AFC playoff race dominated by West
The AFC playoff picture is already starting to form. Sure, Week 3 hasn’t started yet, but unlike the NFC which has parity across the board, the AFC is seeing a large divide between contenders and pretenders.
Of the group we can term contenders, it’s the West that has a majority of those teams.
The Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs are all 2-0 and favored to win their games this weekend. Oakland and Kansas City have tow of the more explosive offenses in the game, both showcasing a trio of playmakers. Denver might have the conference’s best defense once again, led by Von Miller, Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr.
Even though the season in young, it’s hard to see any of these teams fading into the darkness. All three had winning records last season and while the Broncos missed the playoffs, it was the first time that happened since 2010. The Raiders and Chiefs both went 12-4, with Kansas City winning the division via tiebreaker on the final day of the season.
The rest of the conference has a dearth of real contenders, save the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Baltimore Ravens are also 2-0 and have a stifling defense of their own, but there are real questions about whether the offense can do enough to make noise in January. At this juncture, it is hard to see Joe Flacco, Jeremy Maclin and Mike Wallace doing enough to beat the other aforementioned teams.
The AFC South doesn’t have much to talk about, which gets us into the portion where we see so many bad teams for the elite to beat up on. The Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills have no chance of reaching the playoffs. Additionally, the Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans could make it into the postseason, but are no real threat.
In other words, the top-heavy AFC will be a race for seeding throughout the regular season, rather than getting into the tournament. There is a good chance that one of the Broncos, Ravens, Chiefs or Raiders will miss the playoffs, simply by virtue of somebody having to win the South.
The guess here is that Baltimore fades as the years wears on, leaving three West teams to punch tickets. The Dolphins will have the most to say about that, considering they host the Raiders and Broncos later in the year before traveling to Kansas City for Christmas Eve.
The AFC West is the best division in football, and it will be well-represented come playoff time.