AFC Playoff Picture at 1/4 Season Mark

First, the standings. And they are tasty.

I know, I know it's super early. But that no playoffs section is sweet. Okay, let's take a look at the serious teams. 

I think the Dolphins are a fraud and won't make the playoffs. Patriots should be the only AFC East team. 

Titans and Jaguars both look strong. I think the Jaguars are the favorite, Titans wild-card team probably. 

Bengals and Ravens off to a good start too. 

If you take the top records and swap the Dolphins for the Patriots, those are the 6 favorites. At this point I think these are your 4 division winners:

Chiefs

Jaguars

Patriots

Bengals/Ravens

Titans as wild card. Plus non-division-winner of Bengals/Ravens. 

- - -

Why am I doing this now?

Here's the Chiefs next three games:

home for Jaguars

road for Patriots

home for Bengals

(They also get the Ravens at home in December. And as for the NFC, they play the only other undefeated team—the Rams—in Mexico City on MNF, 11/19.)

So this next 3-game stretch will show us a lot. 

Starting 4-0 was optimistic and they did that. I think they can beat the Bengals at home. So even if they lost to Jags and Pats, they could be 5-2 and on track for a playoff bye. We know how critical the bye is, and we know the Jags and Pats are teams that will be vying for those top 2 spots. So a tiebreaker is huge. 

As for the Jags game...Chiefs are 3 point favorites. The Jags are a bad matchup for the Chiefs. Tough D and their offense can run or pass through the bad KC defense. This one could go either way. 

The Patriots is always a tough game. Still the team you fear the most. The Chiefs have had their number in the Andy Reid era, and this year's Pats had a slow start...but they're getting Edelman and Gordon up to speed. Pats should be favored. 

1-1 is the safest bet, but 0-2 or 2-0 is very much in play. 

I know that I'll be rooting against Jags, Pats, Bengals, Ravens, Titans in every game they play, hoping for a top playoff seed.