While the Tennessee Titans are recovering and planning for their next opponent, the rest of the AFC is battling it out just for the chance to travel to Nashville this postseason.
It can get a little tricky figuring out who the Titans would play just because it all depends on the outcome of every game this weekend (outside of one).
To make it easier to sort out, this is a quick guide to turn to after some of the results start to become final.
Since there are only six other teams in the postseason, let’s start with the opponent that would require the fewest results to figure out.
Tennessee Titans playoff options
#7 seed: Pittsburgh Steelers
If the Steelers beat the Kansas City Chiefs then their next opponent will be the Titans regardless of anything else that happens this weekend. That is pretty simple to figure out, but based on how the two teams look it is not a very likely outcome.
#6 seed: New England Patriots
If the Chiefs beat the Steelers, then all the Patriots would have to do is beat the Buffalo Bills to face the Titans. The two teams split the season so it is really hard to figure out exactly how this will shake out, but it is probably the most likely outcome of the potential results.
#5 seed: Las Vegas Raiders
The last of the potential upset teams, the Raiders would need to beat the Cincinnati Bengals and the other two favorites to win their games if they were going to advance to face the Titans in Nashville. Given how effective that pass rush was and how well they played against the L.A. Chargers, no one should count out the Raiders but they did just cut Will Compton so they are due some bad karma.
#4 seed: Cincinnati Bengals
If all of the favorites win this weekend, then the Bengals would be the team that travels to face the Titans. Even though they won the AFC North, they have the lowest seed so they would have to head south into Titans country.
What about the Buffalo Bills or Kansas City Chiefs?
Due to seeding, there is no way that the Titans would play either one of these teams in their first game. If multiple teams have upsets then the Chiefs would play the New England Patriots or the Buffalo Bills would play the Las Vegas Raiders.