…here we are with seven weeks left and the Jets are 5-4 and in the lead for the AFC’s final playoff berth. TheSportsNotebook will look at the New York Jets playoff chances and see if an improbable January game is in their future.
The events of Sunday opened up the AFC playoff race. Pittsburgh’s loss to Baltimore and the reality that Ben Roethlisberger might not be back anytime soon makes the Steelers’ position at 6-4 very tenuous. Indianapolis is also 6-4. We looked closer at the Colts last week, and I don’t think anyone would consider them a lock. But only one team is in immediate striking distance of these two wild-card leaders, and it’s the Cincinnati Bengals at 5-5. Let’s look at their chances at playing their way into the postseason for the second straight year.
Where do the Indianapolis Colts fit in the AFC playoff picture? Is this a fluke team, that even though they are 6-3 now, is destined for a slide back to reality and home for January? Or, as Andrew Luck continues to improve, are they ready to not only secure playoff position, but maybe push Houston in the AFC South, given that both Colts-Texans game are ahead of us? To get a handle on this, TheSportsNotebook will review the overall body of work Indy has put together over nine games, with a special emphasis on their recent four-game win streak. Then we’ll look at the schedule ahead and the overall context of the AFC playoff picture.
The Tennessee Titans opened the season with a blowout loss to New England, another bad defeat at San Diego and were promptly written off as one of the worst teams in the NFL. Chris Johnson wasn’t running the ball and it looked like a long season in Nashville. Winning games against teams like Detroit a few weeks ago and now Buffalo on Sunday don’t mean you’re a playoff contender. But there’s a lot of evidence that the Titans are coming off the mat to be competitive team and the non-Houston portion of the AFC South might not be as bad as originally thought.