AFC Playoff Picture: Bengals pass Patriots and Broncos for top seed

There's a new team at the top of the AFC playoff standings.

The New England Patriots have fallen from the top spot following their loss at home to the Philadelphia Eagles. That followed an overtime loss to the Denver Broncos last week after New England was on the verge of building a two-game lead in the race for the AFC standings.

The Patriots have now lost two straight, and combined with two-straight wins by the Bengals, it is now Cincinnati on top of the AFC. Though the Bengals, Patriots and Broncos all have 10-2 records after their Week 13 games, Cincy has a superior conference record at 8-1 in AFC play.

The Bengals edge out the Broncos for the stop spot due to Denver's two losses both to AFC teams (Kansas city Chiefs and Indianapolis Colts). The Bengals have lost to one AFC team and one NFC team now, giving them the top seed over the Broncos.

However, Denver is still in great position to steal the top spot with four games left in the regular season. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games among the clubs) is the all-important tie-breaker when it comes to postseason seeding, and Denver already has a win over New England. The Broncos host the Bengals in Week 16 on Monday Night Football, a game in which Denver will likely be favored to win.

If they do so, the Broncos will have a 2-0 record vs the Bengals and Patriots while having that head-to-head tiebreaker if all three teams finish with equal records. The head-to-head win over New England is why Denver would be the No. 2 seed if the playoffs began today.

There's still a lot left to be decided and four regular season games of football left to be played for each of the current top three teams, but the Bengals could not have asked for a better scenario coming into the 2015 NFL season.

Here are the latest AFC playoff standings via ESPN, prior to the Steelers vs Colts game on Sunday Night Football.