Sorting the cluttered, chaotic AFC playoff sprint with five weeks left

I broke down the NFC playoff picture two weeks ago, which essentially had two guaranteed spots and then nine teams in a free-for-all for the other four opportunities. The Falcons and Packers have probably played their way out of that race, but we're still looking at seven teams for four spots. Some good team is going to miss out.

Let's run through the AFC, where things are a little clearer. Five teams are huge favorites to make the postseason, according to ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI), but they're all fighting for seeding and holding off the competition. The sixth spot is going to be fun chaos -- Monday night's game will have a huge impact -- and there's still a reasonable chance one of…