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1. Kansas City Chiefs (9-1)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3)
5. Los Angeles Chargers (7-3)
6. Baltimore Ravens (7-4)
8. Indianapolis Colts (5-6)
10. Cincinnati Bengals (4-7)
11. Cleveland Browns (3-8)
13. New England Patriots (3-8)
14. Tennessee Titans (2-8)
15. Las Vegas Raiders (2-8)
16. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9)
The Kansas City Chiefs look unstoppable heading into Week 11, but finally proved to be mortal in a loss to the Buffalo Bills, snapping a 9-0 start to the season.
Now it feels like the top seed in the AFC could go to a handful of teams. Thanks to their outstanding start, the Chiefs are still in the driver’s seat, but the Bills sit just one loss behind them and have the advantage of a win in the head-to-head matchup.
Both Kansas City and Buffalo have somewhat manageable schedules to close out the season. The Chiefs’ toughest game will likely come against the Pittsburgh Steelers while the Bills have a date with the Detroit Lions in a few weeks.
But the Chiefs and Bills aren’t the only teams in the mix for the top seed. The Steelers won their fifth straight last week, taking down the Baltimore Ravens behind an outstanding defensive performance.
It was Pittsburgh’s biggest test to date, and it passed. The Steelers can improve their standing in the coming weeks with a lighter schedule before facing the Philadelphia Eagles, Ravens and Chiefs in three consecutive weeks.
The Ravens’ loss to the Steelers certainly takes a toll on their chances of earning the top seed for a second consecutive season, but Baltimore still sits comfortably in its playoff standing.
The Ravens can move up in the standings this week with a tough matchup against the Chargers, who sit one game ahead of them. After that, Baltimore’s toughest games will come against the Eagles and Steelers in the final few weeks of the year.
The Houston Texans gained some ground in the AFC South last week with a win over the Dallas Cowboys and can create even more space with a handful of manageable matchups in the coming weeks.
After an eventful week last week, there aren’t too many exciting matchups to look out for this week. Still, every game counts during this stretch of the season and teams are looking to bolster their records with big wins.
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