Stampede Blue
One of the things that may have made the last 6 – 8 years of midland results somewhat bearable, is the fact that even on our good days, it was hard to see us advancing in a loaded AFC. If the beast that has been the Chiefs were going to be dethroned, it was a common perception that it would be the Bills, Ravens, or possibly the Bengals that would be doing the damage. After all, we have had no one in the same area code of talent to Mahomes, Allen, Jackson, or Burrow. Heck, we were not even on the Herbert level of play. It has felt like an exercise in futility to believe that the best we could hope for was to back in to a division title.
2025 has seen some of the top contenders fall back toward the mean. I’m not pronouncing anyone dead by any stretch, but some of the heavy hitters have already put up more stinkers than they commonly do in a full season. Since the Chiefs have a national audience for virtually every game, we saw some chinks against division foe Jacksonville. They get everyone’s best, but they have been for years now. Monday night saw Josh Allen frustrated and saw the Bills defense exposed to strong run game. Many wonder if Lamar Jackson’s return will be enough to save the Ravens? That defense has given up 21 TDs to date. For perspective, their 2000 version gave up 18 for the entire season. Cincy is starting Joe Flacco, which should say it all.
Burrow’s injury has the Bengals out of the mix, leaving the Steelers to control their own destiny in the North. Nice team, well coached, but far from scary. We will have a solid grasp on what the West has, as we play each team. So far, so good, but the Chargers and Chiefs remain, with both games on the road. In our own division, Jacksonville might be the biggest surprise in the league, if we were not sporting the 5 – 1 record. Houston is the defending champ, but they will play a 1st place schedule. You have to notice that they held the Rams to 14 and the Bucs to 20, so even if they do not exhibit fire power, they offer tough sledding.
With all of that said, there is a widely shared observation that states, “The games don’t matter until Thanksgiving”. Some teams may not be reaching their full potential at this point, but based on their track record, they have a ways to go to get there. So, for this exercise, lets see if we can gauge how good we can be, compared to what level we need to be to match the conferences’ best, when and if they get to their best. Our poll is not about who you think will win the AFC, just how confident are you that we can compete at a high level in the AFC.
Our choices:
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