NFL Playoff Prediction: Who gets in and who falls short in the AFC?

The NFL playoff picture is almost coming into focus. There are still plenty of spots up for grabs, but the clock is ticking, especially in the AFC.

This might be the conference that has been the most competitive this season. It looked like there were just two teams at the top for most of the way but suddenly two others have emerged that look like genuine threats to go the distance. Fans have to be loving the possibilities of how things might shake out depending on who’s able to get in over the final three weeks.

What’s best of all is none of the seeds seem locked up. All six remain up for grabs and every game for the teams involved matters. The question of course is who makes the cut? Here are my picks from top to bottom on who will represent the conference in January.

AFC:

#1 seed – New England Patriots

Nobody was happier about the Chiefs losing to the Chargers on Thursday night than the Patriots. Now they have their window to snag homefield advantage once again. All Kansas City has to do is lose one more time in the next two weeks and the Patriots own the tiebreaker between the two after defeating them earlier in the season. That makes the AFC once again go through Foxborough.

#2 seed – Kansas City Chiefs

No doubt people are wondering where that loss will come from for the Chiefs. The answer is simple. Next week in Seattle. The Seahawks are surging at the moment. Their defense is playing well and Russell Wilson is having another one of his great years. Asking the Chiefs defense to stop him in Seattle is a tall order while also hoping Patrick Mahomes can avoid mistakes in that loud stadium.

#3 seed – Houston Texans

More from NFL Mocks

The loss to Indianapolis stung but it didn’t really derail the Texans on their march to the AFC South title. Due to their winning the division and having a better record than the Chargers, this is why they’re elevated to the #3 seed, granting them at least one home game when the playoffs begin. With a strong defense and talented offense, this is a team nobody will want to face.

#4 seed – Baltimore Ravens

Having the #1 defense in the NFL is a big advantage, especially late in the season. There are plenty of questions surrounding the Ravens offense. However, they seem to have found a workable scheme around a run-first approach geared by their running backs and the mobility of Lamar Jackson. How far that gets them in the playoffs? No way to tell.

#5 seed – Los Angeles Chargers

Don’t be fooled by the low seed. The Chargers finish 12-4 accord to this prediction, so they’re a plenty dangerous football team. They’ve also proven they can win on the road as their two recent games in Pittsburgh and Kansas City showed. Their defense is much better than in years past and Philip Rivers is having arguably the best season of his NFL career, which is saying something.

#6 seed – Indianapolis Colts

Quite the job done by GM Chris Ballard and head coach Frank Reich. They took over a team that was floundering from the aftereffects of the Ryan Grigson era. They shuffled the roster, reintegrated a healthy Andrew Luck and are now right back in the playoff mix. Not only that but they seem like a tougher team than they’ve been in years.

Home/NFL Hot Takes