How the Tennessee Titans Can Make the Playoffs

NASHVILLE, TN — With Ryan Succop's 53-yard walk-off field goal Sunday, the Tennessee Titans improved to an unexpected 8-6 with a 19-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs at a frigid Arrowhead Stadium.

Now, with two games remaining — at division cellar-dweller Jacksonville on Christmas Eve and home against fellow AFC South leaders Houston on New Year's Day — the Titans control their own playoff destiny. Win both games and the team wins the division and hosts a wild-card team in the first round of the playoffs.

That's the easiest path to the playoffs for one of the NFL's most surprising teams and it's not just possible, it might even be probable. Jacksonville fired coach Gus Bradley after coughing up a lead at Houston to drop to 2-12 on the year. In that same game, the Texans benched quarterback Brock Osweiler — who signed a four-year, $72-million contract with Houston in the offseason — in favor of Tom Savage, who is believed to be a person who plays football, and is a product of three well-regarded college football factories: Rutgers, Arizona and Pitt.

Essentially, to win the division, the Titans must have the best record, as both Houston and Indianapolis hold tiebreakers over Tennessee, but even with a loss Saturday in Jacksonville, the Titans can still win the AFC South if the Texans lose at Cincinnati and the Colts lose both remaining games (at Oakland and home against the Jags). The Titans would still have to defeat Houston on New Year's.

The Titans could also split its remaining games and backdoor into the playoffs through the wild card, though such a scenario would require a fair bit of help.

A 9-7, non-division-winning Titans team would need the Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens to both lose out and the Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts to lose once each.

The Titans hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Dolphins and Broncos for the final wild-card berth, winning at Miami 30-17 October 9 and edging the Broncos at Nissan Stadium 13-10 December 11. However, the team would lose the tiebreaker to the Colts, who swept the Titans this year, and to the Ravens, who would finish with a better conference record.

None of these playoff scenarios take into account the unlikely event of a tied game. Explore the NFL's tiebreaking procedures and learn about the 11th tiebreaker: net touchdowns.