NFL standings, Week 7: Chiefs extend AFC West lead

In Week 7, the Kansas City Chiefs visited the San Francisco 49ers, the Tennessee Titans welcomed the Indianapolis Colts to town, the Cleveland Browns visited the Baltimore Ravens, the Las Vegas Raiders hosted the Houston Texans, and the New York Jets traveled to Denver to play the Broncos.

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins squared up on Sunday Night Football, while the Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, and New England Patriots all hosted NFC teams. The Buffalo Bills were on their bye week.

Here is what the AFC Standings look like after Week 7:

Before the start of Week 7, the Buffalo Bills were the favorites to come out of the AFC and advance to Super Bowl LVII. FiveThirtyEight (QB Adjusted) had the Bills as the team with the best odds to win the Super Bowl out of all AFC teams with a 28% chance to win it all. After Buffalo, the Chiefs were at 9%, the Bengals were at 4%, then the Ravens at 3%. After that came the Chargers, Titans, Patriots, and Colts at 2% each.

The Bengals crushed the Falcons at home. The Titans beat their division rival Colts at home. The Ravens held off the Browns after a late comeback attempt. The Jaguars lost to the Giants at home after almost completing a last-second game-tying touchdown. The Raiders crushed the Texans coming out of their bye week. The Chargers fell to the Seahawks at home. The Jets bested the Broncos in Denver. The Chiefs demolished the 49ers in Santa Clara. The Dolphins beat the Steelers after a late Kenny Pickett interception. The Patriots got crushed at home by the Bears in a game in which Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe both saw playing time.

Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ offense appear to be back as they dominated the Falcons. The Titans are likely in the driver’s seat in the AFC South, while the Colts may have blown their best shot at getting back in the divisional race as their in-division record is now a dreadful 1-3-1. The Ravens maintain the AFC North lead, while the Browns’ playoff hopes appear to be getting smaller by the week. The Jaguars’ chance at a Cinderella finish in the AFC South looks to be dwindling.

The Raiders got the first step complete in reviving their season and the Texans should start scouting college quarterbacks. The Chargers suffered crucial injuries in their defeat. The Chiefs’ offense absolutely destroyed the supposed best defense in the NFL. Based on Sunday night alone, neither the Dolphins nor Steelers should rely upon the play of their quarterbacks for success down the road this season. The Patriots need to pick a quarterback and stick with him.

After Week 7, seven teams in the AFC have a losing record and eight teams have a winning record, with a single team at exactly 0.500. According to Five Thirty Eight, the Buffalo Bills are still the team with the best chance to win the Super Bowl out of all AFC teams with a 28% chance to win it all. After Buffalo, the Kansas City Chiefs are at 14%, the Cincinnati Bengals are at 5%, and then the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans are both at 3%.

In the race for the top seed in the AFC, per Five Thirty Eight, the Bills currently have the best chance to finish atop the conference in the regular season standings at 68%, with the Chiefs second at 17%. After Buffalo and Kansas City, the next teams are the Bengals and Titans at 5% and 3%, respectively.

Before the season, many analysts viewed the AFC as the Bills and Chiefs to lose and that appears to be the case through seven weeks. It’s possible that another team comes out of nowhere to advance to Super Bowl LVII, similar to the Bengals last year, but that appears unlikely. If Kansas City can avoid a significant collapse, they should be in a comfortable position to host at least two playoff games this January.