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In the 30 seasons in which the NFL received 12 teams a year in the playoffs, only one team with 11 victories failed to qualify. This year, three different teams have the chance to be excluded from the AFC field, despite winning 11 games.
The Colts, Browns or Ravens could miss the AFC postseason with seven teams, a record 11-5. The situation turned the Ravens into Steelers fans; if Pittsburgh loses to both the Colts and the Browns, and the Ravens win the last two games, the Ravens could go outside and score 11-5.
However, playing in terms of wins and losses, a high quality AFC team will end up losing the playoffs this year. For the Colts, Titans, Browns, Dolphins and Ravens, only four seats are available. The Colts or Titans will receive one of them, and the other will compete with the Browns, Dolphins and Ravens for the three wild-card places.
In total, thirteen teams with 10 or more wins missed the playoffs in the three decades of the 12 postseason teams: 2015 Jets (10-6) Eagles 2014 (10-6), Falcons 2013 (10-6 ), Cardinals 2013 (10-6), Bears 2012 (10-6), Giants 2010 (10-6), Buccaneers from 2010 (10-6), Patriots from 2008 (11-5), Browns from 2007 (10- 6), Heads from 2005 (10-6), Dolphins from 2003 (10-6), Eagles from 1991 (10-6) and 49ers from 1991 (10-6).