Will the best team in the AFC please stand up?
Winning in the NFL is hard. Playing on an elite level is even harder.
But as we near the end of Week 13, AFC teams have found it difficult to separate themselves from the competition, leaving the conference without a clear top dog as the playoffs inch closer.
After Week 13's results, it won't be any easier to figure out who the best team is. Let's take a look at a few of the top contenders.
The Ravens entered Week 13 as the top seed in the AFC at 8-3. But after a last-second 20-19 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers they are 8-4, the same record as the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans.
Since starting the season 5-1, the Ravens have played .500 ball at 3-3, and Lamar Jackson has struggled to look like the player who won the 2019 MVP award.
In his last five games, Jackson has thrown just seven touchdown passes along with eight interceptions. He hasn't thrown for 300 yards in a game since Oct. 11 in a 31-25 overtime win over the Colts.
And the injuries continue to pile up for Baltimore, with All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey suffering what appears to be a season-ending shoulder injury in the loss to the Steelers.
Tennessee Titans
Speaking of the Titans, their 8-4 record and first-place standing in the AFC South might seem like a cause for optimism, but the injury bug has hit them hard.
Star running back Derrick Henry has suffered a potential season-ending foot fracture. That, combined with both A.J. Brown and Julio Jones being on the injured reserve, has the Titans limping towards the postseason looking like a shell of the team that beat the Chiefs, Bills, Rams and Saints.
They'll spend the rest of their season trying to hold off an Indianapolis Colts team that sits just two games back in the AFC South and is riding the dominant play of running back Jonathan Taylor.
With Taylor finding a groove and quarterback Carson Wentz playing at a high level, could the Colts be a sleeper team to watch as the season winds down?
Elsewhere in the conference, the Bengals had the look of a team who could be emerging as a legitimate contender. Back-to-back wins over the Las Vegas Raiders and Steelers by a combined score of 73-23 didn't hurt in that regard.
Their momentum was halted by the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 13, though, with the Chargers emphatically thumping them in Cincinnati, 41-22.
Getting rookie wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase back on track could go a long way towards helping the Bengals potentially establish themselves as contenders.
Chase currently has 958 receiving yards on the season with eight touchdowns, but he hasn't crossed the 100-yard mark in any of his last five games, while only scoring two touchdowns.
He has also had inopportune drops, one of which came against the Chargers and turned what should have been an easy touchdown into an interception.
The Bengals are just 2-3 in their last five games.
The Chargers themselves are an enticing team that has been up and down. They and Bengals are both 7-5 and hold the sixth and seventh playoff spots in the AFC, currently above the Steelers (6-5-1) and Colts (7-6).
The AFC has been so unpredictable that the Cleveland Browns, a preseason AFC favorite, has limped to a 6-6 record and needs some help to get back into the postseason picture.
Kansas City Chiefs
The two-time defending AFC champs — not to mention winners of Super Bowl LIV — have had an interesting journey this season. They started the campaign looking sloppy on offense, disinterested on defense and prone to turnovers, with the result being a 3-4 start.
Since then, though, they've won five straight, including a 22-9 thumping of the Broncos on Sunday night, to climb to the top of the AFC West at 8-4.
The Chiefs have cleaned up the turnovers to a point, with star quarterback Patrick Mahomes tossing only two interceptions during the five-game winning streak after throwing 10 in the first seven games.
There still is an element of sloppiness to the offense, as illustrated by Tyreek Hill's assist on Mahomes' INT Sunday night.
But the Chiefs have found ways to win games, and one of the biggest improvements has come on the defensive side of the ball. Kansas City has allowed just 11.2 points per game during their winning streak.
What about Monday night's opponents? Great question!
The real AFC favorite could very well be playing on Monday Night Football, a juicy AFC East battle between the Patriots and Buffalo Bills (7-4). Whoever wins this one will be all alone in first place in the division and have a leg up in the chase for the top seed in the AFC playoffs.
The top seven teams in the AFC are separated by just one game, and they all have at least four losses.
With so little time remaining in the regular season, time is running out for any team to establish itself as the favorite. And maybe things are better that way. It could make for an entertaining finish to the regular season.
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December 06, 2021 at 11:50AM
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Crowded at the top: AFC playoff picture presents more questions than answers - FOXSports.com
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