Inside The Star
Week 15 saw three AFC teams get officially eliminated from playoff contention. Including the shocking departure of the defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs’ season came to a fitting end as Patrick Mahomes was helped off the field with a torn ACL.
For the first time since the 2021 season the AFC will be represented by a different team than the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
The Cincinnati Bengals played in the 2021 Super Bowl. They were eliminated on Sunday as well.
The Chiefs had played in the two Super Bowls before.
You have to go all the way back to 2018 and the New England Patriots to find the last time the Chiefs or Bengals weren’t the AFC team.
Here’s how the AFC playoff bracket looks going into Sunday’s games:
That honor remains in the hands of the red-hot Denver Broncos. The Broncos have won 11 straight games to get to 12-2.
They hold a one-game lead over the 11–3 Patriots for the bye week, and they also have the tie-breaker in hand should they end up tied at the end of the regular season.
However, Denver holds just a two-game lead over the Chargers in the AFC West. That same two-game edge holds true over Jacksonville as the Jaguars are making their own push for the top seed.
The Broncos host Jacksonville on Sunday afternoon in what is easily the biggest game of the weekend in the AFC.
Nor can the 10–4 Bills be counted out of this chase either.
Out west, the Broncos are hoping for help from the Cowboys on Sunday as they host the Chargers. A Cowboys’ win and a Denver win and the AFC West title is clinched.
In the East, the Patriots now lead the Bills by just a game.
The two teams have split the season series.
New England has to contend with the Ravens in Baltimore on Sunday night. The Bills get the Browns on Sunday afternoon.
The AFC East could be very interesting down the stretch.
The Jaguars cannot rest easy in their quest for the AFC South title at 10-4.
The Houston Texans at 9-5 and the Indianapolis Colts at 8-6 are nipping at Jacksonville’s heels. The Texans host the Raiders on Sunday and the Colts host the 49ers on Monday night.
Up in the AFC North, Pittsburgh, 8-6, and Baltimore, 7-7, will likely come down to the final game of the year in January.
Pittsburgh is at Detroit on Sunday, then at Cleveland, before hosting the Ravens. After Baltimore’s battle with the Patriots, they play at Green Bay, then head for Pittsburgh.
Right now, the Chargers sit in the fifth seed with Buffalo sixth at 10-4. Los Angles currently holds the tie-breaker over the Bills.
Houston holds the seventh slot with the Colts and Ravens still in the hunt for that final slot with three weeks remaining in the 2025 season.
