The Raiders loss to the Dolphins on Sunday caused the AFC Wild Card to slip perilously close to beyond reach. In fact, with the top teams in the AFC East and North playing as well as they are, the Wild Card is starting to look locked up for the teams that do not win those two divisions.
Those teams all play each other this week. The 8-3 Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Baltimore to take on the 8-3 Ravens in a Primetime Sunday Night showdown. The 9-2 N.Y. Jets travel to New England to take on the 9-2 Patriots for Monday Night Football. Good news for the wild card hopefuls. As, whoever loses will be falling back to the pack.
The next group at 6-5 has the Indianapolis Colts tied a top the AFC South with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers will host the Raiders, in a battle for division and wild card positioning. The Colts will host the resurgent 3-8 Dallas Cowboys. The Jaguars will travel to Tennessee to take on another wild card hopeful, the 5-6 Tennessee Titans.
The 5-6 wild card hopefuls also include the Raiders and Houston Texans. The Texans will travel to Philadelphia to take on Michael Vick and the Eagles for Thursday Night Football. One thing is for certain this week, the wild card leaders will be sliding back. Now we will just wait and see who can capitalize.