AFC more wide open than ever
The AFC has no favorite. The Kansas City Chiefs were once firmly entrenched in that spot, but have lost two straight and on Thursday night, gave up 505 offensive yards to an Oakland Raiders team that couldn’t score for a month.
Before Kansas City became the obvious pick, it was the New England Patriots who were thought to be the class of the AFC. New England was thought by many to be a candidate for 16-0 before the year began, but an opening night loss at Gillette Stadium to the Chiefs shattered those dreams. The same Chiefs were then 5-0 before being leveled at Arrowhead Stadium by the Pittsburgh Steelers, a talented group left for dead after Ben Roethlisberger was intercepted five times in a humiliating 30-9 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Somehow, that was only a week before the Steelers beat Kansas City.
In essence, the Steelers, Chiefs and Patriots are the three best teams in the AFC. If Pittsburgh can beat the Cincinnati Bengals and the Patriots can handle the Atlanta Falcons come Sunday — with both playing at home — the trio will be tied atop the conference at 5-2.
It’s hard to see anybody else making a real run for a chance to represent the AFC come February at Super Bowl LII, although Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans are making their case. Over the past three games, the Texans have scored over 30 points in each contest, stating their case even without J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercillus for the remainder of the season.
For years, the AFC has been dominated by the Patriots, Steelers and Peyton Manning. Since the start of the 2003 season, only one time was the conference won by anybody other than those three, with the Baltimore Ravens doing so in 2012 behind Joe Flacco.
This season, the Patriots and Steelers remain atop the conversation, although the Chiefs belong in that class behind a world-class offense. After years of properly being labeled a conservative game manager, Alex Smith has gone great guns with 1,979 passing yards in seven games. Smith also has completed a league-high 72.9 percent of his throws with 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Factor in Kareem Hunt, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, and Kansas City will be there despite some recent struggles.
For once, the AFC playoffs are going to be interesting throughout, and not just when New England meets either Manning or Pittsburgh in the conference championship. This could be one of the more entertaining playoffs we’ve seen in some time on that side of the bracket.
