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The Cincinnati Bengals would host the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild-Card round of the NFL playoffs if the regular season ended today. This, despite the fact that neither AFC-North rival has yet to face each other this season.
However, that will change in the month of December, when the two teams face each other twice in a 22-day span. The 6-3-1 Bengals have done just enough to maintain a slim lead in the division through the first 11 weeks, while the 7-4 Steelers are battling a host of teams for one of the final Wild-Card spots.
The roles could easily be flipped in just one week though, as the Bengals face a tough Texans team in Houston this week while Pittsburgh rests during their bye week.
Here are the updated NFL playoff standings for the AFC:
|
Seed |
AFC |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
DIV |
CONF |
SOS |
SOV |
REASON |
|
1 |
New England |
8 |
2 |
0 |
.800 |
2-1-0 |
6-2-0 |
.461 |
.407 |
AFC East Champ |
|
2 |
Denver |
7 |
3 |
0 |
.700 |
3-0-0 |
5-1-0 |
.556 |
.514 |
AFC West Champ (Wins tie break over Kansas City based on head-to-head win percentage.) |
|
3 |
Cincinnati |
6 |
3 |
1 |
.650 |
2-1-0 |
4-3-0 |
.467 |
.380 |
AFC North Champ |
|
4 |
Indianapolis |
6 |
4 |
0 |
.600 |
3-0-0 |
5-3-0 |
.489 |
.392 |
AFC South Champ |
|
5 |
Kansas City |
7 |
3 |
0 |
.700 |
1-1-0 |
5-2-0 |
.511 |
.517 |
|
|
6 |
Pittsburgh |
7 |
4 |
0 |
.636 |
2-2-0 |
6-3-0 |
.431 |
.451 |
|
|
7 |
Miami |
6 |
4 |
0 |
.600 |
2-1-0 |
5-2-0 |
.500 |
.380 |
Wins tie break over San Diego and Baltimore based on best win percentage in conference games. Division tie break was initially used to eliminate Cleveland (Baltimore wins tie break over Cleveland based on head-to-head win percentage). |
|
8 |
San Diego |
6 |
4 |
0 |
.600 |
2-2-0 |
5-3-0 |
.478 |
.280 |
Wins tie break over Baltimore based on best win percentage in conference games. Division tie break was initially used to eliminate Cleveland (Baltimore wins tie break over Cleveland based on head-to-head win percentage). |
|
9 |
Baltimore |
6 |
4 |
0 |
.600 |
2-3-0 |
3-4-0 |
.490 |
.395 |
Wins tie break over Cleveland based on head-to-head win percentage. |
|
10 |
Cleveland |
6 |
4 |
0 |
.600 |
2-2-0 |
4-4-0 |
.386 |
.352 |
|
|
11 |
Houston |
5 |
5 |
0 |
.500 |
1-1-0 |
4-2-0 |
.440 |
.250 |
Wins tie break over Buffalo based on head-to-head win percentage. |
|
12 |
Buffalo |
5 |
5 |
0 |
.500 |
2-2-0 |
2-5-0 |
.544 |
.460 |