AFC contenders ranked after Week 8: Buffalo leads, Jacksonville is next in line

Baltimore was supposed to be the team everyone else in the AFC had to get past. With Lamar Jackson hurt and the Ravens at 4-4, that job is open, and eight teams have a case for taking it. The order below follows the standings first and the quarterback situation second.

Tier one: the division leaders

Buffalo Bills, 6-1. The best record in the conference and a win over the Ravens that left Baltimore further behind. Josh Allen gives the Bills the safest answer at the sport's most important position, and the No. 1 seed is theirs until someone passes them.

Denver Broncos, 6-2. The win over Kansas City settled the West argument for now. Bo Nix and a defense that travels well make Denver the hardest team in the division to play on any Sunday.

Pittsburgh Steelers, 6-2. The North leader owns the same record as Denver and has Aaron Rodgers running the offense. With Baltimore stalled, the division looks like Pittsburgh's to lose.

Tier two: the Jaguars and the wild-card pack

Jacksonville Jaguars, 5-2. The 42-7 rout of Indianapolis kept Jacksonville atop the South and gave Trevor Lawrence a clean result against a division rival. The Jaguars have two losses, the same as Denver and Pittsburgh, so the gap to the top three is thin. A strong November puts them in the conversation for the top seed.

Kansas City Chiefs, 5-2. The loss to Denver hurts in the West race. Patrick Mahomes keeps the Chiefs in the playoff picture, but they now chase a division they used to own.

Cincinnati Bengals, 5-2. Joe Burrow has the Bengals level with Jacksonville and Kansas City in the loss column. Cincinnati holds a wild-card spot and has the quarterback to scare any team above it.

Tier three: still in range

New England Patriots, 5-3. Drake Maye has the Patriots in the seventh seed, one game behind the 5-2 group. The margin for error is thin, since they already have one more loss than every team above them.

Baltimore Ravens, 4-4. The Ravens sit out of the playoff field. A healthy Jackson would put them back near the top on talent alone. Without him, they chase the same wild-card spots they rarely have to worry about.

What the order says

No team in this group looks like a runaway. Buffalo has the record, Denver and Pittsburgh have the division leads, and Jacksonville has a path to join them. The AFC is open, and the teams that treat the next four weeks as division games will own the top of the bracket by Thanksgiving.