Predicting EVERY AFC Division winner: Ravens complete come back and Chiefs’ 10-year reign ends

Predicting EVERY AFC Division winner: Ravens complete come back and Chiefs’ 10-year reign ends

All games complete in the AFC. So, this is how it looks with six weeks to go and three winning teams are not in the playoffs right now. Steelers, Texans, and Chiefs. The three wild card teams are seven and four. And every division leader has at least eight wins except in the AFC North where the Ravens and Steelers are now tied at six and five will get the first of their two meetings. Not this week, but next week on CBS. Right now, the Ravens would get that nod for the division because of a tiebreaker, but they haven’t played their head-to-heads. We’re going to pick every AFC division winner right now with six weeks left with Ran Carth. And we’ll start here. Thought that maybe it would take the Ravens a little bit longer to catch up to the Steelers, but the teams are heading in opposite directions right now. And Lamar Jackson’s healthy. Is anybody going to pick the Steelers here to hang on to this thing? Seems like they’ve already lost it. Yeah, I’m I’m not I’m taking the Ravens here. And it’s for that reason this the Ravens are getting healthy and then now the Steelers lose Aaron Rogers, too. We don’t know how long that’s going to be with the u injury to his uh non-throwing hand. But even if he was in the lineup and he’s able to play with that is how effective can he be because he’s going to have to play a brand of football in order to protect himself and not be able to play as free. And so right now we’re talking about a Ravens team that has won five games in a row. And then you look at four out of their next six games are division games and you have to play Cincinnati twice and Pittsburgh twice. Now we got the report earlier that Joe Burrow is expected to be back and that’s going to say a lot for them because mathematically the Bengals aren’t out of it and they feel like Joe Burrow gives them a bet the best chance to kind of close the gap in that division. However, I think the Ravens defense is actually starting to come around and play better. And we’re now we’re into November. We’re into we’re going to be here in December here very quickly and then that becomes Derrick Henry time and it becomes a brand of defense and offense that most of these teams aren’t built to defend. And so I believe the Ravens will close it out. You know, we still need to see how healthy Lamar is going to be down the stretch. I think what we’ve seen out of him not being um as willing to pull the ball and run the ball, use his legs, uh I think is a is a byproduct of the hamstring injury and him not trusting it, but being healthy enough to be effective on the football field and help them win games. And you mentioned the Bengals who are likely to get Joe Burrow back this week and the Ravens do is it have to play them twice or get to play them twice at this point because you look at the record and they’re three and eight. So you would say, yeah, they get to play the Bengals twice, but Joe Burrow is back. That that changes things, doesn’t it? No, it’s it’s have to. It’s have to because like I said, um T. Higgins is not going to go this week because it’s a short week. He’s in uh concussion protocol. But think about this Bengals off this Bengals offense can score points when with Joe Burrow out there, Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. And then you’ve had Chase Brown who’s brand the ball well here in recent weeks. And so given uh the Cincinnati Bengals, Joe Burrow back in the fold. Now, we’ve talked about their offensive line and how the offensive line has been an issue, but great quarterbacks make me make mediocre offensive lines look decent. And so, what’s going to happen here is they’re going to run some stuff to get the ball out quick, get the ball into the hands of their playmakers, and anytime you have Joe Burrow on the field, you have a chance to win the football. But still, uh, the Ravens is the pick for Ran Caron, and they’re pretty heavy favorites now at almost minus 400 in Vegas. Let’s go to the AFC East. And it’s another heavy favorite here as well. The Patriots are about minus 600 to win this thing because they have a 2 and 1/2 game lead on the Bills. Yeah. And I think they close it out. I think they’re able at 10 and two. I think they’re able to close it out because you have remaining games this year um against the Giants at the Jets and um and Miami. Three very winnable games that will get them to 13 wins, which I think would seal it for them. So I I think the the Patriots finish out here and win the AFC East. If the Patriots do what we think they can do and take care of business against these these these lesser teams and end up with the one seed, would they be the team to beat because of their record and because of the path that teams would have to take or are we going to still, you know, go down to whether it’s the Chiefs or the Bills or the Ravens because those teams have been there and done that before? Well, I I because I picked the uh the Patriots to make the playoffs, but I had them making it as a wild card team. I didn’t think that they would have a chance to win the division because I felt like they were a year away from being able to um compete to win the division, but as we see here now, I’m predicting them to close out and finish. However, I think once they get to the playoffs, whether they have homefield advantage or not, I think some of these teams who are vying for these playoff spots have the ability to score points in bunches. And I just don’t think right now the Patriots are built to do so. They have a very sound defense uh both with the players they have on the field and structurally and what they like to do. But I think offensively right now if you look at the weapons that they have, I don’t think they have enough weapons to score points in bunches that you’re going to need in the playoffs. How about the Buffalo Bills? We we know they have Josh Allen and they have at times scored in bunches. They put up 44 on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but then followed that up with a loss to the Houston Texans sitting there at seven and four. How do you see their rest of the season going? I think they’re going to make the playoffs. I think they’re going to be that six or that seven seed and they could be a problem for people because like we see here on the graphic, this this Steelers game that’s coming is a very winnable game. They have winnable games here. Their tough test to me is going