AFC Playoff Picture

It drives me nuts that it is so difficult to find the different playoff scenarios for the NFL each year. ESPN has some stupid thing where you can see who makes the playoffs if all the home teams win all the remaining games but it doesn't spell out the scenarios.

Now, I don't really care about football. I am fascinated by the possibilities of playoffs, though. So here's how the AFC picture shakes out (I'm doing the AFC because of the local fan favorite Steelers):

#1 Seed: New England Patriots (14-2 or 13-3). All wrapped up.

#2 Seed: If Pittsburgh wins (12-4) or Pittsburgh and Baltimore lose (11-5), Pittsburgh is the #2 seed because Pittsburgh has the better divisional record and has a better conference record than Kansas City. If Baltimore (12-4) wins and Pittsburgh (11-5) loses, Baltimore is the #2 seed.

#3 Seed: If Kansas City wins (11-5) or Indianapolis (9-7) loses, the Chiefs are the #3 seed. If Indianapolis (10-6) wins and Kansas City (10-6) loses, the Colts are the #3 seed based on the Colts 19-9 win over the Chiefs on October 10th.

#4 Seed: If Indianapolis wins (10-6) and the Chiefs win (11-5), Indianapolis is the #4 seed. If Indianapolis wins (10-6) and the Chiefs lose (10-6), Kansas City is the #4 seed. If Jacksonville wins (9-7) and Indianapolis loses (9-7), the Jaguars are the #4 seed based on divisional record.

#5 Seed If Baltimore wins (12-4) and Pittsburgh loses (11-5) and the New York Jets lose (10-6), the Steelers are the #5 seed. If Baltimore (12-4) and the Jets (11-5) win and the Steelers (11-5) lose, the Jets are the #5 seed based on their 22-17 victory over the Steelers on December 19th.
If the Steelers win (12-4) or both the Steelers and Ravens lose (11-5), the Ravens are the #5 seed as the Jets result will not matter since Baltimore defeated them on September 13th.

#6 Seed The Jets are the #6 seed unless they and the Ravens win and the Steelers lose in which case the Steelers are the #6 seed.

See, that wasn't hard at all.