Predicting Which Powerhouse AFC Teams Will Miss the Playoffs

When you think of powerhouse AFC teams today, you think of teams like the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and Baltimore Ravens. All three of these teams are Super Bowl favorites year in and year out and you never think twice about whether they’ll make the playoffs or not. This year though, all three are fighting for their playoff lives and there are legitimate questions as to whether the playoffs are in the cards for them this year or not. In fact, a couple of them are predicted to miss the playoffs, as mentioned below.

Powerhouse AFC Teams to Miss the Playoffs

Kansas City Chiefs

This one is hard to fathom but it’s not unreasonable to think that the Chiefs will miss the playoffs this season. They currently sit on the outside looking in, one game behind the trio of the Los Angeles Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Buffalo Bills for the fifth, sixth, and seventh seed in the AFC wild-card race, all of whom they’ve lost to this season already. They also have to jump the Steelers and Texans, who are also on the outside looking in. With already losing to the Denver Broncos and being three games back in the AFC West, the division is highly unlikely. 

Just when you think they could be turning back into the team of old one game, they stop themselves in another. They have a meeting in Dallas and then face a tough Texans defense with divisional matchups against the Chargers and Broncos, who both beat the Chiefs in their first matchups, as mentioned. When you have Patrick Mahomes as your quarterback, nothing is over, but the Chiefs find themselves in an unfamiliar spot and might very well miss the playoffs the same year that Missouri online sports betting becomes legal, which won’t go over too well in the Show Me State.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens are on a heater, winning five straight games after starting the season 1-5. Now they’re 6-5 and find themselves in first place in the AFC North due to a tiebreaker over the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are also 6-5. Getting healthier was the key to Baltimore’s success and now that Lamar Jackson is healthy as well, the Ravens look like they are getting back to their typical powerhouse status in the AFC. 

While that’s the case, the Steelers are still breathing down their neck for the division and the two teams still face each other twice this season, which could determine everything.

The Ravens’ road won’t be easy. As mentioned, not only do they face the Steelers twice with a motivated Aaron Rodgers but they still face the Bengals twice with Joe Burrow back, the top-seeded New England Patriots, and the Packers at Lambeau Field in late December. Because of their poor start, there’s no margin for error for this Ravens team, and it could potentially lead to Pittsburgh taking back the AFC North crown and losing out for a spot in the wild card as well, which is less attainable than the division with the teams fighting for spots.