Everyone assumes they know who will represent the AFC in the 2019 NFL Playoffs. We think we know how it will all play out, but perhaps we’re wrong. Maybe the season has just begun.
We are halfway through the NFL regular season, and Todd is ready to call the AFC playoff picture. He believes it’s over; all six squads. Yet Dan knows there is more to the 2019 NFL Playoffs than meets the eye. There is a lot of football left to play (obviously), but the writing is on the wall. Is anything actually settled? Because we have no idea what’s going to happen in the NFC.
The New England Patriots are the unanimous top team in football, so don’t think either of us is pompous enough to debate that fact. Much of the AFC is truthfully locked up, but it’s not so cut and dry. The 2019 NFL Playoffs are a very long way away.
Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate the 2019 NFL Playoffs in today’s NFL Sports Debate.
Todd Salem:
In the AFC, things are set. The four division winners will be New England, Baltimore, Houston and Kansas City. The two wild card clubs will be Indianapolis and Tennessee. The AFC South gets three teams in the postseason. Open and shut. We are done.
The Patriots are the obvious best team in the conference. Baltimore is an obvious division winner even though it isn’t that excellent of a team in my mind. The Ravens win the North by default. The same goes for the Chiefs in the West, though once Patrick Mahomes returns, this is an excellent team. Matt Moore actually filled in admirably for Mahomes on Sunday, giving hope that the team can compete up to and through its bye if Mahomes isn’t ready to come back right away.
We can quibble over the final standings of the South, but these four teams are all pretty solid. They all have positive point differentials, which is not something any other division can claim. Houston, to me, is the most talented club here, so I’ll give it the division, though I could understand another viewpoint.
There is no denying, though, that the Texans and Colts are playoff-caliber. We were speculating before the season on how good of a bet the Andrew Luck-less Colts would be considering their odds to win the division, make the Super Bowl, etc. The argument was simple. The rest of this team is still really good.
How good is Jacoby Brissett? It turns out, he’s pretty darn solid, which makes this team a contender. He doesn’t win games on his own, but he isn’t losing games for Indy, which many analysts thought he would when the season got underway.
That leaves Jacksonville, led by the legend at quarterback, or Tennessee. I love what I’ve seen from the Ryan Tannehill Titans. Tannehill reminds me of a more athletic Brissett in terms of a storyline. He’s good enough to let this team win ballgames around him. The Titans defense has been good this year; better than Jacksonville’s. And Tannehill does something simple that Marcus Mariota refused to do or wasn’t capable of doing. He is throwing the ball down the field.
Tannehill is averaging 8.3 yards per attempt. It’s only been three games, so what can we even draw from this, but 8.3 YPA would rank sixth in the NFL right now, ahead of Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson. Mariota never topped 7.6 YPA in any season of his career. The Titans have a harder schedule remaining than Jacksonville, but I like more of what I’ve seen from this version of Tennessee.
Dan Salem:
The 2019 NFL Playoffs are certainly coming into focus, but the AFC Playoff picture is not completely decided yet. I agree that five of six spots are locked in, but that sixth and final wild card spot is totally up for grabs.
All of New England, Baltimore, Kansas City and Houston are winning their divisions. Sorry not sorry Indianapolis, who will secure that first wildcard spot. But what about the final team to make the playoffs? What specifically has impressed you about Tennessee?
The Titans just defeated the Buccaneers behind Tannehill, so I understand your excitement. But Tennessee has yet to defeat a good football team. Buffalo just got smoked by the Eagles, so they don’t look so hot right now. But the Bills are still two games ahead of Tennessee. Then there’s Jacksonville, Oakland, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh all with at least three wins and within reasonable striking distance.
If the AFC South is as good as it looks, then Tennessee has one of the hardest roads to the playoffs. I’m confident in writing off the Chargers, Raiders and Steelers. I will not write off the Bills or Jaguars just yet. Both have solid defenses, like the Titans. Both have potentially capable quarterbacks, like Tennessee. All three teams are awkward mirror images of one another. Buffalo beat the Titans head to head, as did the Jaguars.
Where does the edge lie?
Maybe it’s my AFC East bias, but I’m not a huge Tannehill fan. I’m not a huge fan of any of these teams competing for the final AFC spot in the 2019 NFL Playoffs. It’s likely this team loses to the Colts to start the playoffs. While the NFC is completely up for grabs, we do have at least one spot in the AFC that’s undecided. Let the musical chairs begin.