Top 5 AFC Games Remaining
Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos have a couple of burn burners left on the schedule.
In true blink-and-you-miss-it fashion, the 2013 NFL regular season will be but a distant memory six weeks from now.
For 20 sets of fans the season will be done and dusted while fans of the remaining 12 teams will be eagerly anticipating the wild card playoffs.
But six weeks can be a long time in the NFL, especially at this time of the year. There are still 94 games left on the slate starting with tonight’s matchup between the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons and finishing with what could well be chaos in Week 17.
To celebrate nearly a ton of games, BettingSports.com took this quiet Thursday morning – one that saw all NFL news trumped by the Prince Fielder-Ian Kinsler trade – to pick out the top five games left on the AFC schedule.
If you’re a fan of the NFC, don’t panic. We’ll have the top five NFC games left on the slate for you tomorrow.
Now, let’s get on with it.
Will Tom Brady and the New England Patriots put a dent in Denver’s title hopes?
Denver Broncos at New England Patriots
Week 12: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA, Nov. 24, 8:30 p.m. ET
Sunday Night Football this weekend sees the next round between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady as the Denver Broncos travel to Foxborough to take on the New England Patriots. The quarterback matchup alone is worthy of a spot in this list but there’s more riding on this game than Brady and Manning’s rivalry.
The Broncos will be only too well aware that a slip up in New England could see the Kansas City Chiefs retake pole position in the AFC West. A loss for the Patriots meanwhile would open the door for the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets to move within one-game of the AFC East leaders.
BettingSports.com has all the latest Denver Broncos vs. New England Patriots odds for 11/24/2013.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are surging. Can Ben Roethlisberger guide them to the postseason?
Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens
Week 13: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD, Nov. 28, 8:30 p.m. ET
With both teams sitting uncomfortably at 4-6 right now, you might raise be surprised to see a showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers on this list. You shouldn’t be though.
First up, the Steelers-Ravens rivalry remains one of the NFL’s best, something a down year doesn’t change. Secondly, this is the primetime game on Thanksgiving night, which means you’re morally obliged to sit down and fall asleep during the game. Thirdly, and most importantly, believe it or not, both teams are just one-game out of a playoff berth. That’s how ridiculously close the AFC is this season. Granted, there are nine teams vying for one playoff spot – at least as things stand – but the Steelers and Ravens are still alive!
A win over the Broncos could see Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs emerge as division winners.
Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 13: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO, Dec. 1, 4:25 p.m. ET
After this week’s game against the Patriots, the Broncos will make the trip to rambunctious Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Chiefs. The Broncos got the better of the Chiefs this past Sunday. Can they do it again with 76,000 fans screaming at them like a rabid St. Bernhard?
This game will be about more than bragging rights. In all likelihood it will be about a division championship and a first round bye. After this game, Kansas City has the tougher schedule by way of a showdown with the Indianapolis Colts (Week 16) while Denver can coast. The Chiefs need to win then.
Can Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts earn a first round bye?
Indianapolis Colts at Cincinnati Bengals
Week 14: Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, OH, Dec. 8, 1:00 p.m. ET
Like the Broncos-Chiefs game in Week 13, Indianapolis’ trip to Ohio to take on the AFC North-leading Cincinnati Bengals could be about earning a first round bye.
With a three-game lead over the Tennessee Titans, the Colts would have to suffer a meltdown of epic proportions not to win the division, especially with four of six games against sub-.500 teams. They may even have wrapped up a playoff berth before this game, but skipping the wild card round and owning home field advantage in the divisional playoffs is reward enough to take this game seriously.
At 7-4, the Bengals aren’t quite out of the woodshed yet, especially with just a 2-2 record within their division. By the time this week is over, a week in which Marvin Lewis’ side is idle, their lead may be down to two games. They’ll need to win this one. If they do, a bye wouldn’t be out of the question.
The Jekyll & Hyde Jets could be playing for the postseason in Week 17.
New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
Week 17: Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL, Dec. 29, 1:00 p.m. ET
If this weekend was Week 17, the Dolphins and Jets would be playing for the final wild card berth. Unfortunately for both AFC East sides, we still have six weeks to play.
The sides will meet twice during that stretch, first in New Jersey on December 1 and then in South Florida on the last day of the season. That finale could still be for a place in the postseason. Depending on how things go with the Patriots, it could also be for a division championship.
As unlikely as that latter scenario is, the AFC’s parity this season means that the former could very much be on. And if the Jets-Dolphins game doesn’t mean anything, at least two teams are going to be fighting for January.
And the Worst…
We couldn’t serve you up five tasty slices of AFC action without picking out a stinker now, could we? Well, we’re awarding the accolade of worst game left on the AFC schedule to a showdown between the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars.
The AFC cellar dwellers meet this weekend in Texas (you can find odds and trends here) but we believe the Week 14 matchup between the sides in northern Florida will be the true low point of the season. This Thursday Night Football (urgh) showdown will see the Jaguars return home from a tough road game against the Cleveland Browns while Houston will arrive having played (and in all likelihood lost to) the Patriots. Better find something better to do with your time. College football showdown between Louisville and Cincinnati anybody?
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