With the season at the eight-game mark, the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Denver Broncos are the AFC division leaders.
All four won last weekend and the 5-2 Jaguars 42-7 rout of the Colts put them in commanding position with a three-game lead in the AFC South over the Houston Texans, who had a bye and are 2-5. The Steelers boosted their record to 6-2 in the AFC North with a 27-6 rout of the Browns and are a half game ahead of the 5-2 Bengals, who edged the 1-7 Titans in overtime, 43-36. The Browns fell to 5-3. The Ravens fell to 4-4 with a 36-10 loss to the Bills. The Ravens lost Lamar Jackson for the season on the first play with a thumb injury and no longer are likely to be a contender. The Bills have a two-game lead in the AFC East over the 5-3 Pats, who edged the Dolphins, 24-19
The Chiefs were a yard away from beating the Broncos and Patrick Mahomes threw what appeared to be a game winning touchdown pass but it was wiped out by a controversial false start penalty. The Chiefs were moved back five yards and Mahomes was sacked and the 6-2 Broncos won, 28-24, and took a half game lead over the 5-2 Chiefs in the AFC West. If the Chiefs had won, they would have had a two-game lead plus the tie breaker. Now the two teams will fight for the division title in the second half of the year. The two-game Raiders evened their record at 4-4 with 38-33 win over the 2-6 Jets.
The NFC is a bit wider open. All four teams in the NFC North have winning records and all four teams in the NFC North have losing records and only one team in NFC East has a winning record.
The one NFC team that appears to be a lock to make the playoff is 6-1 San Francisco, which had a bye and a three-game lead in the loss column over the Seahawks and Rams. Both are 4-4 in the NFC West. The Rams beat the winless Chargers, 24-9, while the Seahawks lost to the 6-2 Bears, 34-17, who are now a game behind the 6-1 Vikings in the NFC North after 5-2 Detroit handed Minnesota its first loss, 19-14.
The 4-2-1 Giants had a bye and remained on top of the NFC East 4-2-1 while the Cowboys fell to 3-5 after a 33-30 overtime loss to the Cardinals. The Cowboys never trailed until the final play. Gardner Minshew came off the bench to lead the Cardinals to the comeback victory and will remain the starter. The Cardinals are 3-5. Washington boosted its record to 2-4-1 with a 29-10 win over the Eagles.
The Panthers dropped to 3-4 with a 27-19 loss to the Packers and are a game ahead of the 3-5 Bucs and Falcons in the loss column in the NFC South. The Bucs beat the Falcons 16-0 in a rainstorm without completing a pass.
In the NFC North the 6-1 Vikings, 6-2 Bears, 5-2 Lions and 5-3 Packers all have a shot at the division title.
The Giants, Texans, Saints and 49ers had byes.
