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Five weeks remaining in the regular season and only one game separating the New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals and your Denver Broncos – the top three teams in the American Football Conference.
Who will emerge with the No. 1 seed? Which team will be forced to play an extra game in the wild-card round?
Soon it will be Christmas Day and a little more than a week after that, we’ll get to unwrap the actual AFC playoff seedings.
In the meantime we’re still a month of dramatic stretch-run football away, and here are the 15 remaining games for the AFC’s Big Three, ranked in order of what figures to be the easiest to the most challenging:
Patriots vs. Titans (Week 15) – Bill Belichick in the Pats’ home finale against a rookie quarterback is a mismatch virtually guaranteed to further boost the Titans’ chances of landing the top overall pick in next spring’s draft.
Bengals at 49ers (Week 15) – The rag-tag Niners and QB Blaine Gabbert will present a welcome respite for Cincy in between games against the Steelers and Broncos.
Bengals at Browns (Week 13) – Cleveland will be starting its third quarterback of the season Sunday in Austin Davis and will likely still be in shock following Monday night’s “kick-six” loss to the Ravens.
Patriots vs. Eagles (Week 13) – With Philly having surrendered 45 points and five touchdown passes in back-to-back games, how many points will a fired-up Tom Brady put up coming off a loss – depleted pass-catching corps or not?
Bengals vs. Ravens (Week 17) – Cincy has beaten their AFC North rivals four straight times – and that was with Joe Flacco playing quarterback.
Broncos vs. Chargers (Week 17) – Yeah, it’s a division rivalry, but the Chargers figure to be more concerned about their off-season vacation plans than upending the Orange & Blue in the regular-season finale.
Broncos at Chargers (Week 13) – The Bolts’ defense is a mess, but the Broncos will once again have to overcome a disadvantage at quarterback (and the Sports Illustrated cover jinx) with Brock Osweiler starting opposite the red-hot Philip Rivers on the road.
Broncos vs. Raiders (Week 14) – Derek Carr and Co. will be dangerous fighting for their playoff lives, and if this is the week Peyton Manning is healthy enough to return, it could create a Mile-High distraction.
Patriots at Texans (Week 14) – Don’t look now, but Houston is in the midst of one of the league’s most stirring second-half turnarounds, and J.J. Watt and Co. should present some prime-time problems for Tom Brady, especially if Gronk is still missing in action.
Patriots at Dolphins (Week 17) – Who knows what the Dolphins’ mentality will be like in the season finale, but it’s been anything but a tropical vacation of late for New England in South Beach as the Pats have dropped their last two games in Miami.
Bengals vs. Steelers (Week 14) – Cincy won 16-10 in the Steel City in Week 8 but has only swept the regular-season series twice in the last 20 years.
Broncos vs. Bengals (Week 16) – As the Bengals showed last Dec. 22, they know how to beat the Broncos in Monday Night Football season finales.
Broncos at Steelers (Week 15) – Provided Big Ben Roethlisberger isn’t on crutches or in the concussion protocol, the Steelers have the offensive weapons to make any team more than a little nervous.
Patriots at Jets (Week 16) – Brady’s bunch prevailed 30-23 in a hard-fought Week 7 game in Foxborough, but the J-E-T-S very likely could be playing for their postseason lives in this rematch in the Meadowlands.
Bengals at Broncos (Week 16) – A prime-time road game for Andy Dalton against one of the league’s top defenses – need we say more?