As students return to school and the weather soon changes, it means it’s football season again. The previous NFL season was one to remember with many storylines, including the retirement of Tom Brady, the resurgence of many franchises and ending with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs hoisting the Lombardi Trophy once more. With lots of familiar faces in new places, football fans are certainly in store for another season they won’t forget.
The AFC East is one of the most competitive divisions in football. Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills still have a strong chance of repeating as division champs for the fourth consecutive season, but each team has a case to make. The most interesting story line that came out of the offseason was the addition of Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets, immediately putting them in Super Bowl contention. If Rodgers can regain his MVP form, along with a stellar defense led by Sauce Gardner and head coach Robert Saleh, the Jets will be in a fight for the division. The 2023 Dolphin’s success largely depends on Tua Tagovailoa’s health, if he can stay healthy, the Fins could find themselves back in the Wild Card.
The New England Patriots can’t be counted out with Bill Belichick in charge, but they have one of their steepest hills to climb.
The AFC North is the Bengals to lose, with one of the best wide receiver rooms in the entire league, and Joe Burrow leading the way. They are not only in a prime position to repeat as division champions but also a favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl for the second time in three years. Their main competition will be the Baltimore Ravens if their former MVP can return to form. After an eventful off-season regarding whether Lamar Jackson would play this coming season, the two sides signed a long-term contract deal. Deshaun Watson and the Browns had a season to forget in year one of a five-year fully guaranteed dealer. If history repeats itself, the contract could become one of the worst contracts in sports history.
Rounding out the AFC North are the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have not had a losing record under head coach Mike Tomlin. This year will test that streak.
The AFC South could be one of the most exciting divisions. It is led by Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars, who managed to win the division last year in head coach Doug Pederson’s first year. Lawrence will look to jump into MVP consideration as the Jaguars hope to be Super Bowl contenders.
The Tennessee Titans can never be counted out with one of the better head coaches in the league, Mike Vrabel, and a workhorse in the backfield in Derrick Henry.
The bottom two teams don’t have high expectations but have exciting story lines, with two of the top rookie quarterbacks from this year’s draft, CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson, coming from the Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts, respectively. Rounding out the AFC is the West Division, home to the 2023 Super Bowl champion and current favorite, the Kansas City Chiefs.
Their main competition in the division will come from the Los Angeles Chargers after quarterback Justin Herbert signed a huge contract extension.
After a disastrous first season for Russell Wilson in Denver, which started with Super Bowl hopes and ended with his coach being fired mid-season, the Broncos will look to rewrite the ship. Sean Payton will lead this charge, who, after a year off from coaching, decided to return to the NFL to try and shift the 2022 Ponies back to the Broncos.
The Las Vegas Raiders replaced long-time quarterback Derek Carr with an injury-prone Jimmy Garoppolo while not addressing or making any improvements on the defensive side of the ball, this adds up to a low ceiling for the team and what could be a long season for Raiders fans.
