The AFC was a three team conference for much of the past two decades. The Steelers, Patriots and whoever had Peyton Manning were the easy favorites. Outside of the Ravens and the Raiders, these three teams represented the AFC in the last 15 Super bowls. The dominance of Peyton and Brady has held the rest of the struggling AFC in check for almost two decades, but this year that’s looking to change.
New kids on the block
Manning is retired and Brady is on his way out. Big Ben and the Steelers no longer look as dynamic as they did the past few years. Meanwhile, young QB’s and play makers are popping up all over the league. Patrick Mahomes and Kansas city are electrifying on offense and will most likely grab the number one spot in the AFC securing the Pats greatest advantage, home field for themselves. And down in Houston, the Texans are on a 9 game winning streak, with a great young QB in Deshaun Watson and a dangerous pass rush on Defense. They could steal the number 2 spot out from under the Patriots. Leaving Tom and the Pats with one home game and no bye week. Also emerging as a playoff contender are the Baltimore Ravens who are now starting rookie Lamar Jackson. The Rookie has seemingly refocused the offense and they are now playing at a much better tempo. But aside form the young guns look out for…
Phillip Rivers is quietly putting up an all star season and has led the Chargers to a 9-3 record, one back from division rival Kansas City. Rivers has thrown 28 Touchdowns so far this season and only 6 interceptions. He has 3 more kids than he has interceptions. Rivers has arguably been the most consistent and most productive QB from his draft class, which included two time super bowl winners Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger. Rivers has had chances before. Back in the late 2000’s, the Chargers had a great team that always seemed to run into injury problems in the playoffs. Could this be the year that Phillip Rivers finally overcomes that hurdle and wins a super bowl?
Who will win the AFC?
Right now its a tossup. The Chiefs look to be the most complete team in football. But with the recent cutting of Kareem Hunt and a young QB with no playoff experience, they could stumble down the stretch and into the playoffs. The Patriots are the Patriots, but Tom Brady has looked more and more his age this season than in the past few years having some truly bad games. Both the Steelers and the Ravens have struggled with consistency. And the Ravens playing a true rookie at quarterback going most likely on the road in the post season spells disaster. For my money, I’d go with Houston or the Chargers. Both are playing well and Houston is on an incredible winning streak and carrying that momentum into the playoffs will be essential. The Chargers have a solid team all around and a QB who is experienced and hungry for his first title.
