A few days ago, former NFL player and current Fox Sports analyst Emmanuel Acho went on the air to discuss the AFC hierarchy.
Given the opportunity to pick his top five teams in the AFC, Acho did what plenty of television personalities do best these days: he went for the emotional jab.
Acho went with the obvious choice for number one, the reigning Super Bowl Champions. How could you pick another team? The Kansas City Chiefs deserve that top spot, no question.
But, beyond the Chiefs, the next few teams might suprise you.
.@EmmanuelAcho gives us his top 5 teams in the AFC. 🏈 pic.twitter.com/W94IyrXhqr
— Speak (@SpeakOnFS1) May 5, 2023
Emmanuel Acho laughably left the Buffalo Bills out of his top 5 AFC teams
Acho's top 5 are as follows:
1. Kansas City Chiefs
2. Miami Dolphins
3. Cincinnati Bengals
4. Baltimore Ravens
5. New York Jets
When explaining his pick to place the Dolphins number two, Acho talked about what they did on defense, adding Jalen Ramsey and Vic Fangio. Those are fair points, but the one thing he failed to point out is the fact that we don't even know if Tua Tagovailoa is going to survive another season in the NFL after what we saw last year.
Let's get real for a minute. The Bills are still the best team in their division, so let's start there, shall we?
The Bengals are fair at number three, so no qualms there. But, the Ravens at four is jumping the gun just a tad. Look, Baltimore is a good football team. Their defense improved drastically and is now once again a top unit.
Lamar Jackson needs to stay healthy. Odell Beckham Jr. needs to be the OBJ of old. That back field needs to avoid catastrophe, which isn't guaranteed. There are a lot of things that need to go right for Baltimore.
Then, we come to the Jets.
"The Jets split with the Bills last year with Zach Wilson," Acho said.
"The gap between those two teams (Jets and Bills) is a gap I think Aaron Rodgers can fill."
We shall see about Rodgers. He looked lost many times last year, and is close to the end of his rope.
The Ravens and Jets are good football teams, and so are the Dolphins. But, the Bills, overall, are better. It's not even a question. Cincinnati should be an easy number two, with Buffalo coming in at three.
The coming season will tell, of course, but for right now, these rankings look downright foolish.