AFC Playoff Picture Week 17: Seeding, Scenarios & Tiebreakers

Brock Osweiler and Denver could be the AFC’s top seed, but they could also lose the division lead to Kansas City. (Getty)

Thanks to a late Ryan Fitzpatrick interception, the Steelers, and not the Jets, will go the NFL playoffs. The Steelers beat the Browns and the Bills beat the Jets, giving the Steelers a narrow tiebreaker edge via common opponents.

At the top of the bracket, Denver still has a shot at home-field advantage if they beat the Chargers today. If they lose, it’s possible for them not only miss out on the top spot, but also a first-round bye. Kansas City could defeat Oakland in their finale and vault all the way up to the three seed, sending Cincinnati into a first-round bye.

For a full list of NFL tiebreaking procedures, click here.

Here’s how the playoff standings look right now:

AFC Seeding

AJ McCarron may be forced to start in a Wild Card game if Andy Dalton’s thumb isn’t fully recovered. (Getty)

The Division Leaders:

1. New England Patriots — 12-4 — Clinched AFC East
2. Cincinnati Bengals — 12-4 — Clinched AFC North
3. Denver Broncos — 11-4
4. Houston Texans — 9-7 — Clinched AFC South

The Wild Card Contenders:

5. Kansas City Chiefs — 10-5 — Clinched playoff berth
6. Pittsburgh Steelers — 10-5 — Clinched playoff berth

*Kansas City is ahead of the New York and Pittsburgh based on conference record (Chiefs: 8-2 Jets:6-4 Steelers: 6-4)

*Pittsburgh has tiebreaker over New York based on common games record (3-1 to New York’s 3-2).

Clinching Scenarios:

– New England clinches home field advantage with win OR Denver loss

– Denver clinches AFC West and first-round bye with win OR Kansas City loss

– Denver clinches home field advantage with win and New England loss

– Bengals clinch first-round bye with win and Denver loss OR Denver loss and Kansas City win

– Chiefs clinch AFC West with win and Denver loss

– Houston clinches AFC South with win OR Colts loss

– New York clinches playoff spot with win OR Pittsburgh loss

Potential Wild Card Matchups:

Steelers at Broncos

Chiefs at Texans

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