NFL standings, Week 9: Chiefs gain ground on Bills

In Week 9, the Houston Texans hosted the Philadelphia Eagles for Thursday Night Football, the Indianapolis Colts traveled to Foxborough to take on the New England Patriots, the New York Jets saw the Buffalo Bills come to town, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders squared off, the Tennessee Titans went to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs, while the Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Chargers, and Baltimore Ravens all faced NFC opponents.

Here is what the AFC Standings look like after Week 9:

Before the start of Week 9, the Buffalo Bills remained the favorites to come out of the AFC and advance to Super Bowl LVII. FiveThirtyEight (QB Adjusted) had the Buffalo Bills as the team with the best chance to win the Super Bowl out of all AFC teams with a 27% chance to win it all. After Buffalo, the Kansas City Chiefs were at 14%, the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans were both at 4%, while the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins were each at 2%.

The Houston Texans fell to the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday Night Football. The New York Jets upset the Buffalo Bills in East Rutherford. The Jacksonville Jaguars came back from down 17-0 to beat the Las Vegas Raiders. The Los Angeles Chargers knocked off the Atlanta Falcons after a crazy ending. The Miami Dolphins escaped the Chicago Bears to improve to 6-3.

The Cincinnati Bengals crushed the Carolina Panthers after FIVE Joe Mixon touchdowns. The Sam Ehlinger-led Indianapolis Colts got crushed 26-3 by the New England Patriots. The Tennessee Titans gave the Kansas City Chiefs a fight but couldn’t pull it off in the end. The Baltimore Ravens beat the New Orleans Saints by multiple touchdowns on Monday Night Football.

The Texans may have given the Eagles a fight but they are still staring the #1 overall pick in the face. The Bills may not run away with the AFC East after all as both the Jets and Dolphins have beaten them this season. The Jaguars now have a glimmer of hope for a playoff run as the Raiders look down, dead, and out. The Chargers earned a much-needed victory heading into a brutal stretch of their schedule.

The Bengals continue the see-saw as they dominate another NFC South opponent. The Colts appear to be finished as they have no offense, while the Patriots could ride their defense and special teams to a surprise playoff spot. The Chiefs’ defense came alive in the second half of their victory, while the Titans need Ryan Tannehill back. The Ravens could prove to be a serious contender down the road but their lack of receiving talent may come back to bite them.

After Week 9, seven teams in the AFC have a losing record and nine teams have a winning record. According to FiveThirtyEight, the Buffalo Bills are still the team with the best chance to win the Super Bowl out of all AFC teams with an 18% chance to win it all. After Buffalo, the Kansas City Chiefs are right behind them at 17%, the Baltimore Ravens are at 6%, the Tennessee Titans are at 4%, the Miami Dolphins sit at 3%, and the Cincinnati Bengals are at 2%.

In the race for the #1 seed in the AFC, per FiveThirtyEight, the Bills have the best chance to finish atop the conference in the regular season standings, despite their loss, at 41%, with the Chiefs second at 34%. After Buffalo/Kansas City, the next teams are the Ravens and Dolphins at 10% and 7%, respectively.

After Buffalo’s stunning loss in East Rutherford, the race for the #1 seed is now very interesting as the Bills have little margin for error since the Chiefs are hot on their tails. The Dolphins look like a legitimate contender on offense. The Ravens have the potential to be dangerous, although their receivers are shaky outside of Mark Andrews.

Even though they lost, the Titans should be a problem come January. The Jets may not be a true Super Bowl contender but they have shown they can cause problems for elite quarterbacks. The Bengals also shouldn’t be forgotten as Joe Burrow is starting to get hot. The Bills and Chiefs are the class of the AFC but they do have a competition to win the Lamar Hunt Trophy this January.