1. Kansas City Chiefs– The Denver Broncos gave them all they could handle last week. However, they survived and improved their record to 11-1 en route to their seventh straight win. They had to grind that game out last week. Closing in on another division title, they will now have their sites set on locking up the number one seed in the AFC Playoffs. For the first time since February, they will be playing in Miami today.
2. New Orleans Saints– In the last two years, the Saints have played a total of eight games without Drew Brees. They’ve been victorious in every single one of those games too. This is a testament to the greatness of Sean Payton and being able to coach guys to their strengths. What’s really been carrying the Saints has been their defense. Their front seven is active and in the backend across the board, they have great man to man cover corners. They’re in Philly today.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers– They got cute and it finally caught up to them. On the radio, I said there’s a positive to losing a game when you’re undefeated. After that first loss, you can just focus on the bigger picture which is getting to the Super Bowl. Mike Tomlin will use this as motivation. Ben shouldn’t be throwing the football 50 times in back to back games. They need their offensive efficiency back because they’ve struggled to score lately.
4. Buffalo Bills– The last time they won a division title was in 1995. They are closing in on clinching the AFC East this year. I love what I saw from them last Monday night against the 49ers. They had balance offensively and when Josh Allen is spreading the ball around to his open receivers, they are a tough team to beat. The defense has also been improving as of late. It’s another primetime game for them tonight with the Steelers in town.
5. Green Bay Packers– Two straight wins after that loss to the Colts a few weeks back. This is the best I’ve seen Aaron Rodgers look since the 2014 season, the last time he won MVP. He’s still my favorite to win it at the moment. For the Packers to make a run, Aaron Jones must always be on his a-game. The defense also needs to step it up or once again, they’ll be going back home which wouldn’t surprise me either.
