Written by John Breech at CBSSports.com
For the first time in eight years, the Titans are going to make the playoffs. Although it’s not official yet, that’s what we’re projecting as we take a look at the 12 teams that have the best shot to make the postseason this year.
The biggest change from last week’s projection is that we’ve officially lost all faith in the Texans’ chances of winning the AFC South.
With the Colts basically out of the race, and the Texans benching their starting quarterback, the Titans have almost become the favorite by default. To make the playoff berth official, all the Titans have to do is beat the Jaguars (who just fired their coach) and beat a Texans team that could be in the middle of a quarterback controversy if new starter Tom Savage struggles on Saturday against the Bengals.
So who else are we projecting into the playoff field?
Let’s take a look, and like always, we’ll be using data from SportsLine.com to give you each team’s most up-to-date odds on making the postseason.
Note: Remember, this is a projection based on how we think the final two weeks of the regular season will play out. If you want to see the current playoff standings, click here to see Will Brinson’s thorough breakdown of what the playoff race looks like as we head into Week 16.
AFC Playoff Projection
1. New England Patriots
Projected record:14-2, AFC East champion
We’re projecting the Patriots to earn the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC, which is bad news for the rest of the conference. Over the past 10 years, the Patriots have been the top seed four times (2007, 2010, 2011, 2014) and in three of those seasons, they ended up getting all the way to the Super Bowl. Basically, the rest of the AFC should be hoping that the Raiders can knock the Patriots out of the top spot.
2. Oakland Raiders
Projected record: 13-3, AFC West champion
The Raiders might want to send a fruit basket to the Titans this week after their big win over the Chiefs. Thanks to Kansas City’s loss, we’re now projecting the Raiders to win the AFC West, which means they’ll likely get a first-round bye. If Oakland wins either of its last two games, that guarantees that the AFC West winner will be the No. 2 seed at worst. The Raiders can sew up the first-round bye over Christmas weekend with a win over the Colts and a Chiefs loss against the Broncos.
Raiders’ remaining schedule: Indianapolis (7-7) at Denver (8-6)
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