AFC Playoff Picture: Where Chiefs stand after Week 11 win

The Kansas City Chiefs squeezed out yet another AFC West victory in Week 11, hanging on to their No. 1 spots in their division and the AFC conference.

The Chiefs are now three games ahead in the AFC West after beating the Chargers 30-27 on Sunday night. They also remain one game up on four other teams in the conference standings.

Here’s how the entire AFC playoff picture looks following Week 11:

AFC standings after Week 11

Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

Playoff seeds
1. Kansas City Chiefs (8-2) [AFC West leader]
2. Miami Dolphins (7-3) [AFC East leader]
3. Tennessee Titans (7-3) [AFC South leader]
4. Baltimore Ravens (7-3) [AFC North leader]
5. Buffalo Bills (7-3) [wild card]
6. New England Patriots (6-4) [wild card]
7. Cincinnati Bengals (6-4) [wild card]

In the hunt
8. New York Jets (6-4)
9. Los Angeles Chargers (5-5)
10. Indianapolis Colts (4-6-1)
11. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-7)
12. Las Vegas Raiders (3-7)
13. Cleveland Browns (3-7)
14. Denver Broncos (3-7)
15. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-7)
16. Houston Texans (1-8-1)

If the playoffs started today, the Chiefs would have a bye in the wild-card round thanks to holding the No. 1 seed.

Kansas City will need to stay one game up on the rest of the conference to hang on to that spot because tiebreakers could technically knock the Chiefs down in the standings. How so? Let’s look at the current tiebreakers if the Chiefs were, hypothetically, tied with other AFC teams:

• Chiefs and Dolphins haven’t played (and won’t play) each other this regular season and have the same conference record (5-2), but the Dolphins have the Chiefs beat in common games (1-0 over the Bills while the Chiefs are 0-1). Therefore, the Dolphins currently hold a tiebreaker over the Chiefs. That could change as the season progresses — both teams each have five AFC games left, and the Dolphins have four remaining common games with the Chiefs (Texans, 49ers, Chargers, and Bills again).

• The Chiefs beat the Titans in Week 9, so the Chiefs will hold a tiebreaker over the Titans for the rest of the season.

• The Chiefs and Ravens haven’t played (and won’t play) this regular season, but the Chiefs have a better conference record (5-2) than the Ravens (4-2), so the Chiefs currently hold a tiebreaker over them. That could also change — the Ravens have six more AFC games remaining. The Chiefs and Ravens are also tied via common games at 1-1 (wins over the Buccaneers and losses to the Bills). The Ravens have one more common game remaining with the Chiefs (Broncos), plus a victory over the Bengals (who the Chiefs will play in Week 13).

• The Chiefs lost to the Bills in Week 6, so the Bills will hold a tiebreaker over the Chiefs for the rest of the season.

• Keep in mind that if the Bills finish second in the AFC East (or any potential tying team finishes second or lower in their division) and the Chiefs win the AFC West, that tiebreaker would not matter since the Chiefs would be entering the playoffs as a division winner while the other team would enter the playoffs as a wild-card team.

• Long story short: If you’re a Chiefs fan, root extra hard against the Dolphins, Ravens and Bills.

What's the playoff seeding tiebreaker?

AP Photo/Jack Dempsey

The playoff tiebreaking procedure is:

1. Head-to-head record, if applicable.

2. Best conference win-loss record.

3. Best common games win-loss record (minimum of four).

4. Strength of victory.

5. Strength of schedule.

6. Best combined points scored and points allowed ranking within the conference.

7. Best combined points scored and points allowed ranking within the NFL.

8. Best net points conference games.

9. Best net points all games.

10. Best net touchdowns in all games.

11. A coin flip.

Who are the Chiefs' remaining opponents?

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Story originally appeared on Chiefs Wire