Updated AFC Playoff picture, AFC Wild Card standings after Patriots stun Jets
Let’s check the pulse on the AFC Playoff Picture and Wild Card standings after the Patriots stunned the Jets, and the Bills survived the Browns.
As the NFL season enters its homestretch, it feels more than ever that every Sunday is a survive-and-move-on situation when it comes to the NFL Playoff Picture.
That was perhaps the truest over in the AFC where things got wild and the playoff picture saw a nice little late-season shakeup.
Due to a snowstorm that rocked Orchard Park, the Bills-Browns game needed to be moved to Ford Field for Week 11. Buffalo plays the Lions next week on Thanksgiving, which made the move to Detroit make sense but it put a team in free fall in a weird position.
Buffalo was able to get past Cleveland and not only clamped the bleeding on its losing streak and benefited from a wild AFC East showdown between the Patriots and Jets.
New England walked New York off with an 84-yard game-winning punt return for a touchdown, dropping the Jets and propelling the Patriots playoff chances. The win did more than just flex that the Patriots are seemingly impossible to kill, it proved the prowess of the AFC East. Not only is New England back in the mix, but every single AFC East team is in the playoff picture after 11 weeks of the season.
Updated AFC Playoff Picture after Patriots, Bills win in Week 11
After weeks of being stagnant, the AFC Playoff Picture has been completely flipped on its head. The Chargers are currently on the outside looking in after weeks of holding the No. 7 seed, being replaced by the New York Jets.
The Jets fell to the bottom of the playoff bracket after a stunning last-minute loss to the Patriots. That win catapulted New England into the playoff picture for the first time this season, as Bill Belichick’s crew holds the No. 6 seed and would right now have a Wild Card matchup with the Tennessee Titans — perhaps avenging a loss that ended Tom Brady’s career with the Patriots back in 2019.
All the chaos aside, the Kansas City Chiefs still comfortably hold the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Here’s what the AFC playoff bracket would look like if the playoffs started today:
- Kansas City Chiefs (7-2)
- Miami Dolphins (7-3)
- Tennessee Titans (7-3)
- Baltimore Ravens (7-3)
- Buffalo Bills (6-4)
- New England Patriots (6-4)
- New York Jets (6-4)
Based on those standings, here’s what the playoff matchups would look like for the first weekend of action:
- (2) Miami Dolphins vs. (7) New York Jets
- (3) Tennessee Titans vs. (6) New England Patriots
- (4) Baltimore Ravens vs. (5) Buffalo Bills
AFC Wild Card standings after Week 9 early games
For now, here’s what the Wild Card standings look like after Week 9:
5th Seed: Buffalo Bills (6-4)
6th Seed: New England Patriots (6-4)
7th Seed: New York Jets (6-4)
On The Bubble
Los Angeles Chargers (5-4
Cincinnati Bengals (5-4)
In The Hunt
Indianapolis Colts (4-6-1)
Denver Broncos (3-6)
Pittsburgh Steelers (3-6)
On Life Support
Jacksonville Jaguars (3-7)
Cleveland Browns (3-7)
Las Vegas Raiders (2-7)
Houston Texans (1-8-1)
AFC Playoff Picture Tiebreaker Scenarios
With so many teams tied in the standings, a handful of tiebreakers come into play based on various factors related to the schedule.
- Ravens win the tiebreaker over Cincinnati based on head-to-head win percentage.
- Bengals hold the tiebreaker Miami based on head-to-head win percentage.
- Dolphins hold a tiebreaker over New England based on head-to-head win percentage.
