiefs all lost on Sunday. Buffalo fell to the Cleveland Browns and dropped to 6-3 on the season, a full game below Baltimore. Kansas City lost to the Tennessee Titans and is now 6-4, which is important considering they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with Baltimore after beating the Ravens in Week 3. Indianapolis fell to the Miami Dolphins and to 5-4, which knocks them out of the AFC playoff picture for the time being because they lost to Pittsburgh.

With the Patriots having a Week 10 bye, they sit tight in the top spot but remain vulnerable to being supplanted. If New England were to lose in Week 11 to the Philadelphia Eagles and the Ravens beat the Houston Texans, Baltimore would jump to the No. 1 seed. Even without a Patriots loss, if Baltimore were to beat Houston next week, they would effectively have a three-game lead on one the top-two seeds in the 2019 AFC playoff picture.

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AFC playoff picture: Chiefs complicate things for themselves in Week 10

An updated look at where the Kansas City Chiefs stand in the AFC playoff seeding.

The Kansas City Chiefs dropped a winnable game against the Tennessee Titans, resulting in a 6-4 record through 10 weeks to start the season. This is a game that fans will likely be looking back on, especially depending on the results from the next few weeks. The loss significantly lessens their chances of securing a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs and opens the door for several teams that are in the hunt.

If the playoffs started tomorrow, here’s what the AFC seeding would look like:

In the playoffs:

New England Patriots: 8-1
Baltimore Ravens: 7-2
Houston Texans: 6-3
Kansas City Chiefs: 6-4
Buffalo Bills: 6-3
Pittsburgh Steelers: 5-4

In the hunt:

Oakland Raiders: 5-4
Indianapolis Colts: 5-4
Tennessee Titans: 5-5
Jacksonville Jaguars: 4-5

What lies ahead:

The Chiefs will head to Mexico City to face the Chargers for Monday Night Football in Week 11.

As I mentioned earlier, the loss to the Titans significantly lessens the chance to secure a first-round bye week and the No. 2 seed. The Colts, Titans and Texans all hold head-to-head tiebreakers over Kansas City. That means if the Chiefs finish with the same record as any of those AFC South teams they would have priority in seeding. Before we even get to that point, the Ravens would have to fumble a few games heading into the postseason, which seems unlikely.

The Chiefs should look to take care of business against their AFC West opponents in the coming weeks. If they run the table the AFC West is theirs, along with a guaranteed spot in the playoffs. The Week 13 game against the Raiders very well could determine who comes away with the AFC West division this season.

Remaining opponents:

Week 11 @ Los Angeles Chargers (at Mexico City): 4-6
BYE
Week 13 vs. Oakland Raiders: 5-4
Week 14 @ New England Patriots: 8-1
Week 15 vs. Denver Broncos: 3-6
Week 16 @ Chicago Bears: 4-5
Week 17 vs. Los Angeles Chargers

Sam Darnold thinks Jets still have a shot at playoffs

After defeating the Giants, 34-27, Sam Darnold was feeling good about where the Jets could end up by the end of the season.

The Jets played one of their cleaner games of the season both offensively and defensively, but it was far from a complete performance. Some of the same issues that have doomed the Jets this season, such as offensive line play, penalties and cornerback coverage, were still a problem. But that didn’t stop Darnold from talking about the playoffs after the game.

“We need every win from now on,” Darnold told reporters. “We’ve still got a chance. I mean, if we got on a roll here and win out, we’ve got a chance at the playoffs. Guys in this locker room know this. We know that and we’re really excited to get back to work.”

It’s great that Darnold still has confidence in his team, but it’s hard to imagine Gang Green making a playoff run. The Jets are second to last in the AFC with eight teams in front of them for the final playoff spot. The Steelers hold that spot with a record of 5-4, so the Jets are three games back of them.

Looking at the Jets’ remaining schedule, there are only three opponents that they could be favored to beat: the Redskins, Bengals and Dolphins. Other than that, their schedule doesn’t give any reason for hope. The other four games are against the Raiders, Bills, Steelers and Ravens. All of those teams are either in the playoff hunt or are currently a playoff team.

The Jets also have a ton of work to do despite winning on Sunday. The offense didn’t have much life to it after the first two drives, while the offensive line couldn’t open up any holes for Le’Veon Bell. As for the defense, the cornerback situation is dreadful. They have nobody who can cover. Also, the inside linebackers are completely depleted thanks to injuries.

So while this win on Sunday was much needed for the Jets, there’s no reason to believe this team is going anywhere this season. What else is Darnold supposed to say, though?