In case you haven’t been paying attention, the AFC is a bit of a mess this season.

Heading into the regular season, the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers were considered the class of the conference. Through six weeks, the Patriots are the only team that are meeting expectations.

The Patriots are undefeated through six weeks thanks in part to an elite defense and outstanding special teams unit. Tom Brady and the offense have been fine, but they are being carried early in the year. Regardless of how it is being done, the Patriots have done their job early in 2019.

Kansas City is still among the best teams in the conference at 4-2, but they are coming off of back-to-back losses at home to the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans. Patrick Mahomes is dealing with an ankle injury that has limited him to a certain extent, but the offense isn’t the biggest issue with the Chiefs. The team’s defense continues to be one of the worst units in the league. Kansas City gave up 472 total yards in their loss to Houston and 321 yards to the Colts. Indianapolis carved up Kansas City’s run defense by running for 180 yards on 45 attempts (4.0 YPC).

The Chargers, Browns and Steelers have been disasters. Los Angeles’ latest loss to the Steelers and their third string QB moved them to 2-4. Cleveland, a Super Bowl darling before the start of the regular season, and Pittsburgh also share this record.

Through six weeks, there are seven teams with winning records in the AFC: New England (6-0), Buffalo (4-1), Baltimore (4-2), Houston (4-2), Indianapolis (3-2), Kansas City (4-2) and Oakland (3-2). Among the teams with winning records, can anyone give the Patriots a run for their money?

According to NFL Network analyst and Hall of Fame cornerback, the Buffalo Bills are New England’s biggest competition in the AFC.

When asked on Sunday night who was the Patriots’ biggest competition, Sanders said, “The Buffalo Bills and I didn’t stutter.”

Buffalo is starting to gain more respect in the national media. Just a few days ago, DeAngelo Hall predicted Buffalo would advance all the way to the AFC Championship Game.

The Bills will return from their bye to take on the 0-5 Miami Dolphins on Sunday. If Buffalo is truly a threat to the Patriots, the Bills will dominant the winless Dolphins.

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