subject: Nfl Playoff Tickets - Anything Goes For The Afc With Playoffs In Sight [print this page] The AFC has been anything but predictable this year, and that's what makes it all much harder to predict playoff teams going into the tail end of the regular season. Following the ups and downs of Week 13 play, the Indianapolis Colts are the only AFC competitor guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, as the 12-0 team has already been denoted a division winner.
A couple other teams have pulled ahead (see: 9-3 San Diego Chargers, 9-3 Cincinnati Bengals) or fallen behind (3-9 Kansas City Chiefs, 1-11 Cleveland Browns), but several teams are bunched together in the middle of the pack toward the end of the regular season. Many of these teams include the stars of 2008, making it even tougher to predict who will be the final six teams standing going into the playoffs.
If the regular season was to end after Week 13, the teams going to the playoffs would be the 12-0 Colts, 9-3 Chargers and Bengals, 7-5 Patriots, 8-4 Broncos and 7-5 Jaguars. The Ravens, Dolphins and Steelers are all at 6-6, however, leaving it up to the end of the regular season to make a run for the playoffs. With the Colts, Chargers and Bengals leading the pack, the real race to watch here is which teams will take the wild card spots. Denver and Jacksonville are an iffy prediction here even though they're at No. 5 and 6, respectively, after Week 13, but there's still plenty more action left in the regular season to switch things up.
Don't take your eyes off the Pittsburgh Steelers from Weeks 14-17, either, as crucial games with the Packers (Week 15), Ravens (Week 16) and Dolphins (Week 17) will determine the team's fate. The Steelers have been so up-and-down this season it's hard to predict an outcome, but if Pittsburgh bands together it's sure to be a hot team going into the playoffs.
The Miami Dolphins won't give up without a fight, either. Skimming over the Patriots in Week 13 with a 22-21 win, the Dolphins are still alive if only hanging by a thread. The 6-6 Miami team needs to win its last four games of the season against AFC rivals the Jaguars, Titans, Texans and Steelers to solidify a spot in the playoffs, and this team is one that is always good for a surprise or two.
Buffalo (4-8), Oakland (4-8), Houston (5-7) and Tennessee (5-7) are a long shot at making the wild card selection, but with the Texans and Titans getting the upper hand with end-of-the-season schedules, these two teams could come alive at the end. The Titans especially have a shot with Vince Young now at the helm, but they've got to be on top of their game to do so.
Colts fans are already waiting to cash in on NFL playoff tickets to this year's postseason action, and a 16-0 record won't matter near as much to Indy as another Lombardi trophy will. As for the rest of the AFC, we'll let Weeks 14-17 separate the winners from the losers.
