AFC playoff picture: Chiefs climbing further

After winning their fifth straight game on Sunday afternoon, the Kansas City Chiefs climbed over the .500 mark for th first time since being 1-0. It has been nothing short of an amazing run by a team that we all believed was dead in the water back in October.

Somehow, the Chiefs are not only alive but suddenly quite well in the AFC playoff picture. Last week, Kansas City got itself back into the top six seeds by beating the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. This Sunday, the Chiefs handled the Buffalo Bills and by virtue of the Pittsburgh Steelers losing to the Seattle Seahawks, vaulted into the fifth seed.

Here’s how the playoff standings in the AFC look right now:

1. New England Patriots (10-1)
2. Cincinnati Bengals (9-2)
3. Denver Broncos (9-2)
4. Indianapolis Colts (6-5)
5. Kansas City Chiefs (6-5)
6. Houston Texans (6-5)
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7. New York Jets (6-5)
8. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5)
9. Buffalo Bills (5-6)
10. Oakland Raiders (5-6)
11. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-7)
12. Miami Dolphins (4-7)
13. Baltimore Ravens (3-7)
14. San Diego Chargers (3-8)
15. Cleveland Browns (2-8)
16. Tennessee Titans (2-9)

If the postseason began this coming weekend, the Chiefs would be on the road to take on the Indianapolis Colts, who have won three straight games behind backup 40-year-old quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

Considering the Denver Broncos are going to win the AFC West barring a massive collapse, the Chiefs are vying for the fifth seed. Should they make it there, they will play the winner of the AFC South, almost assuredly to be either the Colts or Houston Texans, who actually hold the sixth and final spot via tiebreaker.

Here are the impact games this coming weekend:

• Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders
• New York Jets at New York Giants
• Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers
• Houston Texans at Buffalo Bills

Five weeks to go…