Here’s an updated look at the NFL playoff picture entering Week 13:
AFC
1. New England Patriots (10-1; AFC East leader)
2. Baltimore Ravens (9-2; AFC North leader)
3. Houston Texans (7-4; AFC South leader)
4. Kansas City Chiefs (7-4; AFC West leader)
5. Buffalo Bills (8-3; first wild card)
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5; second wild card)
In the hunt: Oakland Raiders (6-5), Indianapolis Colts (6-5), Tennessee Titans (6-5), Cleveland Browns (5-6)
Long shots: Jacksonville Jaguars (4-7), Los Angeles Chargers (4-7), New York Jets (4-7), Denver Broncos (3-8), Miami Dolphins (2-9)
Eliminated: Cincinnati Bengals (0-11)
NFC
1. San Francisco 49ers (10-1; NFC West leader)
2. New Orleans Saints (9-2; NFC South leader)
3. Green Bay Packers (8-3; NFC North leader)
4. Dallas Cowboys (6-5; NFC East leader)
5. Seattle Seahawks (9-2; first wild card)
6. Minnesota Vikings (8-3; second wild card)
In the hunt: Los Angeles Rams (6-5), Chicago Bears (5-6), Philadelphia Eagles (5-6), Carolina Panthers (5-6)
Long shots: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-7), Detroit Lions (3-7-1), Arizona Cardinals (3-7-1), Atlanta Falcons (3-8), New York Giants (2-9), Washington Redskins (2-9)
— What more is there to say about the Ravens at this point? John Harbaugh’s club ran its winning streak to seven games Monday night with a 45-6 annihilation of the Rams in L.A. During that span, they’ve also beaten the Seahawks by 14, the Patriots by 17 and the Texans by 34. Combined record for those three opponents: 26-7.
With Lamar Jackson (five touchdown passes Monday) playing at an MVP level and Baltimore’s defense allowing 20 or fewer points in six straight games, the Ravens are a scary, scary team right now. They still trail the Patriots by a game in the AFC standings, but they’re giving the defending champs little room for error in the battle for home-field advantage.
Here are the remaining schedules for the two AFC front-runners:
- Patriots: at Houston (Sunday night), vs. Kansas City, at Cincinnati, vs. Buffalo (Saturday), vs. Jets
- Ravens: vs. San Francisco, at Buffalo, vs. Jets (Thursday night), at Cleveland, vs. Pittsburgh
— Ravens-Niners on Sunday will be one heck of a matchup (1 p.m. ET). Jimmy Garoppolo and Co. scored a similarly impressive victory this past weekend, destroying the Packers 37-8 on “Sunday Night Football.” San Francisco’s lone loss this season came against Seattle in overtime.
— The Bills, who have made the playoffs just once since 1999, have a firm hold on the first wild-card spot in the AFC. It’s too early to celebrate in Orchard Park with games against the Cowboys, Ravens, Steelers and Patriots still to come, but Buffalo is in a good spot with five weeks to go.
— Beating the Colts last Thursday vaulted the Texans from sixth to third in the AFC. They currently hold the tiebreaker over the idle Chiefs. Indy and Tennessee both are just one game back of Houston in the competitive AFC South.
— The gap between playoff teams and also-rans in the NFC grows clearer each week.