to be can they overcome the Patriots and the loss to the Patriots earlier and where where they’re going to be at with the Eagles. But I still think they’re going to have enough to make the playoffs. But like you said, you have the reigning MVP of the league uh in the in the backfield for you at quarterback, which always gives you a chance. But they just been so streaky, so up and down. But the key thing you said, Chris, is that they have shown the ability to score points in bunches. It’s just a matter of when they’re going to be able to do it. Didn’t do it last time out against the number one defense and the Houston Texans. And that is a team that’s making the AFC South a lot more interesting and could continue to do so this upcoming week because the Texans only two games behind the Colts now and the Jags are sandwiched right in between them and the Texans play the Colts this week. Indy’s lost two of three. Who eventually comes out of here? I think it’s still the Colts. um is still the Colts and but to me out of this entire AFC playoff picture, the Houston Texans is the most intriguing team to me and I I just want to touch on the Colts here. Um you see this remaining schedule, you have Jacksonville twice, you have Houston twice, and then you have to go on the road and play in um in Seattle and you still have a game against San Francisco. So that is that’s a really really tough schedule, but I believe in the way that this Colts team is built in their brand of football. And you mentioned they have three losses because I was looking at the three losses as like wait a minute like Jonathan Taylor hadn’t he didn’t really carry the ball much, right? And in the three losses, it was 17 carries, it was 14 carries, it was 16 carries. But then I dug a little bit deeper and I realized he’s only had three games this year where he had 20 or more carries anyway, right? As well as he’s run. So he’s only had that. The big thing for me that stood out in those three losses that they have, they were all on the road and they only scored 20 points in each of those three losses. And then you look at it, you have an away game at Jacksonville, an away game at Seattle, and away game at Houston, which could present problems. And so, but again, I do think the Colts have enough there to where they can close it out and win the AFC South. They still are the minus 200 moneyline favorites to uh take the AFC South. Oneame lead on the Jags, twoame lead on the Texans. AFC West, we’re still including the Chiefs in here. It’s it’s the only division where we’re actually going to consider that a team can come from three games back here with six weeks to go. But it’s the Broncos who are the clear favorites here at 9 and two. Yeah. And I have them I have them completing the task. Again, we talk about their schedule. You have at Washington, you have at Vegas, then you have Green Bay, you have Jacksonville, you have at Kansas City, and then you have the Chargers. And for me, just all these teams on on this schedule that are remaining, I’m looking at the Chargers in the AFC um in the AFC West to go the other way because they have a very tough remaining schedule. And I’m seeing them go the other way, which is going to allow the Chiefs an opportunity, the Chiefs and the Houston Texans to kind of vault them and have the opportunity to get in. But I think the Broncos have well positioned themselves to close it out and win this division because this defense is playing lights out and then all all you have to do if you’re the Broncos is get it to the fourth quarter and then Bo Knicks will figure out a way to to bring it home. But if they can, if they the thing with the Denver Broncos is they have to find a way to play better and more consistent in those earlier quarters uh in quarters one through three once we get to the back end of this schedule and into the playoffs cuz once we get into the playoffs, anything can happen and they could potentially be a team that’ll be one and done uh in the playoffs. Well, they also have an opportunity if if New England falters and if they continue to play well to get that one seat. How much more important would it be for a team like Denver who’s so good at home and and hasn’t lost at home in in a long time a mile high with those kind of issues as well compared to maybe a New England? No, it’s it’s tough to play in Denver because not only that you and you talked about it, the biggest factor is going to be the altitude. Now, we can pretend and I know in football world it’s mind over matter. It’ll be okay. No, it won’t be because your lungs will burn and especially it could be warm weather and you’re playing in that altitude and it’s going to hurt. But then you add in the cold weather that could present problems for a lot of teams and the crowd at that stadium. It’s a loud environment and like you said, they don’t lose games at home and so establishing themselves to put themselves in position to have homefield advantage will be key for the Denver Broncos. All right, you got the Denver Broncos winning the division here in the AFC West. They’re minus 290 right now, almost minus 300 to win that thing. As we reassess things with about 6 weeks to go, Ran Carthon picking division winners as you see the odds. I mean, it so many teams stacked up there. Look at that. Basically sixh horsese race in the AFC and there’s not much different in odds all the way from the favorite Colts at plus 480 down to the Buffalo Bills at plus 650. Six teams right there looked at as potential co-favorites to come out of the AFC. Well, yesterday Caleb Williams and the Bears took down the Steelers without Aaron Rogers. Evan Washburn was on the sideline. and he’ll detail it on the other side.

Ran Carthon Ran Carthon joins CBS S ports HQ Spotlight to predict the teams that will finish on top of their division in the AFC.

[0:00:00] AFC Playoff Picture
[0:00:23] AFC North Standings
[0:01:04] AFC North Divisional Race: Steelers vs. Ravens
[0:03:33] AFC East Divisional Race: Patriots vs. Bills
[0:06:15] AFC South Divisional Race: Colts, Jaguars, & Texans
[0:07:56] AFC West Divisional Race: Broncos, Chargers, & Chiefs
[0:10:28] Odds to win AFC

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/user/CBSSports

WATCH
CBS Sports HQ: https://www.cbssports.com/live/
Paramount Plus: https://www.paramountplus.com

FOLLOW US ON:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/CBSSports/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/cbssports/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/CBSSports

#nfl #afc #afceast #afcnorth #afcwest #afceast