The gap between the haves and the have nots widened in the AFC last week with the top six teams having two or three game leads in the battle for the seven wide card spots.
Five of those teams (Jaguars, Bills, Bengals, Broncos and Chiefs) won last week and the sixth one (Pittsburgh) had a bye. By contrast the lone winless team with eight losses (Chargers) and three of the seven loss teams (Dolphins, Jets and Colts) lost and the fourth one (Tennessee) had a bye. Those five teams at the bottom probably have no shot at a playoff berth.
That leaves the two four loss team (Patriots and Browns who both lost last week) and three five loss teams (Texans, Ravens, Raiders) as long shots. No AFC team has six losses.
In the NFC, there are two bad divisions one very good one and good one. The best division is NFC North with Chicago at 7-2, the Lions and Minnesota 6-2 and Green Bay at 6-3. In the NFC West, The Bears, Lions and Packers won while the Vikings lost to the Bills and have quarterback problems. Minnesota brought back Kirk Cousins as a potential solution. San Francisco is 7-1 in the NFC West with a three-game lead over the 5-4 Seahawks and Rams. The Seahawks lost to the Bears while the Rams beat the Dolphins.
Those seven teams North and West plus the New York Giants, who have a three-game lead in the loss column over the 4-5 Cowboys after beating the Eagles and a team from the NFC South have the best playoff shots. The Panthers, who lost to the Broncos, and the Saints, who beat the Browns, are tied for first place in the NFC North 3-5 marks while the Bucs and Falcons, who both lost, are 3-6. One of them will get a playoff spot over a team from probably the NFC North that gets left out with a better record. That might seem to be unfair but it has happened in the past and the NFL owners have shown no interest in changing the format. They want to reward eight division winners.
In the AFC, Buffalo has a three-game lead over the Patriots in the East and the Jaguars have a three-game lead over the Texans in the South so they are almost locks for the playoffs. In the NFC North, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are tied at 6-2 and will play in prime-time next Sunday nightwhile in the AFC West, the Broncos at 7-2 have a half game lead over the 6-2 Chiefs. The two teams have already played twice and split the two games. Both teams play Buffalo while the Chiefs also play the Bengals. 49ers and Rams. The Broncos have already played the Rams and 49ers and don’t play Cincinnati so they appear to have the schedule edge.
