The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t lose this season until Nov. 17. And that one loss knocked them back into a three-way race for the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.
The Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers each have just two losses, one behind Kansas City, and Buffalo has clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker. Buffalo and Pittsburgh also have arguably easier paths than Kansas City the rest of the way.
Kansas City has four games remaining against teams that are .500 or better (Steelers, Chargers, Texans, Broncos). The Bills have three (Lions, 49ers, Rams) as do the Steelers (Chiefs, Eagles, Ravens). According to Tankathon, the Bills have the weakest remaining schedule among the three with their opponents holding a .444 win percentage after Sunday’s games. The Steelers have the toughest at .493 and the Chiefs are in the middle at .477. A Christmas Day game, when the Chiefs play at the Steelers, might be a big factor in determining the AFC’s bye and home-field advantage through the playoffs.
The Chiefs are still the favorite to get the No. 1 seed, and they proved last season they can win a Super Bowl without the bye, but it’s more wide open after the Bills held on to beat them Sunday. How it shakes out could ultimately determine if the Chiefs can win a third straight Super Bowl.
Here are the power rankings after Week 11 of the NFL season: