AFC Playoff Preview

The AFC Playoff Picture had many variables and question marks coming into the day. After Sunday’s games all of those questions are answered. The Denver Broncos (12-4; AFC West Champions) are the #1 Seed, the New England Patriots (12-4; AFC East Champions) are the #2 Seed, the Cincinnati Bengals (12-4; AFC North Champions) are the #3 Seed, the Houston Texans are the #4 Seed (9-7; AFC South Champions), the Kansas City Chiefs are the #5 Seed (11-5; Wild Card Berth), and the Pittsburgh Steelers end up as the #6 Seed (10-6; Wild Card Berth).

Outside of these 6 teams having shots at the playoffs entering the day, the Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets also had a chance. The Colts needed a Texans loss and a plethora of other games to end a certain way to help break tiebreakers for them to get in. Subsequently the Texans won, eliminating the Colts. On the other hand the Jets needed no help whatsoever. New York had a “Win and You’re In” scenario where beating the Buffalo Bills would have put them in the playoffs. In the end, “Gang Green” couldn’t get it done as QB Ryan Fitzpatrick threw three interceptions in the 4th quarter and the Jets coughed up their chance at a playoff berth falling 22-17.

Alright, now let’s take a look at each team actually in the AFC Playoffs.

1. Denver Broncos

The Broncos have a terrific defense which has been very impressive this season. They have a lethal pass rush, a shutdown secondary and their run defense is not too shabby as well. Although, the offense has been in question throughout the season. They started off with Peyton Manning under center and that went downhill quite quickly. Manning ended up getting injured and backup Brock Osweiler came in and did a bang up job for a few weeks and then things went awry for him as well. He had limited problems in the first half but in the second half his game would fly off the handle resulting in bad offensive outings in the second half of games. On Sunday against the Chargers, Denver’s offense had five turnovers with Brock at the helm and with Manning, finally healthy, they decided to put the NFL’s All-Time leading passer in the game. Peyton seemed to ignite the Bronco’s offense as they went on to score 20 points in the second half. Manning himself did not have eye popping stats as he went 5/9 with 69 yards but his audibles and presence at the line seemed to light a fire under the run game. Overall, being the #1 Seed, the Broncos have put themselves in a great position to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

2. New England Patriots

The Patriots staggered down the stretch leading into the playoffs, going 2-4 in their final six games. They had a shot at locking up the #1 Seed this past Sunday against the lowly Dolphins, but failed to do so and the ‘Phins pulled off the upset 20-10. If you were to watch game tape of the Patriots since week 11, you would see 3 things that might raise a red flag: a very unstable offensive line, a very suspect run defense, and a frustrated Tom Brady having trouble finding open receivers. Most of these issues have been caused by injury for New England which is actually a good thing for them. It’s only positive because this means they are not glaring holes in a fully healthy team. Each problem should be at least partially solved by the time of their divisional game against either the Texans, Chiefs, or Steelers. To help the offensive line out, Left Tackle Sebastian Vollmer (who is normally a Right Tackle) is expected to be back to anchor the line. With the run game, Linebacker Dont’a Hightower has not been 100% since week 10 and did not play week 17 and should be at least near 100% with a solid 3 weeks off. Last, and most definitely not least, the WR corps will get Julian Edelman back after breaking his foot in week 9. Edelman should make their offense run much more smoothly and efficiently Most so called "experts" have been looking at the Patriots play as of late and saying they are in deep trouble, but they seem to have forgotten is when fully healthy, New England was 10-0. If they can return near anywhere near the form of which they were playing the first half of the season, they should be the favorites to come out of the AFC, but if they keep up this sloppy play, the Patriots may have quite the short postseason.

3. Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals are always a tough team to figure out come playoff time. They always seem to have a very solid roster but can't do anything in the postseason. Personnel wise, the Bengals have a terrific team. They have 6 viable offensive weapons in RB Jeremy Hill, RB Giovanni Bernard, WR AJ Green, WR Marvin Jones, WR Mohamed Sanu, and TE Tyler Eifert. On defense they've got a good linebacker corps headed by Rey Maualuga, Vontaze Burfict and my personal friend, Vincent Rey. They also have Safety Reggie Nelson who was tied for the league lead in interceptions this season. When Quarterback Andy Dalton went down with a thumb injury a few weeks ago, AJ McCaron has stepped in and done a decent job. McCaron is slated to start the Bengals Wild Card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers although if the Bengals are to win, Dalton hopes to come back for a divisional round matchup against the New England Patriots. If for some reason Cincinatti can hold it together this time around look for them to challenge any team in the NFL this postseason.

4. Houston Texans

The Houston Texans are in the playoffs for simply winning the worst division in the NFL, the AFC South. Yes, even worse than the NFC East. I really don’t see the Texans making any noise in the playoffs except for the possibility of winning at home against the Kansas City Chiefs which still seems unlikely. The Texans have one of the better defenses in the league, as they have arguably the best player in the NFL, J.J. Watt. Their offense is mediocre at best, with Brian Hoyer at QB being nothing special. In his defense he really only has one viable weapon in the rising star of, WR DeAndre Hopkins. Their run game is almost non existent, and the Texans have very little chance of moving further than the Divisional Round if they get by Kansas City. With that said, the Texans have some young studs and with Arian Foster healthy next season, could be a force to be reckon with in the not so distant future.

5. Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs started the season 1-5. They finished 11-5. Winning ten games in a row is quite the way to ride into the playoffs. When healthy, the Chiefs have one of the best defenses in football. The Chiefs Linebackers alone have combined for more than half of the team’s 47 sacks (good for 4th in the NFL) with 26 Sacks and that is with Justin Houston not being fully healthy for some of the season. Justin lead the lead in sacks last season. They also have rookie stud Cornerback Marcus Peters. Peters has eight interceptions on the season, tied for most in the league. Surprisingly, Jamaal Charles getting hurt has made the Chiefs a better team. They have been able to open up the playbook more and throw the ball more often and more effectively. QB Alex Smith has been solid this season and often threw to WR Jeremy Maclin. Smith did not throw a touchdown to a WR last season but threw 8 TDs to Maclin this season and 11 to WRs overall. The RB tandem of Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware is seeming to be an adequate replacement for Jamaal Charles. Overall, the Chiefs are tough to have a clear outlook on. Although they did win ten games in a row, only two of those wins are over teams with a winning record. With that said, winning 10 games in a row in the NFL is no easy task. Expect the Chiefs to beat the Texans and at the very least give the Broncos and Patriots a run for their money.

6. Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers, the Dark Horse in the AFC. The Steelers offense is no joke. It is among the best in the league and can get into a high scoring shootout with any team in the NFL. With weapons like WR Antonio Brown, WR Martavis Bryant, WR Markus Wheaton, and even TE Heath Miller, Ben Roethlisberger has some tremendous weapons to work with. The Steelers running offense is nothing to scoff at either as RB D’Angelo Williams has also had a great season stepping in for Le’Veon Bell when he went down for the season with a Torn ACL. Their defense is on two different ends of the spectrum with their rush defense being top five in the league but their pass defense sits among the bottom five. If the Steelers can sneak by the Bengals in Cincinnati, don’t be surprised if they’re in AFC Championship Game or possibly even Super Bowl 50. Do not, I repeat, do not sleep on the Pittsburgh Steelers.

My Predictions:

Wild Card:

(6) Steelers defeat (3) Bengals 27-20

(5) Chiefs defeat (4) Texans 24-13

Divisional Round:

(6) Steelers defeat (1) Broncos 28-24

(1) Patriots defeat (5) Chiefs 31-20

AFC Championship:

(1) Patriots defeat (6) Steelers 27-26