Indianpolis Colts v Kansas City Chiefs - NFL 2025
Source: Kathryn Riley / Getty
INDIANAPOLIS – As the Colts return home for the first time in a month, they see a tightening AFC playoff picture around them.
The Colts are now at 8-3, leading the AFC South by one game with 6 weeks left in the season.
If the playoffs started today, the Colts would be the 3 seed, hosting the Jaguars in the Wild Card round.
With 4 AFC South games remaining in the final 6 weeks, it’s time to take another look at the playoff standings:
A couple of things to note on the Colts’ current playoff situation: –
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-While the Chiefs game was always going to be circled on the schedule, this Sunday (Houston) and next Sunday (at Jacksonville) was always going to carry more weight. That’s now here with 4 AFC South games in the final 6 weeks. The Jaguars continue to find wild ways to win, and they are just 1 game back of the Colts at 7-4. With the Texans having won 3 in a row, they are lurking at 6-5, along with the likely return of quarterback C.J. Stroud this weekend. When is the last time, the AFC South had 3 teams above .500 with Thanksgiving here? That means two massive games for the Colts in the next two weeks. By capturing the AFC South, the Colts would win their first division title since 2014 and host their first playoff game since January 2015.
-The Colts are still in a very solid playoff position. But if the Colts put together any losing streak down the stretch, things could get dicey to earn a playoff spot. If you look at the first three AFC teams currently outside the playoff picture (Steelers, Texans, Chiefs), all of those teams are 2 games behind the Colts right now. But the Colts already lost to the No. 8 team in Pittsburgh and the No. 10 team in Kansas City. And they have both meetings left with the Texans. So, if losses snowball, the Colts could be on the other side of some key head-to-head tiebreakers.
-Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs also was a decent blow to the Colts trying to get to the No. 1 seed. The Patriots, at 10-2, are leading the AFC, with their bye week still to come. At 9-2, the Broncos slot in at No. 2, as they return from their bye week. If the Colts get back to having the same record as the Patriots and/or Broncos, the tiebreakers would go to conference record for two teams, and common games if all three teams were tied. Remember when the NFL expanded to 14 playoff teams 2020, that meant just 1 bye in each conference. So even more of a premium is getting that 1 seed, as it’s the lone bye and gives you homefield throughout the playoffs.
-We will see how the rest of 2025 plays out, but the Colts head-to-head win over the Broncos could be quite handy as the standings shake out. Thanks to that leverage penalty, the Colts got another, much more manageable, crack at a game-winning field goal and snuck away with a Week 2 victory over Denver.
-If you want a closer look at the NFL’s tiebreaker procedures for the playoffs, head here.
Here’s a look at the AFC standings with 6 weeks remaining:
Division Leaders (overall record, conference record)
1. Patriots (10-2, 6-2): Giants, Bye, at Ravens, at Jets, Dolphins
2. Broncos (9-2, 6-2): at Commanders, at Raiders, Packers, Jaguars, at Chiefs, Chargers
3. Colts (8-3, 6-2): Texans, at Jaguars, at Seahawks, 49ers, Jaguars, at Texans
4. Ravens (6-5, 4-3): Bengals, Steelers, at Bengals, Patriots, at Packers, at Steelers
Wild Card Teams
5. Chargers (7-4, 6-2): Raiders, Eagles, at Chiefs, at Cowboys, Texans, at Broncos
6. Jaguars (7-4, 4-2): at Titans, Colts, Jets, at Broncos, at Colts, Titans
7. Bills (7-4, 4-3): at Steelers, Bengals, at Patriots, at Browns, Eagles, Jets
Outside Looking In
8. Steelers (6-5, 5-2): Bills, at Ravens, Dolphins, at Lions, at Browns, Ravens
9. Texans (6-5, 5-2): at Colts, at Chiefs, Cardinals, Raiders, at Chargers Colts
10. Chiefs (6-5, 3-4): at Cowboys, Texans, Chargers, at Titans, Broncos, at Raiders