AFC Playoff standings, odds, tiebreakers remaining schedules: Colts hold No. 7 seed entering Week 16 as AFC South race gets tighter

The Colts maintained control of their postseason destiny with Saturday's 30-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, improving their record to 8-6 and keeping possession of the AFC No. 7 seed entering Week 16. 

But that's just control of their destiny to make the playoffs. By virtue of the Jacksonville Jaguars' loss to the Baltimore Ravens Sunday night, the Colts, Jaguars and Houston Texans are all 8-6 with three games to play. The Jaguars own tiebreakers over the Colts and Texans, though – even in the event of a three-way tie – so, effectively, Jacksonville has a one-game lead in the AFC South. 

Key Week 15 results:

• Ravens 23, Jaguars 7: AFC South-leading Jaguars fall to 8-6
• Browns 20, Bears 17: No. 5 Browns improve to 9-5
• Bengals 27, Vikings 24 (OT): No. 6 Bengals improve to 8-6
• Colts 30, Steelers 13: No. 7 Colts improve to 8-6, No. 10 Steelers fall to 7-7
• Texans 19, Titans 16 (OT) No. 8 Texans improve to 8-6
• Bills 31, Cowboys 10: No. 9 Bills improve to 8-6
• Lions 42, Broncos 17: No. 11 Broncos fall to 7-7

AFC Standings (*denotes division leader, Dolphins & Titans play on Monday Night Football)

1. Baltimore Ravens (11-3)*
2. Miami Dolphins (10-4)*
3. Kansas City Chiefs (9-5)*
4. Jacksonville Jaguars (8-6)*
5. Cleveland Browns (9-5)
6. Cincinnati Bengals (8-6)
7. Indianapolis Colts (8-6)
8. Houston Texans (8-6)
9. Buffalo Bills (8-6)
10. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7)
11. Denver Broncos (7-7)
12. Las Vegas Raiders (6-8)
13. Los Angeles Chargers (5-9)
14. Tennessee Titans (5-9)
15. New York Jets (5-9)
16. New England Patriots (3-11)

Current Tiebreakers

The Bengals have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Colts and Bills, but lost head-to-head to the Texans – who lost head-to-head to the Colts. That means the Bengals are the highest-seeded 8-6 team, with the Colts ahead of the Texans on a head-to-head tiebreaker, and the Texans ahead of the Bills based on conference record. 

Conference record is important to track for any team with a slight chance of being in the wild card mix come Week 18, so we're going to expand this list to include the Dolphins, Jaguars and Raiders:

1. Miami: 7-3
2. Cleveland: 6-3
3. Indianapolis: 6-4
4. Jacksonville: 6-5
5. Houston 5-4
6. Pittsburgh: 5-5
7. Buffalo, Denver, Las Vegas: 4-5
8. Cincinnati: 3-6

Remaining Schedules (key head-to-head games in bold)

Colts (8-6):

• Week 16: at Falcons (6-8)
• Week 17: vs. Raiders (6-8)
• Week 18: vs. Texans (8-6)

Jaguars (8-6):

• Week 16: at Buccaneers (7-7)
• Week 17: vs. Panthers (2-12)
• Week 18: at Titans (5-9)

Browns (9-5):

• Week 16: at Texans (8-6)
• Week 17: vs. Jets (5-9)
• Week 18: at Bengals (8-6)

Bengals (8-6):

• Week 16: at Steelers (7-7)
• Week 17: at Chiefs (9-5)
• Week 18: vs. Browns (9-5)

Texans (8-6):

• Week 16: vs. Browns (9-5)
• Week 17: vs. Titans (5-9)
• Week 18: at Colts (8-6)

Bills (8-6):

• Week 16: at Chargers (5-9)
• Week 17: vs. Patriots (3-11)
• Week 18: at Dolphins (10-3)

Steelers (7-7):

• Week 16: vs. Bengals (7-7)
• Week 17: at Seahawks (6-7)
• Week 18: at Ravens (11-3)

Broncos (7-7):

• Week 16: vs. Patriots (3-11)
• Week 17: vs. Chargers (5-9)
• Week 18: at Raiders (6-8)

Playoff odds

The playoff odds for each wild card contender (right now, any team with at least seven wins) via the New York Times' Upshot playoff predictor:

1. Browns (88%, up from 85% last week)
2. Bills (69%, up from 42% last week)
3. Texans (55%, up from 41% last week)
4. Colts (52% up from 42% last week)
5. Bengals (34%, up from 25% last week)
6. Broncos (19%, down from 50% last week)
7. Steelers (3%, down from 25% last week)

A Colts win over the Falcons would increase their playoff odds to 64 percent, while a loss would drop them to 38 percent, pending other results in Week 16.

There's also a team not included in that list of seven above: The Jaguars, whose loss to the Ravens dropped their playoff odds to 72 percent. Current odds to win the AFC South, per the New York Times:

1. Jaguars (56%)
2. Colts (22%), Texans (22%)

If the Colts beat the Falcons and the Jaguars lose to the Buccaneers, the Colts will celebrate Christmas in first place in the AFC South, and would control their own divisional destiny with two games remaining.

Interested in playoff tickets? Visit the Colts Playoff Central for the most up-to-date information.