The Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs have dominated discussions about the top teams in the AFC since before the NFL season started.
After the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Chiefs on Sunday for the third time this calendar year, many of the discussions Monday at least included the Bengals. And ESPN's Louis Riddick believes Cincinnati should be regarded as the odds-on favorite at 8-4 - even with the Bills in line for a first-round bye and the Chiefs in first place in the AFC West.
"I think Cincinnati has to slightly be favored (to win the AFC) right now," Riddick said on SportsCenter, "simply because of the kind of winning streak that they're on, the way Joe Burrow has played despite not having Ja'Marr Chase for a few weeks and quite honestly with the way in which they've played the Kansas City Chiefs in particular. A big part of the game in the NFL is the mental game. It's the mental warfare that these guys wage on each other before a game is even played, when a game is played and when the game is over until the next time that they play. And Cincinnati has a leg up on Kansas City. They just do. You may like it, you may not. It's just a fact. Joe Burrow is on it right now. Joe Burrow is right there with the very best, if not THE very best quarterback in the NFL currently as it's presently constructed. So that doesn't mean that Kansas City isn't gonna be there in the end. Because you can best believe they have championship DNA. There's no question about that. They've already proven it. And Patrick has already won, he's already won the MVP. Buffalo: I would say that they're still in it but I'll tell you what - a lot of it really is going to depend on the health of Von Miller and whether or not he can come back and really again exert his influence on this football team on the field. He'll still be around in terms of his leadership. But they need Von on the field. … He's the kind of guy that can absolutely terrorize guys like Joe Burrow and guys like Patrick Mahomes. And without him being there, I just don't know in a conference that it just so top-heavy - like the AFC is - if they're gonna be able to have just that special, special little thing that can put them over the top like I believe Cincinnati does with Joe Burrow and the way in which this team rallies around him and like Kansas City does with their championship DNA and Patrick being a once-in-a-generation type of player. And for us, as fans, it's all good, man, it's all good."
CBS analyst Tony Romo said during the first quarter of Sunday's Chiefs-Bengals game that viewers were "watching a dynasty" in Kansas City.
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