AFC Wild Card standings, Week 13: Yes, the Raiders are in this

The Oakland Raiders moved to 5-6 on Sunday with a win over the Denver Broncos last week. How does this impact the AFC wild card race heading into Week 13?

Through 12 weeks, the AFC seems to have potentially two elite teams and a bunch of other teams that are vying for four playoff spots. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots are both 9-2 and would be getting first-round byes if the season ended today. Pittsburgh would get home-field advantage for having a better record in the AFC over New England.

The No. 3 seed would go to the Tennessee Titans at 7-4, who have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Jacksonville Jaguars (7-4) in the AFC South race. Getting that fourth first-round home game would be the reeling Kansas City Chiefs (6-5), who have lost five of six games, but still maintain the lead in the awful AFC West.

So where do the Oakland Raiders (5-6) fit into all of this? Are their playoff chances for real? Where do they stack up in the AFC wild card race? Here are the updated AFC standings after Monday Night Football saw the Baltimore Ravens (6-5) beat the Houston Texans (4-7).

AFC Standings through Week 12

Pittsburgh Steelers (9-2)
New England Patriots (9-2)
Tennessee Titans (7-4)
Kansas City Chiefs (6-5)
Jacksonville Jaguars (7-4)
Baltimore Ravens (6-5)
Buffalo Bills (6-5)
Cincinnati Bengals (5-6)
Los Angeles Chargers (5-6)
Oakland Raiders (5-6)
New York Jets (4-7)
Miami Dolphins (4-7)
Houston Texans (4-7)
Indianapolis Colts (3-8)
Denver Broncos (3-8)
Cleveland Browns (0-11)

Through Week 12, only one team in the AFC has been eliminated from playoff contention. That would be the winless Cleveland Browns (0-11). They are so bad, it’s ridiculous. One win in the last two seasons combined! Come on!

Entering Week 13, the two AFC wild card teams would be the Jaguars (7-4) and the Ravens (6-5). Jacksonville would play the Chiefs at Arrowhead in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchup. Baltimore would have to play the Titans in Nashville in the No. 3 vs. No. 6 game in the AFC wild card round.

The Buffalo Bills (6-5) would be the first team out. Baltimore has a better record in the AFC over Buffalo, so the Ravens would get the No. 6 seed over the Bills. Then, there are three teams at 5-6, one of them being the Raiders. The Cincinnati Bengals (5-6) is in eighth place over the Los Angeles Chargers (5-6) by having a better record in-conference. Los Angeles has the head-to-head tiebreaker over Oakland and is in ninth place.

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Next, there are three teams at 4-7 on the year and still somewhat in the AFC wild card race two games back with five remaining. Those teams are the New York Jets (4-7), the Miami Dolphins (4-7) and the Houston Texans (4-7). New York has a better division record over Miami and a better conference record over Houston. Miami has a better conference record over Houston to sort out that three-team tie.

The last two AFC teams that are hanging on by a thread in the AFC wild card picture are a pair of 3-8 teams in the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos. Indianapolis has a slightly better AFC record over Denver and gets that tiebreaker.

Overall, the Raiders are one of 10 teams in the AFC that have at least a semi-realistic chance of making the AFC playoffs. We’re going with a 5-6 record through 12 weeks as the benchmark. 10-6 definitely gets a team a playoff spot this year, probably 9-7 and maybe even 8-8? Who knows?

Next: Raiders: 5 players to watch vs. Giants

Oakland does have a somewhat favorable schedule left. The Raiders’ games versus the New York Giants (2-9), Kansas City (6-5), the Dallas Cowboys (5-6) and the Chargers (5-6) are all totally winnable. While the Raiders still have the Philadelphia Eagles (10-1) still left on the slate, the Eagles are one win away from clinching the NFC East. They may overlook the Raiders on Christmas Day with the division race all wrapped up for them.

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