AFC Playoff Picture

Division Winners
1. Pittsburgh -- The Steelers only need one win to clinch home field throughout the playoffs. They should get it this weekend.
2. New England -- They stumbled in Miami and it may cost them.
3. San Diego -- They won in the cold in Cleveland, if they beat Indy this week the Chargers will have shown they can go anywhere and win.
4. Indianapolis -- With a win against the Chargers, the Colts would move into the #3 spot. That may not mean much, except NOT catching the Jets in the first week of the playoffs.

Wildcards
5. New York Jets -- The Jets have had a tough schedule lately and it doesn't get any easier this week against the Pats. But they've shown they can play with anyone, and the Chargers and Colts loser will probably get stuck playing them in the first round. If there is a wildcard team capable of going all the way this year, it is the Jets.

6. Jacksonville -- Everything went their way last week and the Jags are now in the driver's seat. They play at home against the Texans this week, then finish at Oakland. The running game is working and the defense is a good one, so they are definitely the team to beat for that last spot. I don't see them giving it up.

Outside Looking In
7. Baltimore -- Their grueling schedule gets grueling-er this weeks as the Ravens go to Pittsburgh. If they pull off the upset and get some help, they could get right back into it. The defense is still good, but there are some chinks in the armor.

8. Denver -- The Broncos are going in the wrong direction, fast! The running game is letting them down, the receivers are young and dropping passes, Plummer is reverting to Arizona form, and the defense is faltering badly. This is a team in search of some answers. A win this week would help, but they would need a lot of other help to move up since they lose most tiebreakers. It doesn't look good for my Broncos!

9. Buffalo -- The Bills had many things go right for them last weekend. Now they travel to San Francisco for an apparently easy game. But they must be careful not to look past the 49ers at Pittsburgh. One loss will be fatal to the Bills.

All of the division winners have been decided and the Jets look to have a spot all but locked up. So it comes down to which of the four 8-6 teams finish strongest. Jacksonville and Buffalo are playing the best right now, but we've seen enough upsets lately that anything could happen. This is what a playoff race is supposed to look like!