The AFC is WIDE OPEN: Choose your fighter...

Ding, dong. The king is dead... at least in 2025. Week 14 brings clarity on who just may seize this opportunity.

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Forty-four seconds remained in the third quarter when the tycoon lording over this sport took a shotgun snap at his own 38-yard line.

World order would finally be restored.

The latest AFC uprising, these pesky Houston Texans, were about to be dealt with the appropriate level of punishment. Because, simply, Patrick Mahomes is king. The Kansas City Chiefs are a dynasty. This was Arrowhead. No team strings together four straight three-and-outs — producing minus-2 yards — and survives. Not against Mahomes. He corrals that snap, waddles around a muddy pocket, sets his feet and launches a mortar through your defense.

This time, however, his floater lands in the hands of Rashee Rice and… Jalen Pitre triggers.

With an eight-yard running start, the Texans’ safety steamrolls the KC wideout. It’s a hit seen on more hockey rinks than football fields. Creed Humphrey, Kansas City’s lumberjack center, comically protests by chest-bumping Pitre. But obviously, the hit is perfectly legal. A scowling Pitre nods as if daring more Chiefs receivers to trespass air space.

Two snaps later, Mahomes airmails one 50+ yards and another one of Houston’s savages delivers. Kamari Lassiter picks off the three-time champ and holds an index finger to his lips. It’s a ridiculously athletic play. Lassiter sticks with Hollywood Brown’s 4.27 speed stride for stride, flips his hips and finds the ball. As he trots to the sideline, he finds an NBC camera and again informs everyone to be quiet.

So much for another Chiefs coronation. In a 20-10 win, the Texans intercepted Mahomes three times, hit him eight times and forced more incompletions (19) than completions (14). His passer rating of 19.8 was by far a career low.

For the first time since 2010, we’ll see an AFC Championship Game without two of the greatest ever: Mahomes and Tom Brady.

There’s an opening in this conference that has not existed in 15 years.

On the Fear Factor scale — as we sit on Dec. 8 — three carnivores stand out from the rest…

This hellacious Texans defense.

Drake Maye, the next great QB.

Josh Allen, who again shifted into Psycho Mode.

Maye was on a bye week. This coming Sunday, vs. Allen, he’s got a chance to prove he’s this season’s MVP. The 23-year-old is completing an NFL-high 71.5 percent of passes for 3,415 yards with 25 total touchdowns. The schedule’s been favorable but unlike fellow playoff hopefuls like Denver and Chicago, these games aren’t even close. Mike Vrabel’s crew pummels the teams it should pummel with Maye central to all destruction. His accuracy is absurd. This 33-yard touchdown pass to rookie Kyle Williams amid New England’s humiliation of the New York Giants was akin to Steph Curry holding a follow through from 30 feet.

Maye is dropping bombs directly into the bucket. This receiving corps is average.

All hype is real. This QB and head coach duo has an opportunity to not only seize the AFC gap in 2025, but pursue a Patriot reign of their own.

Denver has an elite pass rush. Jacksonville has one of the strongest coaching staffs in football. The L.A. Chargers have a quarterback who occasionally flirts with greatness. Someone has to win the AFC North, I guess. December is when we start to get clarity. Week 14 supplied exactly that in the form of both Allen and this Texans D dusting off grandpa’s shotgun and leading previous AFC powers out to pasture. Both parties killed off the hopes and dreams of organizations (Cincinnati and Kansas City) thinking Super Bowl back in September.

In the lake effect snow, Allen enjoyed another virtuoso performance.

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When the Bengals went up 28-18 midway through the fourth quarter, they had a 91.6 percent chance of winning, per ESPN’s data. For good reason. The Bills couldn’t stop Joe Burrow… at all. The wintry elements had exactly zero effect on his touch passes. After sitting back in soft zones, the Bills tried blitzing and the Bengals QB made them play.

Thing is, it’s also a poison pill to blitz Allen. Defensive coordinator Al Golden sent six — a gaping hole opened up — and Allen dashed upfield for a 40-yard score. Buffalo’s defense fed off its quarterback’s energy with a Christian Benford pick-six and a Jordan Phillips deflection that was picked by AJ Epenesa.

Then, Allen finished Cincy off with two plays that served as a hearty reminder to all title hopefuls.

Any given moment, No. 17 can put the cape on.

On fourth and goal, leading 32-28, head coach Sean McDermott elected to go for it. The right move. With Allen and against Burrow, you always stay aggressive. Allen waited… and pumped… and waited a tick more before slicing a TD to tight end Jackson Hawes. And then on third and 15, leading 39-34, McDermott greenlit a pass play on third and 15. All after a sack nearly blew up in Buffalo’s face. Personally, I was shocked. I thought for sure this coach would run the ball, let clock melt, kick it back to Cincinnati with a minute or so left. But with Allen against Burrow, you end the game on your terms.

With four wide, Allen did not hesitate.

He spotted the opening.

Hit the gas.

Game.

This has been a peculiar season for Buffalo. Week to week, there’s angst directed at OC Joe Brady or the receiving corps or the pass rush.

