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1. Kansas City Chiefs (8-0)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2)
5. Baltimore Ravens (6-3)
6. Los Angeles Chargers (5-3)
8. Indianapolis Colts (4-5)
9. Cincinnati Bengals (4-5)
11. Tennessee Titans (2-6)
13. Cleveland Browns (2-7)
14. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-7)
15. Las Vegas Raiders (2-7)
16. New England Patriots (2-7)
The biggest ongoing story in the AFC is how noncompetitive the division races are at the halfway point of the season.
Or at least how noncompetitive three of them are with the AFC North serving as the lone exception.
While the Los Angeles Chargers are in playoff position in head coach Jim Harbaugh’s first year, they are still three games behind the Chiefs in the AFC West. Kansas City also won the first head-to-head matchup between the two teams.
As for the AFC East, the Buffalo Bills can basically walk to a division title at this point. They are 7-2, while the 3-6 New York Jets are sitting in second place despite a season’s worth of inconsistency and headlines about their struggles to live up to expectations.
Like Kansas City, the Bills also already have a head-to-head win over their closest division competitor.
Perhaps the AFC South will become closer down the stretch run if the Houston Texans struggle with offensive line injuries, but they are still 6-3 and comfortably ahead of the 4-5 Indianapolis Colts. C.J. Stroud and Co. also already swept the season series against the Colts, meaning Indianapolis will have to clear them by a game by the end of the campaign.
At least fans looking for a tight division race can point to the AFC North.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are 6-2 and just ahead of the 6-3 Baltimore Ravens. It’s also too early to count out the 4-5 Cincinnati Bengals as long as Joe Burrow is under center.
Thanks to a quirk in the schedule, the division-leading Steelers haven’t even played an AFC North opponent through eight games. This race is far from decided and will likely come down to those showdowns late in the year.
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