After the Chiefs’ first loss in 337 days, the AFC’s elite are as close as ever

On an afternoon that saw Pittsburgh hold off Baltimore and Buffalo end Kansas City’s perfect season, the AFC’s top tier appears even more tightly packed than before

There were two games on Sunday that allowed fans and analysts to get a very good read on the AFC. In the early slate, there was the now 8-2 Pittsburgh Steelers v the now 7-4 Baltimore Ravens. In the late slate, it was the Kansas City Chiefs v the Buffalo Bills.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has been great against most opponents as a passer, but the Steelers have had his number. In six previous career games against Baltimore’s most prominent divisional opponent, Jackson had completed 78 passes on 132 attempts for 870 yards, four touchdowns, seven interceptions, and a passer rating of 66.8 – by far his lowest against any opponent. And against Pittsburgh on Sunday, Jackson completed just 16 of 33 passes for 207 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and a passer rating of… 66.1. Pittsburgh has a knack for forcing Jackson to stay in the pocket, compressing things with pressure, and blanketing his receivers with tight coverage.

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