The AFC is in a weird state right now.
The current top team in the AFC, the Tennessee Titans, have lost their best player in Derrick Henry, but were able to beat the Los Angeles Rams while barely moving the ball. Standing in second place is the Baltimore Ravens, who have been bailed out in close games due to some luck (CLYDE FUMBLING) and the dazzling play of Lamar Jackson.
The other two division winners at the moment, the Los Angeles Chargers and Buffalo Bills are also not looking too hot. The Chargers are coming off a narrow win against the poor Eagles and the Bills just lost 9-6 against the Urban Meyer-led Jaguars. That’s just the top four.
The Wild Card teams may be even weirder. The Las Vegas Raiders are in the midst of seasonal turmoil due to all off-the-field events which boiled over in a loss to the small Giants. Pittsburgh and New England have great defenses with little offensive firepower. Meanwhile the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals each have their own issues, with the Browns being injury-depleted but improving by cutting Odell Beckham Jr. The Bengals sat atop the AFC two weeks ago and now wouldn’t make the Wild Card.
The KC Chiefs are in decent shape thanks to an odd AFC power structure.
The Broncos 3-0 start seemed a mirage but a massive upset against the Dallas Cowboys may say otherwise. The Indianapolis Colts seem dependent on Carson Wentz playing like the young Eagle he was or the old Eagle, losing two games against the Titans and Ravens they should have won and are currently 4-5.
Then, maybe the weirdest of them all is the Kansas City Chiefs. If you were to tell most Chiefs fans they were 5-4 heading into a matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders, who had a better winning percentage, they would not be very happy. They’d assume the defense was all-time bad while Patrick Mahomes was putting up wild stats. That would be less odd than what is currently happening to the new “Golden Boy” of the NFL. Mahomes has never looked worse and neither has Andy Reid’s play calling. The defense, up until a few easy matchups, had also shown very little promise. The season has brought about questions for every single person in the organization.
With all that said, the 11 other teams in playoff contention have provided the Chiefs a great gift: Time.
Time, oddly enough, is on the side of the Chiefs maybe more than anyone else in the AFC not named the soaring Patriots. While many teams have a ceiling to what they can do, what we know about Mahomes and Reid is they can be historic. The Tampa 2 defense has been smothering the Chiefs ever since the brutal loss against the Bills. That has given the team five games to watch as they get limited and held to nothing. Blame should be passed all around—from Reid’s inability to stick with the run and call simple plays, to Mahomes deciding to heave the deep ball when he has other options, to the receiving options inability to get open or catch the ball.
Nevertheless, Sunday could be a stepping stone in the right direction. A convincing win against the Raiders can give this offense the confidence it needs for the rest of the season. The Chiefs should not be considered easy division winners with a win or that they’re back to normal, but squeezing into the playoffs is all the Chiefs need to have a chance.
The Chiefs playing to their potential is better than anything any other AFC team can put on the field this season, and with how everyone is playing, there’s no reason to fear any team. The AFC should know: Let the Chiefs figure it out and no one wants to face them hitting stride come January.