NFL Playoff Prediction: Wide Open AFC Gives Hope to Wild Card Teams

The AFC and the NFC are about as opposite as it gets. The teams atop the NFC are frightening. The teams atop the AFC all have question marks.

Even the three-time Super Bowl-winning Patriots with their core of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are postseason question marks.

New England has already locked up the AFC East, and Houston has locked up the AFC South. The AFC North will be decided between Pittsburgh and Baltimore, but the only difference is that one will host a postseason game and the other won't.

As for the AFC West, it is anyone's guess at this point. All four teams are still in contention with Tim Tebow's Wild-West-Bronco-Show leading the way.

The division won't be decided until season's end.

Unlike the NFC wild cards, who travel a treacherous road with no comfort in sight, the AFC wild cards can almost be considered favorites.

One wild card spot is sewn up to the the loser in the AFC North, while the six seed remains up for grabs. The Jets currently hold the lead, but they can be bounced if the Raiders or Broncos don't win the West but finish with the same record as them. They can also be caught from behind by the Bengals or Titans.

Whoever joins the Steelers or Ravens in the playoffs will have as good chance at representing the AFC in the Super Bowl as anyone else.

The Patriots haven't won a postseason game since the 2007 AFC Championship Game. The Steelers and Ravens will likely have to face each other again, and home-field advantage matters little in that showdown. The Texans have never been to the playoffs before in franchise history and are sporting a third-string QB under center. And the AFC West winner, unless it is the Chargers, will be a first-timer in the postseason with their current rosters.

Matt Cassel is out for the Chiefs. Carson Palmer has been to the postseason twice in his career and has yet to win a game. And Tim Tebow is Tim Tebow.

Whether it be the Jets, Bengals or one of the AFC West cast-outs, they legitimately have very little to fear going against the division winners.

The one team this bodes extremely well for, if they can win this week, is the New York Jets. The Jets have been to two straight AFC Championship Games and become a different team in the postseason.

All they have to do is get there.

When all is said and done, don't be surprised if an AFC Wild Card team represents the conference on Super Bowl Sunday.