Serious question how good are 7-2 AFC teams (and LAC at 6-3)

[Donuts and Doritos]

We can't take any team for granted. But KC, Baltimore, Philly & Tampa are the teams we should be worried about the most. I need to see what Indy looks like at the end of the season.

 

Edited 13 hours ago by Donuts and Doritos

[strive_for_five_guy]

Chiefs and Ravens worry me more than any of these teams do.  The 1 seed is there for our taking if we can just stack wins and win the division.

[oldmanfan]

In the AFC I think the Broncos and Patriots are real.  Good head coaches and solid overall play, good young QBs and defenses.  Colts don’t bother me as much, Jones will regress but if they center their offense around the run game they’ll be a tough out.  Chargers?  I don’t believe Herbert is that good.  And I think the Chiefs miss the playoffs.

 

Don’t think about the NFC much.

[BigDingus]

The Pats are a really good team, but still young. I don't know about the Broncos, but the Colts are legit.

 

Offensively, they're 1st in PPG, 2nd in YPG, 3rd in passing, 8th in rushing. 

 

Defensively, they're 7th in PPG, 16th in YPG, but that's heavily skewed by their pass defense (26th), which they believe they just upgraded.

 

Then you have Daniel Jones, who has played fantastic (aside from this last game). Leads the league in passing yards, has 19 total TDs, 101 passer rating, 70.6 QBR, etc. And like with us, the Colts have a strong run game complimenting him. 

 

Remaining on their schedule, their toughest games are: 

- Chiefs

-Jaguars x 2

-Seahawks

-49ers

 

We've got:

-Bucs

-Steelers

-Patriots

-Eagles

 

I don't know how games will shake out, and we need to catch the Pats first, but I think the Colts are our biggest threat for the 1 seed.

[ganesh]

5 hours ago, BuffaloBill said:

Is there a changing of the guard in AFC power dynamics or is this an illusion?  How good are the Colts, Broncos Patriots and for honorable mention the Chargers? Do the Bills need to be worried about any of these teams from a playoffs perspective? I know threads take on their own flavor but I am asking the questions in all seriousness to see what the read is from others.

 

I also get it that injuries will say a lot about what happens over the balance of the season. This aspect of the situation is anybody’s guess.

 

 

 

They are all playing easy schedules except for Broncos as they have to face the chiefs and the chargers twice.  
 

The Bills need to take care of their business and win the games they are supposed to win and they would be 8-0 today. 

[Chaos]

Chiefs, Bills, Ravens all look like good teams on the back nine.  Years of drafting late, and in the Bills case, constrant restructures that have kicked the salary cap can down the road, have opened the door for the rest of the AFC. Chiefs are Mahomes/Reid and a cast of jags.  Bills are Allen with a solid oline/cook, and a cast of Jags. Ravens seem cooked. Jackson can't carry them.    Colts seem to a complete team who can win the AFC if Jones does not turn into a pumpkin.  The Broncos are for real too, but Nix may hold them back.  I think the Patriots and Chargers are step behind them. Whovever gets the number seed will likely win the AFC.  

[Starr Almighty]

I feel like the Colts are a bad matchup. Any team with a star running back gives this defense issues.

[dpberr]

Bad weather and the *painful* cold change team's fortunes.  It's all fun and games in a dome.  The weather is nice right now in most markets.

 

In the AFC, I only think Allen and Mahomes are QBs that play consistently well in the cold until Nix or Maye prove otherwise.

 

 

 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

People like the broncos huh?  I mean I’m hoping they hold on to spite the chiefs but man do they look like sh*t for long stretches of games lol I’d be pulling my hair out if I was a chiefs fan watching some of those Broncos wins 😂

 

if the pats beat the Bucs this week I’ll probably be more sold than I am now. As of now I think they’re pretty good but need a year to take the next step 

 

ravens and chiefs will be better than all these teams we’re talkin about in the second half but will it be enough to dig themselves out of the hole they’re in? Will be interesting to watch 

Edited 10 hours ago by Generic_Bills_Fan

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

7 hours ago, Chaos said:

Chiefs, Bills, Ravens all look like good teams on the back nine.  Years of drafting late, and in the Bills case, constrant restructures that have kicked the salary cap can down the road, have opened the door for the rest of the AFC. Chiefs are Mahomes/Reid and a cast of jags.  Bills are Allen with a solid oline/cook, and a cast of Jags. Ravens seem cooked. Jackson can't carry them.    Colts seem to a complete team who can win the AFC if Jones does not turn into a pumpkin.  The Broncos are for real too, but Nix may hold them back.  I think the Patriots and Chargers are step behind them. Whovever gets the number seed will likely win the AFC.  

The Chiefs have plenty of great talent. Kelce is still a force, Nick Bolton, Chris Jones, McDuffie, Creed Humphrey. The Bills beat a really good team on Sunday. 

 

 

 

[Chaos]

4 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

The Chiefs have plenty of great talent. Kelce is still a force, Nick Bolton, Chris Jones, McDuffie, Creed Humphrey. The Bills beat a really good team on Sunday. 

 

 

 

You could put Mahomes on any of the other AFC contenders other than the Bills, and they would be better than the Chiefs are with Mahomes, talentwise. 

[Sojourner]

9 hours ago, Starr Almighty said:

I feel like the Colts are a bad matchup. Any team with a star running back gives this defense issues.

