Playoff Picture

[CrashDavisSports]

Well the way it is set up now I doubt the Bengals would have to play the Chiefs. Right now it is looking like the Chiefs and Indy is almost a foregone conclusion for the first round. I would bet the Chiefs win that one which would most likely send them to Denver as I don't see Cincy losing to either the Dolphins or Ravens. If Cincy does take over the #2 seed (which I honestly think they stand a good chance of) then again it would be either the Patriots or possibly the Chiefs I guess coming to Cincy depending what happens with the #3 vs #6 seed. I honestly have no clue how the Patriots are going to be without Gronk so say they struggle on offense like they did earlier in the year I could see them losing even to the #6 seed.

I am hoping for this...

#1 Denver
#2 Cincinnati
#3 New England
#4 Indianapolis
#5 Kansas City
#6 Miami

Cincinnati could use that BYE to get a little healthy, avoid the first round bounce, and get a home game where they have dominated this year so far. Hopefully, that sets up a Bengals versus Broncos AFC Championship game. I would root for the Bengals, but be happy enough rooting for my other team, the Broncos, in the SB. The Chiefs well exceeded everyones expectations this year, so good for them.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Well, pending tonight's game, it appears that NE dropped the ball (or Miami took advantage, whichever you prefer) on a chance to further its goal in seeding. The Bengals similarly got punched in the mouth in didn't pull it out after what was shaping out to be an excellent stepping stone towards the #2 seed and bye on paper.


With that Miami win in NE, they currently hold the #6 seed with Baltimore playing tonight in hopes of reclaiming the #6 seed as they have the tiebreaker over Miami. Meanwhile, SD's playoff hopes remain on life support, but certainly not dead yet at 7-7. The Chargers will need quite a bit of help to get in at this point though.


Meanwhile, the Chiefs are tied with Denver at 11-3, but Denver holds tiebreakers with two underwhelming matchups left. The Chiefs however, may be in an awkward situation next week as they will want to win so as to take advantage of any Denver slip up that may occur, slim a chance as it may be. However, the Chiefs probably don't want to show their cards either given that KC @ Indy appears to be a very likely playoff matchup. Don't be surprised to see some very vanilla playcalling next week.

 

[cdumler7]

Very nice win yesterday. Honestly part of me hopes if the Broncos get the 1 seed that the 6 seed wins the wild card round so the Broncos don't have to try and beat the Chiefs a 3rd time. That offense finally looks like they have fully bought into Reid's system and are clicking like crazy. I would love for either Cincy or New England to have to get the Chiefs first and then an All AFC West Championship game.

 

[CaptainStubing]

after starting 9-0, i could see the chiefs finishing 10-6. fortunately for them, that will be plenty to get the #5 seed in the afc and a trip to cincy in the playoffs, which is a very winnable game for anyone.

Maybe, but I would have to say as long as the defense is healthy, this team should be fine. 10-6 would be a mini disaster by itself.

Heard Houston is out 2-3 weeks...Is that right or did I just make that up?

I agree the Chiefs should be fine. Really the two big games they have left are this week against the Broncos and the last one against the Chargers in my opinion. The Raiders are just not up to par, Washington is about as chaotic of a team as there is, and Indy is just collapsing on themselves right now. I think the Chiefs win 2 of those 3 and maybe split the Broncos/Chargers games to finish the season 3-2 and overall 12-4.

They could, but other teams have weaknesses as well and KC's studying them, too; I could easily see KC winning 3-4 games, too. So, 2-3 is reasonable?

well, since their bye, when their schedule got more difficult, the chiefs are 2-4 and now face a chargers team that they've already lost to. Oddly, however, the Chiefs are a better road team this season than a home team, so maybe they will win this match-up in san Diego.

The Chiefs are now 1-4 against teams that have current winning records. Their secondary has become a major liability. Teams with good QB's have been a problem for them.

They are already locked into the #5 spot. The only question at this point is whether they will play at Indy, Cincy, or maybe even N.E., if things get really weird.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Secondary and pass rush (two things that help each other) has really gone done the gutter relatively in quality the 2nd half. I wasn't bothered when Manning did it to a healthy squad; after all, it is Peyton Manning who might end up being the best ever when it is all said and done. What bothers me is if you take away a piece, like say, Justin Houston, and combine it with stiff competition, the margin of error for this team is rather thin. I don't think the defense was as bad as the yardage or even the 23 points (avg ppg wise; actually a hair above defensively) the offense coughing it up 3 times and refusing to give the ball to Jamaal more was a catastrophic error. Dumb penalties on both sides didn't help matters. 5 yards lost to a false start with the WR's being as poor as they are makes a 2nd and 15 feel like forever.

We have received some highly uneven performances, but it isn't like this team is lacking talent with guys like Charles, Poe, Berry, Houston, Johnson, Hali for example. They are much more flawed and or inconsistent playoff teams out there... like the Colts (didn't work out so well obviously). This was the same defense that held a Dallas Offense (Yes, that is an explosive offense, look up the ppg) to 16 points. There seems to be a talent incongruence (perceived or just homerism?) with what we are seeing on the field.

In other words, we should expect to win anyways, I don't see why we shouldn't more often than not. The Colts are a nasty team if they are able to control the clock and grab turnovers (Sounds vaguely familiar!).


I am going to be very happy to see Houston back (assuming he is back next week) as it is rather obvious that this defense needs to not expose a secondary as much (through pass rush) that all of the sudden looks avg to below avg after looking fantastic in the first half.

As for the offense, don't be dumb, please give it to Jamaal.

 

[MHSL82]

well, since their bye, when their schedule got more difficult, the chiefs are 2-4 and now face a chargers team that they've already lost to. Oddly, however, the Chiefs are a better road team this season than a home team, so maybe they will win this match-up in san Diego.

The Chiefs are now 1-4 against teams that have current winning records. Their secondary has become a major liability. Teams with good QB's have been a problem for them.

They are already locked into the #5 spot. The only question at this point is whether they will play at Indy, Cincy, or maybe even N.E., if things get really weird.

Strangely, if the Chiefs beat San Diego, they will be 1-3 against teams with winning records. If they lose, they'll be 1-5. (Philadelphia). If they lose and Dallas wins, they will be 2-5. 2-3 if they win and Dallas wins.

Edit: I started off by saying "strangely" because I had it in my head that the one win was against SD, when of course that was a loss. So, I came on here to say that beating a plus 500 team worsened their record, when it didn't.

 

[MHSL82]

[ame]http://twitter.com/sportscenter/status/416784536173682688[/ame]

 

[MHSL82]

http://twitter.com/sportscenter/status/416784536173682688

Actually, this is wrong. The Giants didn't beat themselves two years ago. They did that this year.