Around the AFC West, Week 16: Playoff Edition

The NFL season has just two weekends left of regular season football, and there is still so much to be decided in the AFC playoff race.

Three out of four teams in the AFC West are still very much alive (division leading Denver, and wild-card hopefuls Kansas City and San Diego; sorry Oakland) which makes this week’s match ups all the more critical to the season.

Is the AFC North going to send three teams to the post-season this year, or will either the Chargers or Chiefs be able to sneak their way in, especially with an almost playoff or bust game coming up between those two AFC West rivals in Week 17?

And what about those Broncos, who are in the playoffs (almost), but still behind the New England Patriots for first seed and home-field advantage throughout?

Let’s go around the AFC West; Week 16 playoff edition!

Standings (with last week’s results)

Denver Broncos…….11-3 (W, 22-10 v. SD)

Kansas City Chiefs…8-6 (W, 31-13 v. OAK)

San Diego Chargers..8-6 (L, 10-22 v. DEN)

Oakland Raiders……2-12 (L, 13-31 v. KC)

Denver Broncos

There is good news and bad news in terms of the Broncos working their way towards the top seed in the playoff out of the AFC.

The good news is that with one more win, Denver would clinch a first round bye after they just clinched the division with their win last weekend.

That accomplishment shouldn’t be looked down upon, however, the Broncos do need help if they want to earn the number one seed, and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs (Denver is currently 7-0 at home this season).

They need the New England Patriots, also 11-3, to slip up during their last two games (losing at least one) and the Broncos would have to win out in order for them to clinch the top seed out of the AFC.

New England, who doesn’t have an easy schedule by any means, still has a much “easier” path to the top spot with who their opponents are for their last two games of the season.

New England has to travel to face the New York Jets (3-11) before ending the season at home against the Buffalo Bills (while an impressive 8-6, it is still a team the Patriots have owned over the last decade).

The Broncos on the other hand have the AFC North division leading Benglas (9-4-1) on the road this week before ending their season at home against the Oakland Raiders (2-12).

The Patriots 43-21 win back on November 2nd over the Broncos is why they are ahead of them in the standings.  If they finish with the same record, New England holds the head-to-head tiebreaker, earning the top spot in the AFC.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs snapped a late-season three game losing streak last Sunday with their win over the Raiders and improved their record to 8-6

That win alone gets them right back on track, as they still control their density outright in the playoff pictures.  If the Chiefs win their final two games, they would make the playoffs automatically.

They are one of three teams in the AFC, but defeated the other two already this season (in Buffalo and San Diego).  

The concern for Kansas City is that their two remaining opponents, the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-5) this week and the San Diego Chargers (8-6) the week after, is that they both are very talented , hungry teams and KC is certainly going to have to earn their spot if they want to make it to the post-season.

A loss to the Steelers, wouldn’t end their season this week, but it would make them have to rely on outside help to still have a chance.

Win out and you’re in.

And just in case you are wondering what teams Kansas City fans should be rooting for to lose this week, they are Baltimore (who is playing a third-string quarterback in the Houston Texans), Bengals (vs. Denver), San Diego (at San Francisco) and Buffalo (at Oakland).

San Diego Chargers

The Chargers are on their own late season losing streak, dropping their last two games (Patriots and Broncos).

The Chargers need to win out to have a chance.

With games against the San Francisco 49ers (7-7 but just eliminated in the NFC race) and Chiefs left on the schedule, the Chargers still have a slim chance of getting in, but they are going to need a lot of help to even stay alive in the race.

The best the Chargers can do is 10-6, and they are chasing down the Ravens (9-5) and Steelers (9-5) for the two wild-card spots.  They need both teams to slip up at some point, along with a lot of the other teams still in the race losing as well.

The Steelers could clinch a playoff spot with a win over Kansas City, which would make it even harder for the Chargers to sneak in.

The Ravens could also clinch a berth, with a win this week and loses by the Steelers and Bengals.

So, kind of either way you slice it, it is almost a guarantee at least one wild-card slot is awarded to team after this weekend’s games.

Their late season struggles could be what ultimately dooms them this year, as they watched their playoff chances take a serious hit with those two consecutive loses.  Just last week, the Chargers controlled their own density.

That certainly isn’t the case anymore as they are on the outside looking in.

Oakland Raiders

In Oakland, where the season is already over, you would love to see your young team end their season on some high notes, as they looked like a building group that could have a decent amount of success in this league in the coming years.

You might be slightly wrong in that thinking though.

It’s all about the draft for the Raiders.

It seems they finally found a quarterback in Derek Carr, and have young pieces scattered at various positions throughout the depth chart. This team is young and it’s solid young core could be lead by Carr and Khalil Mack for the foreseeable future.

Yes, this was another necessary rebuilding year, as the Raiders continue to try to build a competitive roster after years and years of bad decisions and mismanagement, but this team, at least on a talent standpoint, is one of the better units the team has fielded in years.

And while that might not be saying too much compared to how bad some of those teams were, this unit certainly looks to be on the right track.

Another strong draft class would be in the teams best interest, as they are currently battling for the first overall pick of the 2015 draft with the Buccaneers (2-12) and the Titans (2-13, losing last night to the Jaguars).

I am not saying they should try to lose, but as a fan while you want to see improvement, your draft standing is certainly more important at this point of the year in another lost season.

Let’s be honest, the team is still a few pieces away, so winning one or even both of their last games would allow them to build some momentum for next season, but it wouldn’t really help the future of the team too much in the grand scheme of things.

If you’re a Raider fan all you can really do is root for loses the last two games of the year (against Buffalo and Denver) so that you still have a great shot of selecting number one overall.

This team has already shown glimpses this year of what it can become.

They need to keep adding young talent to their already young and developing core.

Losing out would give them the best chance to select whoever they want at No. 1 and keep the rebuild on the right path.