The on Monday night were handed an outstanding chance to make their move in the AFC playoff picture. Their only problem? The .After watching a trio of NFC powerhouses -- the , and -- on Sunday, New England followed suit with a at Gillette Stadium. Injury- Riley Nowakowski Jersey ravaged and , the reached peak vulnerability against Buffalo, but it didn't matter.No team adjusts to setbacks, off-field controversy and on-field challenges better than New England. Sitting at 10-0, the , not with and out of the lineup. Still, history tells us that Bill Belichick and his trusted gaggle of a sistants will shift roles and responsibilities, iron out the wrinkles and cook up hand-crafted schemes to outduel the competition.In a conference absent of a true challenger, it's not impo sible to imagine the rolling into 50 without a fight. Still, I see two teams with a shot at unseating New England:Northern Lights to the actually gave me hope for the .Instead of folding the tent on prime time -- as many expected -- made a rash of big-boy throws and took Cincy to the brink against a legitimate contender on the road. At their best, the (8-2) po se s the talent on offense to keep pace with New England in a shootout. Their remaining schedule offers a pristine chance to carve out the AFC's second-best record with a head-to-head showdown in Denver (8-2) and gimmes against the , , and .The also play the (6-4), who blew up the two Sundays ago with in the lineup. Piling up 379 yards through the air, repeatedly gunned the ball downfield to his talented playmakers. The have battled injuries all year, but a healthy Pittsburgh offense has the power to give New England fits.After all, the NFL's best quarterbacks win in January. Outside of Brady, Roethlisberger is the lone AFC pa ser who can be trusted to take his team the distance. Currently notched as the No. 5 seed, Pittsburgh's schedule is no joke, with tilts against the , , and . If they make it to January, though, this freaky dark-horse could make serious noise.Swarm of mediocrityIs this the parity everyone wanted?Beyond the , , and , it's tough to take the AFC seriously.Someone has to win the South -- the NFL says so. The (5-5) currently own the tie-breaker, but the (5-5) and (4-6) are hot on Indy's tail. All three play each other down the stretch, leaving this anti-drama very much up for grabs.None of those teams look as good as the (5-5), riding a four-game win streak and fielding one of the conference's nastiest defensive lineups. They're talented enough to grab the AFC's second wild-card spot behind Pittsburgh -- maybe even the first -- barring a major uprising from the and .Which brings us to the (5-5) and Buffalo (5-5), a pair of clubs that (A) can't touch the and (B) can't get out of their own way. The roared out of the gate, but the secondary has stumbled and running back has fizzled up on the ground. The have a bunch of talent, but the AFC's most undisciplined team isn't built to play with the big boys. Not yet.The (4-6) were a fine story, but Oakland needs a Cinderella run against a tough remaining schedule. The (4-6) are even more of a stretch.Broncos in fluxDenver looms as a mystery team. Will return to the lineup or will the hand over control to ? Still in the race for a first-round bye, I can't take Denver seriously in January with Manning under center. He's one of the great quarterbacks of all time -- maybe the finest -- but not anymore. It's time to ride with Osweiler and hope he can pull off a Brady circa 2001.Early clinchingsIt's simple. The can seal their seventh straight AFC East title next week if they beat the and the fall to the . And if it doesn't happen Sunday, the scenario is bound to happen next week. The road to 50 rolls through Foxborough. Jeff Utzinger Jersey