The NFL regular season is set to expire in two weeks, and there's a handful of AFC teams looking at a limited number of available playoff slots.
Some teams, whether owners of impressive records or not, simply don't belong in the Super Bowl conversation.
The Patriots are clear favorites and the Steelers and Ravens — both 10-4 — are jockeying for the North Division title in what figures to be the biggest heavyweight dogfight heading into the playoffs.
Although considered the No. 1 team for the majority of the season, the New York Jets haven't been playing like it for the most part. Sure, they're coming off an uplifting win over the Steelers, and yes, Rex Ryan's club may be 10-4, but many experts predict that Mark Sanchez and the rest of Gang Green are a prime candidate for a postseason collapse. Despite big wins over Pittsburgh in Week 15 and New England in Week 2, the Jets have only managed to eek by teams like Detroit, Denver and Houston while putting up ugly losses to the Dolphins and Packers at home.
In the South Division, the Jaguars and Colts are knotted up with eight wins apiece. Peyton Manning's Colts have been plagued by many key injuries ,and its defense has been unable to stop the run all year long. The Jags have looked promising at times, but Jack Del Rio's squad simply isn't built for the Bowl.
Out West, either the Chargers or Chiefs will slide into the playoffs, but both teams have been brutally exploited in 2010. Although the Chiefs own the best ground game in the league, they have one of the worst passing offenses, too, and such a lopsided attack may not carry them too far through January.
Do any of these teams truly scare Patriots fans? They should. Of course the Jets, Philip Rivers' Chargers and Maurice Jones-Drew and the Jags would give New England a game no matter what's at stake, but since the opener, the Pats have managed to play down to competition this year. They proved this in their most-recent contest — a slim win over the Aaron Rodgers-less Packers — and did so to kick off the season, way back in a Week 1 win over the now 3-11 Bengals, who managed to post 21 second-half points at Gillette. The 4-10 Bills also gave the Pats a scare at the Razor in Week 3 when Buffalo was trailing by just one point at halftime.
The playoff picture is starting to unfold, but which playoff hopeful in the AFC is considered the conference's biggest pretender?
Which AFC playoff hopeful is the biggest pretender?online survey
