The AFC is getting stronger and stronger, how can the Chiefs still be the favorites?
The AFC West is getting stronger with the arrival of Russell Wilson in Denver, an experienced Justin Herbert in Los Angeles, and Derek Carr in Las Vegas, and that’s just the quarterbacks.
The 2021 NFL season is now officially in the books. After the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the Superbowl, the oddsmakers took their time to understand which teams will be atop the AFC and NFC in 2022. So now the question becomes, which of these teams should be the favorite in the AFC heading into next season? How can the Chiefs still be the favorite in the AFC after their epic meltdown against the Bengals?
The top teams are Chiefs, Bills, and Bengals, but newcomers to the oddsmakers are the Chargers and Broncos. Other teams could create a big splash in free agency/ trades like Denver did with Wilson, but it feels like a stretch at this point. The Titans are always a team to fear, the Chargers are making good moves during this offseason and should be better, and the Patriots can get better thanks to their talented quarterback Mac Jones. Is it enough to be a contender of the AFC though? I don’t think so…
The Kansas City Chiefs were shy of a weird half away to play in their third-straight Super Bowl but hopefully, they will learn from this horrible experience and come back stronger than ever. Mahomes, Hill, Kelce, and Reid will all be returning next year, and they went to four-straight AFC Championship together. Can the Chiefs return to the Super Bowl through this loaded AFC West, I believe so. They haven’t passed the torch just yet, even though they are 0-2 with this young and new Bengals team.
Could Matt Nagy make the offense way more dynamic, especially in the running game? Definitely! On paper, having the trio Mahomes, Hill, and Kelce as offensive weapons cannot mean anything other than being a contender. Will the AFC be more complicated this year? Yes, the conference will be a lot more competitive, but Kansas City has been there before and has the experience to get back to the Super Bowl.
