The AFC is looking for a frontunner. Traditional favorites in New England and Pittsburgh have yet to find their footing. Fast starter Kansas City is renowned for owning September and October. Everyone else is trying to sort themselves out. And the Cincinnati Bengals are off to a 3-1 start and looking to take advantage of […]
The AFC North I was expecting to see all year long showed up in a big way on Sunday. This division has been better than I expected—I thought 9-7 would win it, and there wouldn’t be any wild-card teams. As it stands, it will likely be double-digit wins to take first place and in all likelihood the final wild-card spot comes from this division. But Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati all managed to come up small in big situations.
The events of Sunday opened up the AFC playoff race. Pittsburgh’s loss to Baltimore and the reality that Ben Roethlisberger might not be back anytime soon makes the Steelers’ position at 6-4 very tenuous. Indianapolis is also 6-4. We looked closer at the Colts last week, and I don’t think anyone would consider them a lock. But only one team is in immediate striking distance of these two wild-card leaders, and it’s the Cincinnati Bengals at 5-5. Let’s look at their chances at playing their way into the postseason for the second straight year.