The Pittsburgh Steelers clinched a playoff spot with the Tennessee Titans’ surprising loss to the Indianapolis Colts Sunday afternoon. The loss puts the Titans at 7-7. The Steelers have three games remaining, the first of which is Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers. It remains to see how they’ll handle them, but both the Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens are 10-3, and all the Steelers have sewn up now is a Wild Card. The Cincinnati Bengals have defeated the St. Louis Rams and are now 8-6, so they have plenty to play for and should have incentive to try extra-hard in their remaining matchup against the Ravens on January 1. The Ravens play the San Diego Chargers Sunday night.
Also, the Carolina Panthers upset the Houston Texans, which increases the likelihood of the eventual AFC North champion getting a top seed.
In other NFL action Sunday, the Chiefs handed the Green Bay Packers their first loss of the season.
Here’s how the AFC playoff seeds would look if the season ended Sunday afternoon:
1. Ravens
2. Patriots
3. Texans
4. Broncos
5. Steelers
6. Jets