We take a look at the standings and the NFL playoff picture following Monday's game between the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets.
The AFC East was on display on Monday Night Football for Week 14 and it wasn't pretty. That's because the New England Patriots, the division leader, wasn't in action, while the third-place Miami Dolphins and last-place New York Jets were the teams battling it out. The latter has no chance of making the postseason (and is surely looking at some serious changes to the coaching staff this offseason), while the former had an outside chance coming into Monday.
Well, Miami did their best and did come out on top. They moved to 7-5, tied with the Buffalo Bills, two games behind the Patriots in first place. It wasn't a pretty game, and Miami certainly didn't inspire much confidence by requiring a fourth quarter comeback to best the Jets.
Miami and Buffalo both have another game against the Patriots remaining on the schedule, and New England also has a tough game coming up as they take on the San Diego Chargers in Week 14. So there's definitely still plenty of room for the Patriots to fall, but it's certainly not the likeliest scenario at this point in the season.
Here's how the rest of the divisions are shaping up around the league:
AFC West
The Denver Broncos are still in command of the AFC West after Denver took down the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. It was yet another missed opportunity for Kansas City, who fell to the Oakland Raiders the week before. They're still in the running at 7-5, but they're now third in the division after the San Diego Chargers moved to 8-4 with a win over Baltimore on Sunday. Denver is 9-3 and is currently fighting for playoff seeding.
AFC South
The Indianapolis Colts are 8-4 and have firm control over the AFC South. The Houston Texans are threatening, but they're two games back at 6-6. If the Colts have a string of bad luck, they could lose their spot, but they already beat the Texans once this season and will be favored to do so again in Week 15. Both the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars are non-factors.
AFC North
This is the most competitive division in football to be sure, but it got less so on Sunday. All of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns lost their games, while the Cincinnati Bengals, who were already on top on the back of a tie earlier in the year, beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to increase their lead. Cincinnati is now 8-3-1 while the other three teams sit at 7-5.
NFC East
The Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, taking sole possession of the NFC East lead in the process. Both Washington and the New York Giants are struggling and not in the discussion, so whether or not Dallas can fight back to regain the lead is now the big story. The two teams will play each other again before the season is over.
NFC West
The Arizona Cardinals are still the biggest surprise in the league, and they're on top of the NFC West. But they're only a game up on the Seattle Seahawks now, at 9-3. That's due to a loss to Seattle in Week 12 and a loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Now Seattle is 8-4, while the San Francisco 49ers aren't far behind at 7-5. The Cardinals will play all of their NFC West rivals over the final four games of the season.
NFC South
This division isn't getting any better. Well, that's not strictly true, as the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints both won on Sunday, but they're still 5-7 apiece, sharing the lead in the NFC South. Once home to some of the best teams in the league, both the Saints and the Falcons have played some miserable football of late. The Carolina Panthers are still technically in it at 3-8-1, but one of the Saints or Falcons will probably do enough to limp into the playoffs.
NFC North
The Green Bay Packers are in control in the NFC North after an impressive victory over the aforementioned Patriots on Sunday. Green Bay is now 9-3, while the Detroit Lions are 8-4, with a loss to said Patriots. These two teams won't meet until Week 17, but for now, the Packers have the lead. Both teams have similar schedules in which they'll be favored to win out.
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