The Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills have run the AFC for the first half of this decade. The Chiefs have been to three straight Super Bowls – winning two – and seemingly every AFC title game comes down to the Bills and the Chiefs – with the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens in the mix as well. The 2025 season though, there’s some newcomers looking to upend the AFC hierarchy.
The New England Patriots, Denver Broncos and the Indianapolis Colts are all 7-2 and leading the AFC race right now. How likely is it that one of those teams remains the AFC’s contender? The way this season’s going, it feels very likely.
The Chiefs look beatable as the Patrick Mahomes era is coming to a dramatic halt. The Bengals and Ravens have quickly fallen apart in seasons that were supposed to be promising, thanks to untimely injuries. This is as good of a year as any for a new team to enter the conversation.
Drake Maye has already led the Patriots to a comeback win over the Bills earlier this season, Daniel Jones is playing like he wants to be an MVP candidate and Bo Nix is doing just enough with a dominant defense to have the Broncos in the front seat of the AFC West division, which the Chiefs have run for years.
Why the New England Patriots are built to return to AFC dominance
What the New England Patriots are doing this season isn’t just restoring their dominance in the AFC, but it’s bringing back the championship mentality that escaped this franchise when Tom Brady feigned his retirement and spurned the northeast for Tampa Bay. This franchise has been starving for a quarterback that is even a fraction as good as Brady was for 20 seasons. Now they have that in Maye.
It’s not just the quarterback play, though, that has instilled faith in their resurgence. Instead, it’s the fact that they’re the most consistent between the three teams that are currently atop the AFC. The Denver Broncos, while their defense is one of the best in the NFL, Nix is still a wild card. As for the Colts, as good as Daniel Jones has been, the Pittsburgh Steelers showed a major flaw in his miraculous turnaround.
New England’s resurgence will bring back nightmares for the rest of the AFC
Mike Vrabel was the perfect coach to turn to in dire need. He’s injected life into a team that felt like it flat lined. He brought relevance to a team that looked like they’d never escape the shadow of the Bills as long as reigning MVP Josh Allen was still there. The Patriots are the only team that have played consistent enough on both sides to look like a real contender and not a team that will end up having an early playoff exit.
Since Brady left after the 2019 season, the Patriots have had one season with a top 15 offense. This year, they’re ranked No. 7 in points and No. 12 in offensive yards, per Pro Football Reference. Defensively, they’re a top 10 team as well. They have the perfect balance of young players and veteran leaders, which should help in the postseason.
I’m not saying they’re going to have a playoff run like the Washington Commanders had a year ago where they made it to the NFC championship game. That said, I wouldn’t be shocked for them to make a run. In order to be the best, you have to beat the best and they’ve done that once already in beating the Bills. If they do it again, they could very well prove why they’re a different Patriots team than year’s past.