AFC Loaded and Wide Open Heading into the Final Month
There is a long list of top contenders in Super Bowl XLVI odds in the AFC as the regular season heads into the final month of action as traditional powers such as the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers have been joined by upstarts such as the Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, and Cincinnati Bengals to make for a phenomenal race to the post season.
New England is of course the place to start with any conversation about championship football in the AFC. The Patriots were again leading the AFC East with a record of 8-3 straight up and 7-4 against the spread after 11 games and featured one of the most prolific offenses in pro football as they ranked 2nd overall for total offense as well as passing and 3rd overall in the NFL for scoring offense. Like fine wine, quarterback Tom Brady simply improves with age. The big question is the Patriots defense that ranked last overall in the NFL in yards allowed, although a much more respectable 11th for points allowed.
It’s no surprise that the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers are leading the AFC North with 8-3 records. The big surprise is that the Cincinnati Bengals are right on their tails with a 7-4 record. The Bengals began the season as a prohibitive long shot in Super Bowl XLVI odds but that has not prevented them from emerging as a leading dark horse. The backbone of the Bengals is a defense that is ranked 5th overall in the NFL. The offense ranked in the middle of the pack but has been led well by rookie quarterback Andy Dalton, who took over after Carson Palmer refused to report. Palmer has since ended up on another upstart team in the Oakland Raiders.
Oakland was 7-4 and leading the Denver Broncos by one game after 11 games. The Raiders play football the old fashioned way with power running, vertical passing, and a hart hitting bend but don’t break defense. They also have one of the game’s true great weapons in kicker Sebastian Janikowski who has hit a sensational 22-24 on field goals to begin the season and he also tied Tom Dempsey’s mark of a 63 yard field goal just for good measure.
Denver may be the most interesting team of all with QB Tim Tebow, who is defying the scoffs and sneers of the “experts” by leading the Broncos to 5 wins in his 6 starts as signal caller to get them back into the playoff race.
Posted: under Pro Teams.