Mapping out the New York Jets' Path to the Playoffs Headed into Week 13

At this point, the New York Jets' playoff fate is not in their own hands.

If they're going to break their four-year postseason drought, they're going to need a little help from at least one team. 

The Jets sit at 6-5, currently one of five teams in the AFC with the same record. The other four are the Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs. There are also two more teams hot on their tail at 5-6: the Buffalo Bills and the Oakland Raiders.

Even after picking up the win on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, the Jets are still on the outside looking in. That's because the Jets dropped their head-to-head meeting with the Texans, who share the same record. That means either the Jets will have to finish with at least one more win than the Texans or the Chiefs will have to drop one game more than the Jets in the final five weeks of the season.

The question is, how likely is that to happen?

Team	W-L	Remaining opponent W-L	Home games left
Indianapolis Colts*	6-5	22-33	2
Kansas City Chiefs	6-5	19-36	3
Houston Texans	6-5	27-28	2
New York Jets	6-5	25-30	2
Pittsburgh Steelers	6-5	30-25	2
Oakland Raiders	5-6	31-24	3
Buffalo Bills	5-6	24-31	3

Looking at the schedules for the teams that are in the thick of the playoff race, a pretty clear picture is painted of the Chiefs as the front-runners now and going forward. They do not face a single opponent with a winning record in their final five games of the year, and three of those five games are in front of their home crowd. 

On the other hand, you have the Houston Texans with only two home games, including one against the New England Patriots. Their road game against the Bills in Week 13 could essentially be a playoff game for both teams; the winner isn't guaranteed a spot in the postseason, but the loser is guaranteed a steep uphill battle to the playoffs.

And even if the Texans somehow win both games, they have the Colts in what is essentially a division championship game.

The Colts are included in the above playoff picture despite being the leader in the AFC South. They could factor into the wild-card hunt if they're unable to close the book on the division over the next five games. Their only true remaining hurdle is Week 13 on the road against the Steelers, but they have three games left against their cupcake division opponents.

All five of the Jets' remaining games are winnable—yes, even Week 16 against the Patriots. The Jets pushed New England to the limit in Week 7, holding a four-point lead with less than half of the fourth quarter remaining. Their own miscues, including clock management and a costly false start penalty on wide receiver Brandon Marshall, were their undoing in that game.

The Jets are going to have to play a perfect game against the Patriots if they want to come away with that win, but that's not for another three weeks. The Jets still have three opponents ahead on their schedule, albeit one difficult and two soft opponents.

The Jets can still make the postseason. That being said, their margin for error is so thin, they can afford no less than a little help and a lot of error-free football.