Chiefs strengthen hold on playoff spot, close in on AFC West leaders

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The Chiefs’ stay outside of the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoff picture was a short one, and after Sunday’s action they edged closer to a division title.

Entering the day, the Chiefs stood as the No. 6 seed, falling one spot from after last week’s games but only because the Jets got a jump on the competition this weekend.

Entering the weekend, the Chiefs, Jets and Steelers stood at 8-5 and the Jets’ victory over the Cowboys on Saturday night got them to 9-5.

They were joined by the Chiefs and Steelers who won on Sunday, but there was a shuffling for the last wild-card spot.

Pittsburgh took over the No. 6 seed by holding the tie-breaker over the Jets, which is now the first team out of the playoffs. The Steelers have a better record against common opponents than the Jets

The Steelers’ 34-27 victory over the Broncos affected the Chiefs in two ways:

It meant the Chiefs couldn’t pull away from a Steelers’ team pursuing them in the wild-card race. But it also pushed the Chiefs one game behind the Broncos, 10-4, in the AFC West race.

The Chiefs and Broncos split the regular-season series, but if the teams finish with the same record, the Chiefs will own the tie-breaker because of a better division record.

If the postseason opened today, the Chiefs would start the playoffs where they started the regular season — at Houston.

The Texans’ victory over the Colts give them lead in the AFC South, and the fourth seed in the playoff picture. The other wild-card round game would send the Steelers to Denver.

The Patriots, 12-2, hold the top seed, and the Bengals, 11-3, are the second seed.

The Chiefs are bidding for their first playoff appearance since 2013.

This story was originally published December 20, 2015 at 7:46 PM with the headline "Chiefs strengthen hold on playoff spot, close in on AFC West leaders."