AF Standings, heading into Week 6
1. Kansas City Chiefs (4-1)
2. Miami Dolphins (4-1)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2)
4. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-2)
5. Indianapolis Colts (3-2)
6. Baltimore Ravens (3-2)
7. Buffalo Bills (3-2)
8. Cleveland Browns (2-2)
9. Los Angeles Chargers (2-2)
10. Houston Texans (2-3)
11. Tennessee Titans (2-2)
12. New York Jets (1-3)
13. Las Vegas Raiders (1-3)
14. Cincinnati Bengals (2-3)
15. New England Patriots (1-4)
16. Denver Broncos (1-4)
The Jaguars upset the Bills in London. The Colts topped the Titans despite losing Anthony Richardson to a shoulder injury. The Patriots were humiliated at home by the Saints in a shutout defeat. The Steelers beat the Ravens after two costly turnovers by Lamar Jackson, even though he had a very strong game overall. The Texans fell to the Falcons after a last-second field goal.
The Dolphins bounced back against the Giants behind another strong offensive performance. The Bengals returned to the win column after a monster game from Ja'Marr Chase. The Chiefs beat the Vikings in Minnesota despite having injury scares to Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes. The Jets beat the Broncos after another quiet second-half offensive performance by Denver. The Raiders beat the Packers after a rough game by Jordan Love.
The Bills have serious injury concerns on defense and the Jaguars may have found their groove in England. The Colts appear to be the sleeper team in the AFC through five weeks and the Titans blew a good opportunity to establish themselves in the AFC South. The Patriots are absolutely atrocious after another dismal offensive performance. Steelers are somehow in first place in the AFC North despite another weak offensive performance, while the Ravens have now lost two very winnable games in three weeks.
Despite the loss, C.J. Stroud continues to play very well for Houston. Although they had a great game on offense, the Dolphins still have questions on defense. Even though they played well on offense, people should be careful about declaring that the Bengals are back. The Chiefs played a clean game on offense for the first all season. The Jets may have won, but they don't appear to be threats down the road, while the Broncos continue to embarrass themselves. Monday likely taught us more about Jordan Love than it did the Raiders.
The AFC finished the week with seven teams over 0.500, seven under 0.500, and two teams at exactly 0.500.
According to TeamRankings.com, the Chiefs are now the favorites to land the #1 seed at 41.6%. Following them are the Bills at 24.4%, then the Dolphins at 17.8%, and the Ravens at 5.1%. Despite the loss, the Bills are still the favorites in the AFC to win Super Bowl LVIII (17.6%), closely followed by the Chiefs (15.4%), Dolphins (6.6%), and Ravens (3.9%).
It's pretty clear that the Chiefs are still the class of the AFC. Behind them, it's very messy. The Dolphins are talented, but have question marks on defense, the Bills are racking up injuries on defense, and the Jaguars and Ravens have both been inconsistent. Kansas City isn't playing perfect football, but they're racking up wins early in the season before they inevitably figure it out in November and December.