NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Forget the age-old rhetorical query, at least for now, about how long it takes to plummet from the NFL penthouse to the league outhouse.

	Carlos Hall and Jevon Kearse had plenty celebrate, improving to 9-5 with their win over the Patriots.

In their ignoble 24-7 loss here Monday night, the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots answered this much more germane question: How long does it take to go from playing for a first-place tie in the division to perhaps being out of the postseason tournament entirely.

The answer: Three hours and 10 minutes of prime-time pratfalls.

Such is life in the AFC this year, a fascinating campaign in which the junior conference has elevated parity to a somewhat estimable element, and a season where one misstep can translate into missing the playoffs.

Certainly the Patriots, who are now 7-0 against teams with .500 or losing records when they met them but 1-6 against franchises that had winning marks, are a prime example. At kickoff of a Monday night matchup against the surging Tennessee Titans, the Patriots were one victory shy of tying Miami for the top rung in the AFC East. By the time the clock struck midnight, though, New England had turned into a pumpkin.

The result of an ugly loss, a game in which the Pats didn't respond in kind to the very physical effort offered by Tennessee, was that the Super Bowl champions dropped all the way to eighth place in the eight-team playoff race.

"I've never seen anything like this," said Patriots wide receiver Troy Brown. "Every game is so critical right now. You look at the (AFC) standings and just shake your head because everything is just so tight. It's only December but, to tell the truth, it feels like a January atmosphere out there every week now. It's almost like the playoffs have started already."

That is, essentially, the case in a conference where 13 of the 16 franchises have at least seven wins and just three teams currently own losing records. This marks just the second time since 1990, when the league adopted the 12-team playoff format, that there was a conference with zero playoff qualifiers and only two weeks left in the year.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, at 8-5-1, are the only division leader with the luxury of more than a one-game edge. Miami and Oakland are one game up on their rivals in the AFC East and the AFC West, respectively, and Tennessee and Indianapolis are tied atop what was supposed to be a mediocre AFC South.

Indeed, just one season after the league was forced to move the Super Bowl back a week because of the Sept. 11 terrorist acts, the playoffs unwittingly have been shifted weeks forward in 2002. And right now, everyone is a wild card, save for the Houston Texans and Cincinnati Bengals (the Jaguars at 6-8 are still mathematically alive).

The race to the wire figures to be a photo finish. Even the league officials who are usually experts in divining playoff permutations have experienced a difficult time making sense of the possibilities that still exist in the AFC through 14 games.

"You always hate to see the tiebreakers come into play, but there's almost no way there won't be some this year, right?" said Miami defensive end Jason Taylor. "If you're in this thing, though, all you can do is worry about yourself. It's too hard to keep track of what everyone else is doing."

Truth be told, however, several AFC coaches have acknowledged they find themselves doing more scoreboard-watching in 2002 than during any other season. Two coaches allowed they have operatives phone down the out-of-town scores to the sideline during their own contests, just to keep abreast of what is transpiring elsewhere. Bet that the number of coaches seeking updates scores will increase in the final two weeks of the season.

	“	There's a kind of trickle-down effect, that allows some teams to trickle back up. It really is kind of maddening at this point in a season to have so much still up in the air. ”
		— Titans DE Kevin Carter

That's because nearly every outcome affects not only the two clubs playing in that particular game but most every other AFC franchise as well. The Monday night game here, stunningly non-competitive given its ramifications, could serve as Exhibit A.

Had the Patriots won, they would have moved to 9-5, and tied the Dolphins for first place. New England would have been one of five conference teams with nine victories. But instead, the loss dropped New England into a three-way tie with Denver and San Diego for the sixth and final playoff spot as the pecking order now stands. In such a scenario, the Patriots would be eliminated.

Beyond the New England fortunes, however, the game also had a ripple effect around the conference. Essentially, the defeat revived the fortunes of the Broncos and Chargers, two AFC West entries that have stumbled through the past several weeks. Despite losing five of seven games, San Diego is back in the chase. By virtue of a Sunday victory which snapped a three-game losing streak, Denver now is in the hunt as well.

"There's a kind of trickle-down effect," said Titans defensive end Kevin Carter, "that allows some teams to trickle back up. It really is kind of maddening at this point in a season to have so much still up in the air. But you know what? I'd rather have it this way than to be like the NFC, where you have three or four teams who have won 10 games or whatever, and things are pretty much decided."

In the NFC, four teams have secured playoff spots, and it would take a mind-boggling series of events to keep New Orleans and Atlanta from claiming the final two wild card berths.

But in the wild and wacky AFC, anything is possible, including the potential for disappointing Pittsburgh to lose that 1½-game edge in the AFC North. The only way the Steelers could be knocked out of the playoffs is if they lose both remaining games and either the Baltimore Ravens or Cleveland Browns win their two contests.

Yet consider this: Pittsburgh plays at Tampa Bay, a tough draw, next Monday night. The Steelers then conclude the season at home against Baltimore. Should the Steelers lose to the Buccaneeers and the Ravens defeat the Browns at home on Sunday, the finale at Heinz Field will determine the division champion.

Given the manner in which Baltimore officials were forced to gut their roster this season because of salary-cap excesses, even being in the hunt at this juncture of the year is a remarkable achievement for the NFL's youngest squad.

Not far behind, in terms of comebacks, is the one promulgated by the Titans, who stood at 1-4 after a Sept. 29 loss to Oakland. Since that nadir, the Titans have won eight of nine games and, if they can claim victories at Houston and Jacksonville in the next two weeks, figure to enjoy a first-round bye.

"It's definitely been a roller coaster, that's for sure, man," said Tennessee wide receive Derrick Mason. "But then again this year has been an incredibly wild ride for the whole conference.

"And, hey, it's not over yet. There could still be a lot of crazy (stuff) that happens."

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.