With six games left in the regular season for most teams, there remains an open question in this 2011 NFL season: Who is the favorite in the AFC? That’s not an issue in the NFC, where Green Bay improved to 11-0 after beating Detroit on Thursday and San Francisco had a two-game lead for the No. 2 seed heading into its game Thursday night. But in the AFC, none of the top teams has distanced itself from the competition, lending an air of intrigue to the race for a top seed and an automatic bye.
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The teams with the best record — New England, Houston, Pittsburgh and Baltimore — were all 7-3 entering play Thursday.
The Ravens’ one advantage is a relatively soft schedule after its game against the 49ers on Thursday night, including two games against Cleveland and another against Indianapolis. Remember, Houston still is without star wide receiver Andre Johnson (hamstring) — he could return this weekend — and quarterback Matt Schaub (right foot) is done for the season. It’s hard to imagine the Texans earning a top seed and a bye without their starting quarterback. You also wonder whether New England will hold up physically. Star wide receiver Wes Welker seems to pick up a new injury every week and struggled in Monday’s win over Kansas City.
That leaves Pittsburgh, which has a win over the Patriots but was swept by Baltimore. Still, the Ravens haven’t exactly used that to pull away since they entered Thursday with the same record. The Steelers are 7-1 against every other team, and the one loss was by a touchdown at Houston. Their consistency might make them the best choice to earn the No. 1 seed with games against Kansas City, Cincinnati and Cleveland coming up — the latter two at home — and another home game left against 2-8 St. Louis.
“I still believe in the Pittsburgh Steelers,” NBC football analyst Rodney Harrison said. “I know they have an unconventional offense with [quarterback Ben Roethlisberger] running around. But they have explosive wide receivers. They are very difficult to cover down the field, and they have a veteran defense. They’ve [just] been injured.”
– Brian McNally
