[sherck]

3 games to go; current playoff situation:


4. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5-1)
Conference record: 4-5-1
AFC North record: 3-1-1
Schedule: vs. Patriots (9-4), at Saints (11-2), vs. Bengals (5-8)

Suddenly and unexpectedly, the Steelers have a three-game losing streak, the AFC’s second worst. Only the Cincinnati Bengals’ five-game skid is longer, and there’s no relief in sight for Pittsburgh until its regular-season finale. The New England Patriots are 3-4 on the road this season but are coming off a devastating loss to the Dolphins. The New Orleans Saints, meanwhile, have lost just once at home this year.

5. Los Angeles Chargers (10-3)
Conference record: 7-2
AFC West record: 2-2
Schedule: at Chiefs (11-2), vs. Ravens (7-6), at Broncos (6-7)

The Chargers, now a virtual lock to make the playoffs, have more wins than five NFL division leaders but still face a Herculean task in shedding their No. 5 seed. Even if they beat the Chiefs on Sunday to split the season series, they’re unlikely to equal Kansas City’s AFC West record, the next tiebreaker. To earn a top-four seed, they’ll have to finish ahead of the conference’s top team.

6. Ravens (7-6)
Conference record: 6-4
AFC North record: 2-3
Schedule: vs. Buccaneers (5-8), at Chargers (10-3), vs. Browns (5-7-1)

The Ravens could feel closer to a division title than to a wild-card berth after a good day Sunday. With a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a Steelers loss, the Ravens would have approximately a 58 percent chance of snatching the No. 4 seed and a 67 percent chance of hosting a wild-card playoff game, according to the Times' simulator.

7. Indianapolis Colts (7-6)
Conference record: 6-5
AFC South record: 3-2
Schedule: vs. Cowboys (8-5), vs. Giants (5-8), at Titans (7-6)

Because both the Ravens and Colts face NFC teams this Sunday, leaving their conference records unchanged, Indianapolis can’t jump into the second wild-card spot unless it wins and the Ravens lose. The Colts stayed alive by taking down the hottest NFL team heading into Week 14. Can they follow their road win over the Houston Texans with a home victory over the hottest NFL team heading into Week 15? The Dallas Cowboys have won a league-best five straight games.

8. Miami Dolphins (7-6)
Conference record: 6-4
AFC East record: 4-1
Schedule: at Vikings (6-5-1), vs. Jaguars (4-9), at Bills (4-9)

The Dolphins were all but left for dead two weeks ago. Two straight wins later, only one of which required last-second laterals, they are creeping closer toward an unlikely postseason berth. Miami can’t claim a tiebreaker against the Colts because of its Week 12 loss in Indianapolis, so it’ll have to keep winning to keep hope alive. The Dolphins’ game Sunday should be their toughest test left.

9. Tennessee Titans (7-6)
Conference record: 5-6
AFC South record: 3-2
Schedule: at Giants (5-8), vs. Redskins (6-7), vs. Colts (7-6)

After their impressive win Thursday over the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Titans were able to take in Sunday’s chaos from afar. Despite earlier losses to the Ravens, Dolphins and Colts, Tennessee has better postseason odds than Miami, according to the Times, and is behind only the Ravens among the four 7-6 teams, according to FiveThirtyEight’s projected chances. With each week, the importance of the Titans’ regular-season finale against the Colts only grows.

Both the Ravens and the Steelers have tough games left on their schedule with two possible/probable losses on each of their slates. PIT faces NE and NO over the next two weeks and could easily find itself 7-7-1 going into their final game against CIN. BAL faces a tough TB team despite its record, @ LAC whom while they may not be playing for much I doubt will be throwing in the towel with two weeks to go and then a surging CLE team.

Indy needs to take care of business against DAL this week but if we play like we have in 5 out of our past 6 weeks, I think we can take them from what I saw of them yesterday afternoon. Finishing against the NYG and then at TEN are both winnable games.

Catching HOU is out of the question after the loss to JAX. The #6 Wildcard spot it possible/probably if we win out. I expect BAL to lose at leas 1 more so we can get ahead of them.

However, if we lose 1 out of our last 3, we will probably not make the playoffs.

Keep the faith, Colts fans.

Walk Worthy,