Playoffs?........Playoffs!?!........PLAYOFFS!?!?!? !!!!!!!!
 

5 games to go and here is how the AFC looks:

1st Seed = KC (9 - 2)
2nd Seed = NE (8 - 3)
3rd Seed = HOU (8 – 3)
4th Seed = PIT (7 – 3 – 1)
5th Seed = SD (8 – 3)
6th Seed = BAL (6 – 5)
7th Spot = IND (6 – 5)
8th Spot = TEN (5 – 6)
9th Spot = DEN (5 – 6)
10th Spot = CIN (5 – 6)
11th Spot = MIA (5 – 6)

First, let’s talk the AFC South. Houston is 2 games ahead with 5 games to play and not many rough games left. Their remaining schedule:

vs CLE (4 – 6 – 1))
vs IND (6 – 5)
@ NYJ (3 – 8)
@ PHI (5 – 6)
vs JAX (3 – 8)

The only team remaining on their schedule with a winning record is us and even if we win against them, they would still be one game up on us. We would require at least one of CLE, NYJ, PHI or JAX to beat them and then it would come down to tiebreakers. If that happens (we win out and HOU losses to us and one other), then the tiebreakers:

1st Tiebreaker = Head to Head = Draw (each team would be 1 – 1 against each other)
2nd Tiebreaker = Division Record = IND 1 division loss; HOU 2 division losses = Colts advantage

So, there it is. To win the division, we need to win out and HOU needs to lose to us and one other team. I think it is unlikely but @ PHI could be a tough game if they are fighting for a wildcard spot in late December and who knows what team CLE will field this next week. It could happen.

Second, Wildcard. We are currently on the outside looking in in the 7th spot. HOWEVER, the remaining schedules for both BAL and IND:

IND:

@ JAX (3 – 8)
@ HOU (8 – 3)
vs DAL (6 – 5)
vs NYG (3 – 8)
@ TEN (5 – 6)

BAL:

@ ATL (4 – 7)
@ KC (9 – 2)
vs TB (4 – 7)
@ SD (8 – 3)
vs CLE (4 – 6 – 1)

Of the two schedules, BAL has a MUCH harder road to walk with AWAY games against KC and SD still in their future. Heck, almost all the teams could give them issues as either Fitzmagic or Fitztragic will show up for TB and CLE appears to be world beaters one week and the same old Cleveland Browns the next week. Who knows who shows up?

I think it is very likely that BAL losses at least 2 if not 3 of their final five games. As long as we can do one better than them, then we have the inside road to the 6th AFC seed.


TL : DR:

- We need HOU to lose to us and to one more team and if we win out, we would capture the AFC South.

- We need to lose no more than 1 more game to have, what I believe is, the inside track to the 6th AFC Seed. If we lose 2 games or more, we will probably not make the playoffs. Too many AFC teams one game behind us that could catch us to make the call at this point.

So, we don’t need perfection out of the Colts but they cannot afford to lose more than one more game if they want to be playing in Jan.

Walk Worthy,

TB is probably rolling with Winston at this point, no more Fitz. I expect Baltimore to win that. But lose to KC and SD. @ATL is a tossup, they're playing for their jobs at this point in the season so I don't think it'll be easy. TB and CLE at home for the Ravens are probably wins, though the Browns will put up a tough fight based on how they've been playing.

Winning the division seems pretty tough at this point so we just need to keep winning and wait for the league to catch up to what Baltimore is doing with their rookie running QB.

Outside shot that 3-2 is good enough for the 2nd WC, but 4-1 should definitely be safe. I still think it's crazy this team could pull off a 9-1 or 8-2 stretch, but doesn't this feel like a 10-6 or 9-7 team? +52 point differential in 11 games tells me they're a little better than a 6-5 team, so 10 wins shouldn't be unexpected. It'll just take winning a couple more nail-bitters like last week to pull it off.

Most likely scenario is a WC and a race between Indy and Baltimore for the #6 spot

Baltimore has the tougher schedule, but as we saw this past weekend, Colts can't take any of these last 5 games for granted. They could potentially lose to I would say to 4 of the last 5 teams if they play sloppy

Not the Giants, they suck bad, that would surprise. But even then they do have OBJ and Barkley, two big offensive targets, and if Eli for one game finds his old playoff magic, who knows what they could do to this D. Might end up a shoot out.

I think if the Colts win 4 of the last 5 they got the #6 seed

If they win 3 of the last 5, its iffy, will likely come down to tiebreakers with Baltimore and depends on which games they win. Baltimore has a one game lead right now in the conference tiebreaker.

After 11 games we have a realistic post about us making the playoffs. Who would have thunk?

I think Houston could win out, unless we beat them. I also think they could lose three games. Such is the league this year.

I think we could win out, or lose three or four games. Such is our team this year.

:D

To one........after week six sitting at 1 - 5. :eek: We were heading for the #1 pick overall.

Five straight wins after that terrible, terrible Jets game is pretty dang amazing.

Let's hope we can keep it rolling against a JAX team that is imploding.

Walk Worthy,

I expected 5-7 wins but that's looking pretty conservative right now. I thought we would finish the season strong but didn't expect to start "finishing" as early as we did.

I think Houston will drop at least 2 games (1 to the Colts), the question is can the Colts win out? If yes, they have a shot at the division. If no, they still have a pretty good shot at a wild card. Going for the win and ending up losing instead of playing for the tie is looming very large in all of this. At 6-4-1, the Colts would control their own destiny in the division.