Valid point but the Colts are with decent pass catchers. Pittman and Warren are a problem. 

Edited 4 hours ago by Sojourner

[Thurman#1]

15 hours ago, BuffaloBill said:

Is there a changing of the guard in AFC power dynamics or is this an illusion?  How good are the Colts, Broncos Patriots and for honorable mention the Chargers? Do the Bills need to be worried about any of these teams from a playoffs perspective? I know threads take on their own flavor but I am asking the questions in all seriousness to see what the read is from others.

 

I also get it that injuries will say a lot about what happens over the balance of the season. This aspect of the situation is anybody’s guess.

 

 

 

 

 

IMO they aren't there yet, except maybe the Chargers. But it's a new group of up and comers, two or three of whom will likely be for real, though not really this year.

 

Except for the Chargers, I think. They can beat anyone on any given day, if they play their best and Herbert is on fire.

 

2 hours ago, Chaos said:

You could put Mahomes on any of the other AFC contenders other than the Bills, and they would be better than the Chiefs are with Mahomes, talentwise. 

 

 

Yeah, this is a reasonable argument. I don't think the Chiefs lineup is as great anymore as they were the last few years.

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by Thurman#1

[Albanybillsbacker]

Not scared of any of them.  
 

mild concerns about Patriots in the future.  They’re the only team with a legit QB.  

[GunnerBill]

16 hours ago, BuffaloBill said:

Is there a changing of the guard in AFC power dynamics or is this an illusion?  How good are the Colts, Broncos Patriots and for honorable mention the Chargers? Do the Bills need to be worried about any of these teams from a playoffs perspective? I know threads take on their own flavor but I am asking the questions in all seriousness to see what the read is from others.

 

I also get it that injuries will say a lot about what happens over the balance of the season. This aspect of the situation is anybody’s guess.

 

 

 

 

The Patriots worry me the most because I think Drake Maye's best can lay up with Josh if Josh is at 80/85% of his best. Jones can't. He needs Josh to be at more like 50/60% and so does Nix. Herbert can lay up but without both tackles he is going to be running for his life unless the gamble on Trevor Penning (who I was a fan of coming out) pays off. 

 

If the Bills had to go on the road and beat the Broncos, Colts and Patriots to make the Superbowl you can sign me up for that right now. 

2 hours ago, Chaos said:

You could put Mahomes on any of the other AFC contenders other than the Bills, and they would be better than the Chiefs are with Mahomes, talentwise. 

 

Not sure I'd include the Chargers in that personally. I think they are pretty beat up and I'd take the Chiefs roster over theirs right now. If everyone was healthy, possibly I'd agree. But their offensive tackles are arguably their two best players and they are both done for the year.

[BuffaloBill]

10 hours ago, BigDingus said:

The Pats are a really good team, but still young. I don't know about the Broncos, but the Colts are legit.

 

Offensively, they're 1st in PPG, 2nd in YPG, 3rd in passing, 8th in rushing. 

 

Defensively, they're 7th in PPG, 16th in YPG, but that's heavily skewed by their pass defense (26th), which they believe they just upgraded.

 

Then you have Daniel Jones, who has played fantastic (aside from this last game). Leads the league in passing yards, has 19 total TDs, 101 passer rating, 70.6 QBR, etc. And like with us, the Colts have a strong run game complimenting him. 

 

Remaining on their schedule, their toughest games are: 

- Chiefs

-Jaguars x 2

-Seahawks

-49ers

 

We've got:

-Bucs

-Steelers

-Patriots

-Eagles

 

I don't know how games will shake out, and we need to catch the Pats first, but I think the Colts are our biggest threat for the 1 seed.

 

Bills have to take care of their own business comes without saying.  The Colts look for real to me.

[Gregg]

The AFC is wide open this year. This week I want.

 

Falcons over Colts

Bills over Dolphins 

Bucs over Pats

 

These 3 things happen then the Bills will have control of the AFCE and a great shot at the #1 seed.

[eball]

The Bills, Chiefs, and Ravens (if healthy) are still (IMO) head and shoulders above the Colts, Chargers, Broncos, and Pats***.  Does that mean Denver won’t beat KC next week?  No, but I’ll be mildly surprised if they do.  The Pats*** would have lost to Atlanta last week if not for horrific game management by the Falcons.  The Colts let a crappy defense make Danny Dimes look like the guy he was in NY.  The Chargers let the Titans hang around for way too long.  The Broncos have had to come from behind in almost every game…they are doing what KC did last year in winning all of the one-score games.

 

[Process]

Patriots have played two good teams, lost to one and needed a lot to go right to barely beat the other

 

Broncos are really, really struggling to beat very bad teams and QBs

 

Colts I think have the best shot of the three to make the SB, but I think the most realistic outcome here is that they are this years Vikings 

 

It's going to come down to the Bills and Chiefs at the end

[Gregg]

24 minutes ago, Process said:

Patriots have played two good teams, lost to one and needed a lot to go right to barely beat the other

 

Broncos are really, really struggling to beat very bad teams and QBs

 

Colts I think have the best shot of the three to make the SB, but I think the most realistic outcome here is that they are this years Vikings 

 

It's going to come down to the Bills and Chiefs at the end

 

I would include the Ravens as well. They are getting healthy and when healthy they have a really strong roster. Those Ravens - Steelers games will be fun to watch. If the Ravens sweep them then the division is probably theirs.