The AFC has been quite crowded in the middle of the pack with Week 11 of the NFL regular season winding down. Entering Week 11, six teams pursuing the Super Bowl had identical 6-3 records. The seventh and extra playoff spot at the back end of the postseason lineup could help clear up such a mess.
However, playing a week's worth of games certainly helped, especially with several of those 6-3 teams matching up against one another.
Obviously the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers and one-loss Kansas City Chiefs continue to lead the way as far as the most legitimate Super Bowl contenders from the AFC are concerned, which remained unchanged through Week 11. On the other hand, with the Tennessee Titans coming up just shy of a trip to the Super Bowl only a season ago and the Buffalo Bills gearing up to dethrone the New England Patriots in the AFC East Division, this tandem of AFC contenders has also continued to receive respect.
With the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins faltering ever so slightly and the Cleveland Browns continuing to serve as the most mysterious contender in the AFC despite the franchise's 7-3 record, only two teams remain in the mix that deserve to be getting a bit more attention when the Super Bowl is brought up down the final stretch of the 2020-21 campaign. Both the Indianapolis Colts and Las Vegas Raiders have done more than enough to show that each franchise may not only be dangerous come playoff time but also legitimate contenders for a title this time around.
Indianapolis Colts
Perhaps the least talked about team in the entire AFC this season — good or bad — the Indianapolis Colts have spent the last two weeks solidifying themselves as arguably the third-best team in the entire conference. With the Pittsburgh Steelers still undefeated and the Kansas City Chiefs still serving as the defending Super Bowl Champions in addition to already avenging the team's lone loss on the season, it is quite difficult to unseat this tandem at the top as it stands today. However, the laundry list of contenders after the Steelers and Chiefs remains very much up for debate with the Colts making a better case than anyone else in the AFC over the course of the last several weeks with Indianapolis possessing the chance to even further such a notion in Week 12 against the rival Tennessee Titans.
Initially, the 5-3 Colts traveled south to Nashville to take on the aforementioned Titans on Thursday Night Football and were down at the half after a mediocre first two quarters of play. Playing on a short week while also hitting the road to take on a tough divisional opponent, perhaps the Colts just needed a little time to get going — and get going is just what this team did. The Colts pitched a second half shutout against the Titans, the team's Week 12 opponent as well, en route to victory and taking over first place in the AFC South division with a record of 6-3.
One again finding themselves behind the “8 Ball” in Week 11 against the always dangerous Green Bay Packers, the Colts managed to rally for the second consecutive week to remain atop the AFC South standings. Granted, the team's defense didn't look nearly as dominant against Green Bay and overtime was ultimately required to defeat the Packers, but the Colts still prevailed and secured a much-needed win to improve to 7-3 on the season. Even though the rival Titans beat the Baltimore Ravens to also improve to 7-3 on the year, the Colts still sit just ahead of Tennessee in the divisional standings while increasing that lead to a full game alongside a two-game, head-to-head win tiebreaker remains a real possibility.
Las Vegas Raiders
If the 2020-21 NFL postseason began today, the Las Vegas Raiders would be the seventh and final team in the field for the AFC, thanks to the league's decision to expand its playoff format by one team in each conference.
If the Raiders were forced to operate under the rules of old, Las Vegas would currently being serving as the first team out of the AFC playoff picture with some more work to do. Although the Raiders definitely do have some more work to do to ensure that this team is ultimately in the fold when the 2020-21 regular season ends, the “Sin City” newcomers are on the right track — even coming off of a crushing loss at home to the rival Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11.
Not only that, but the Raiders are no doubt one of the most dangerous teams in the AFC when push comes to shove and are most certainly a team that those at the top do not want to encounter in the playoffs this year.
As it stands today, the Raiders are 6-4 on the season, a record that doesn't necessarily scream “scary” from a standings perspective. However, the Raiders have shown time and time again that they can hang with the best of the best in both the AFC and NFL while head coach Jon Gruden and quarterback Derek Carr being very much on the same page throughout this season will not bode well for the opposition down the final stretch of the regular season.
Perhaps most importantly, though, the Raiders are the only team to defeat the aforementioned Chiefs in 2020-21 while Las Vegas is also the only team to take down Kansas City over the course of the last calendar year. The Raiders were also mere seconds away from defeating the Chiefs for a second time this season as a result of Week 11's edition of Sunday Night Football before the Chiefs stormed back in the final moments of the AFC West clash — courtesy of reigning Super Bowl MVP and former NFL MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Adding to the entertainment value of this rivalry and Las Vegas' legitimacy as a Super Bowl contender heading into Thanksgiving, the No. 2-seeded Chiefs would actually host the No. 7-seeded Raiders in the opening round of the AFC playoffs if the regular season were to end today.
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