Exactly as he did against Tampa Bay, Allen proved he’s capable of making any problem go away. His arm. His legs. His mind. Allen can take over a game in a multitude of ways at this point of his career. In the second half against Cincinnati, he completed 13 of 15 for 155 yards with another 81 yards and a TD (not counting the procedural kneeldowns). Let’s remember how this shootout began, too. Allen threw a touchdown on fourth and 4. Miss that throw? Down 14-3? There’s a good chance Buffalo is never able to catch up. That’s why another individual is worthy of equal praise this Monday: McDermott. He’s going for it on fourth down. He’s electing to pass when, seasons past, he most certainly would’ve gone ultra-conservative and ran into a brick wall.

It cannot be easy for a defensive-minded coach to admit his defense is down. But that’s OK. The 2006 Colts won it all with the worst rushing defense in football. Hall of Fame GM Bill Polian detailed to us how that Peyton Manning-led team finally won it all. Buffalo cannot worry about outright shutting offenses down in 2025. Rather, the aim is to steal a possession or two for Allen. If the head coach evolves his thinking by staying aggressive on both sides of the ball — and his game management — there’s no reason the Bills can’t reach Santa Clara for Super Bowl LX.

Buffalo sent Benford on a corner blitz that swung the game. (McDermott admitted they needed to try something new on D.)

Buffalo didn’t punt once.

And all along, the head coach never let the snow-globe conditions dull offensive playcalling.

Which brings us back to the team that did manage to KO Allen a few weeks back.

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Mahomes did get the ball back in Texans-Chiefs after Lassiter’s interception.

But the belligerent tone was set.

DeMeco Ryans’ defense isn’t afraid of any quarterback. All three levels of this unit swarm to the football with barbarity. Oxygen is drained from games. That’s why I don’t blame Andy Reid one bit for gambling on fourth and 1 from his own 31-yard line. He knows this version of the Chiefs is dying off. Don’t forget. There were two versions of the last dynasty in New England. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady won three rings then went a full decade before winning three more. Time will tell how quickly these Chiefs can evolve around Mahomes. This was a last-gasp, last-hurrah type of night for KC. Don’t be surprised if both Travis Kelce and Chris Jones are not on the team in 2026. Big changes are coming.

On that crucial fourth down, Will Anderson — “The Terminator” — muscled past tackle Jaylon Moore to whack the bottom of the “1” on the back of his uniform and hurry the QB just enough. Meanwhile, Derek Stingley was ready. The cornerback blanketed Rice over the middle for the breakup.

Houston scored a touchdown on the short field, and then flustered Mahomes again.

This time, Danielle Hunter forced the quarterback into an errant jump pass on third down and KC failed again on fourth.

Rice flatly dropped the ball and, honestly, it’s hard to blame him. He was likely spooked. Against Houston, the secondary is no safe haven. You’re transported to a different era, a “Jacked up!” era that doesn’t neatly fit into the product the NFL’s trying to sell. And it’s beautiful. Turns out, there are perfectly legal strike zones to hit.

Schematically, there’s no magic. Like the 2024 Eagles (and the ‘07 and ‘11 Giants that mauled Tom Brady), these Texans generate merciless pressure without blitzing. Everything’s connected: Receivers can’t get open, quarterbacks are penned in, all collisions pack a different punch. To the point where, yes, you’re bound to hear footsteps whether they’re real or perceived as a football spins your way with the game on the line.

“We have a confident bunch on defense,” Ryans said afterward. “No matter what the situation is, no matter when they were put out on the field, those guys knew they were going to make a play. You have to play with that confidence, that swagger and that’s how they’re playing right now that’s allowing them to be one of the best defenses in the league.”

Twenty points is enough for C.J. Stroud and this Texans offense.

Ryans refused to make this win anything bigger than Houston’s other seven. Mostly, he wants to see his team “finish” in the fourth quarter because these plays in these moments get woven into a team’s DNA. Everyone expects to slam that door shut on fourth down.

“We know Patrick is one of the best at escaping defenders in the pocket,” Ryans said. “Scrambling for yards. Scrambling for the throw downfield. He’s one of the best to do it, so we knew it’d take a valiant effort from our guys, and they did that up front. And on the back end, we had to protect when the ball did go up. We were able to make a play on the football.

“When we had opportunities to make plays on the football, we made ‘em in the critical moments.”

Oddly enough, there’s a very good chance that both Buffalo and Houston finish second in their respective divisions. And if the Patriots do earn that No. 1 overall seed, Maye is talented enough to win a pair of games at home. But these are two clubs heating up at the perfect time, albeit for polar-opposite reasons.

Afterward, Sean McDermott was asked about his decision to go for the touchdown instead of the field goal with 3:03 left. His answer was pointed: “Aggressive. Toughness.”

McDermott told players they’d need to stay in the fight to the very end vs. Burrow and managed the game accordingly.

“The toughness of our football team,” McDermott said, “when you go through adversity — in life and in football — you come out of things on the other side having learned some things about yourself and are tougher because of it. It’s not easy. Nobody wants to go through adversity. But that internal fortitude stuff is real.

“We’re not where we want to be. But winning games this time of year is huge and the way we’re doing it is really good.”

Some of the sport’s best quarterbacks can plan winter vacations, yet Buffalo and Houston are still in the fight. Both coaches struck the right tone. The games only get bigger from here.