AFC Playoff Standings Week 17: Colts In Firm Playoff Control With Two Games Left

INDIANAPOLIS – In beating a pair of playoff teams in each conference the last two weeks, the Colts are on the verge of clinching a playoff spot.

If the Colts (9-6) beat the Raiders (8-7) in their home finale this Sunday afternoon, they will clinch a playoff berth.

From the NFL, the Colts can make the playoffs 1 of 3 ways this weekend:

-Colts win

-Colts tie + Ravens loss + Patriots loss or tie

-Colts tie + Ravens loss + Dolphins loss or tie

Per FiveThirtyEight, the Colts have a 97 percent chance at making the playoffs.

The Colts continue to do their part, while also receiving some Wild Card help in Week 16.

At 9-6, the Colts are still in the 5^th spot of the AFC (remember, the NFL has 18 weeks/17 games this season). If the playoffs started today, the Colts would travel to take on the No. 4 seed Bills in the Wild Card Round of the Playoffs.

A couple of things to note on the Colts’ current situation:

-The magic number for the Titans (10-5) to clinch the AFC South is down to 1 after their win on Thursday night. So if the Titans win one of their last two (Dolphins, @Texans) or the Colts lose one of their last two (Raiders @Jaguars), the AFC South will go to Tennessee.

-No AFC team has a better conference record than the Colts. That’s massive for the Colts in establishing tiebreakers against teams they didn’t play.

Here’s a look at the AFC standings with 2 weeks remaining (the Dolphins play at the Saints on Monday night):

Division Leaders

1. Chiefs (11-4, 6-4): @Bengals, @Broncos

2. Titans (10-5, 6-4): Dolphins, @Texans

3. Bengals (9-6, 7-3): Chiefs, @Browns

4. Bills (9-6, 6-5): Falcons, Jets

Wild Card Teams

5. Colts (9-6, 7-3): Raiders, @Jaguars

6. Patriots (9-6, 7-3): Jaguars, @Dolphins

7. Dolphins (8-7, 5-5): @Titans, Patriots

Outside Looking In

8. Ravens (8-7, 5-6): Rams, Steelers