AFC playoff picture: Down conference keeps Browns from being too far out of picture

Chances are still slim but the AFC is down so far this season

The Cleveland Browns have been bad and any talk of them and the NFL playoffs should for sure get the Jim Mora “Playoffs? Playoffs?!” response. Expecting a historically bad offense to all of a sudden put it together to overcome a 1-5 start seems more than unrealistic. It seems impossible.

A slight glimmer of hope comes from the AFC as a whole. The AFC playoff picture is an interesting one to look at with no real surprises near the top but a lot of teams with .500 or less records. Only five six teams have winning records in the AFC with the Kansas City Chiefs the lone undefeated team in the conference.

The current playoff seeding looks like this:

1. Kansas City Chiefs 5-0
2. Houston Texans 5-1
3. Baltimore Ravens 4-2
4. Buffalo Bills 4-2
5. Pittsburgh Steelers 4-2
6. Los Angeles Chargers 3-2
7. Indianapolis Colts 3-3

The Denver Broncos are also 3-3 and lose out on a tiebreaker.

After the top eight, four teams in the AFC have two victories and another four have one.

At the conclusion of Week 6, the Browns are “just” two games out of the final wild-card spot in the AFC. Does that mean Cleveland fans have postseason hope? Not based on the current odds which have that possibility as a +980. It could mean the Browns are technically in the playoff race longer than expected if they can get a couple of wins on this three-game homestand.

Not only are the records less than expected, the performance on the field has been as well:

Something like two straight victories, starting this week in the AFC North, could then impact the team’s plans at the NFL trade deadline.

Are you surprised that the middle and bottom of the AFC has been so bad so far this season? Share your thoughts in the comment section below