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2015 AFC Playoff picture, NFL Week 12: Jaguars are 11th seed

The Jaguars are in the thick of the playoff hunt in late November even though the teams they needed help from didn't do their jobs.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Jacksonville Jaguars are still right in the thick of the 2015 NFL Playoff hunt, despite the fact that both the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts won on Sunday. If both had lost, the Jaguars would be in the driver’s seat and tied for first place in the division. Jokingly on Friday with some friends, we all agreed it would be "very Jaguars" if the Texans and Colts both won on Sunday with backup quarterbacks, and here we are.

Here is the current AFC playoff picture:

1. New England Patriots (10-0)
2. Cincinnati Bengals (8-2)
3. Denver Broncos (8-2)
4. Indianapolis Colts (5-5)
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5. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-4)
6. Kansas City Chiefs (5-5)
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7. Houston Texans (5-5)
8. Buffalo Bills (5-5)
9. New York Jets (5-5)
10. Oakland Raiders (4-6)
11. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-6)
12. Miami Dolphins (4-6)

Most of the potential playoff talk for the Jaguars has centered around winning a bad division, in the AFC South, but recently three of the AFC South teams have started to put things together. Without Andrew Luck, the Colts are 3-0 and the Texans find ways to beat teams they’re evenly matched with or should beat, something the Jaguars struggled with early in the season. But, thanks to the gap between the good and bad teams in 2015 being so wide, the Jaguars are now not limited to just winning the division and making it.

The Jaguars are in the Wild Card hunt now, as well as still in play for the division, with three division games left. Two of the three remaining division games are on the road, but if the Jaguars truly want to make the playoffs this season, they’ll need to win at least two of those three remaining AFC South matchups.