On Thursday night, the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in what wound up being a nail-biter at U.S. Bank Stadium. This gave the Indianapolis Colts a bit of a boost during their bye week.
Entering the prime-time game on Thursday night, the Colts were sitting at No. 9 in the AFC playoff race with a 7-6 record. They were just behind the Steelers, who had a record of 6-5-1 entering the game.
However, their 36-28 loss on the road pushed them down in the race and put the Colts up just one spot out of playoff contention. Following the loss, here’s a quick updated look at the AFC playoff picture:
- New England Patriots (9-4)
- Tennessee Titans (8-4)
- Baltimore Ravens (8-4)
- Kansas City Chiefs (8-4)
- Los Angeles Chargers (7-5)
- Cincinnati Bengals (7-5)
- Buffalo Bills (7-5)
- Indianapolis Colts (7-6)
The new playoff format means the top-seven teams in the AFC will make the playoffs with the No. 1 seed being the only one with a bye. Given that the Colts won their head-to-head matchup over the Bills in Week 11, they have a distinct advantage if they wind up in a tie.
Furthermore, the Colts are 6-3 against AFC opponents this season. Only the Patriots (7-1) have a better record in that area. This is a massive advantage to have when it comes to tiebreakers.
The Colts will have a tough test over their final four games coming out of the bye week, but they got some help from the Vikings on Thursday night.
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