2025 AFC Preview

The more things change in the NFL, the more they stay the same.  Everyone loves to praise the NFL for its parity, which is true to an extent.  Yet the same teams continually find themselves at the top year after year.  That's what I expect to happen in the AFC, where the four teams that won their division last season can easily do it again.  They're simply the best teams in their respective divisions.

That doesn't mean it's a guarantee, of course.  The AFC West now has four coaches who've taken teams to the Super Bowl and could easily be the best division in football.  Nobody in the AFC South is good, so that division is extremely wide open.  Then you have the unknowns like how Aaron Rodgers will do in Pittsburgh and how Cincinnati will bounce back after consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs.  The Bengals are the only AFC team to win a postseason game against Kansas City in the past six years, so they might be the only team standing between the Chiefs and a fourth consecutive Super Bowl.

Of course, there are plenty of other teams who'd like to take that shot.  The Bills have been itching for that shot and came oh so close last season.  Then there are the Ravens, the third team in that little round robin at the top of the AFC.  It really would be shocking if anyone outside that triumvirate is representing the conference in San Francisco in February.

AFC East: For years, the AFC East was the exclusive domain of the Bradicheck Patriots.  That has since shifted to Josh Allen's Bills.  And there's no reason to think they won't add another division title this season.  Miami is the only team that has a chance at being even remotely competitive, but the Dolphins are likely looking at fighting for a wild card at best.  They simply aren't as good as the Bills.

Neither are the Jets and Patriots.  New England should actually be improved this season.  I don't think the Patriots would've fired Jared Mayo if Mike Vrabel hadn't become available.  Vrabel is the guy Robert Kraft really wanted, and I think he'll get them back to contention soon.  Just not this year.  And the obsession with putting the Jets in primetime is mercifully over now that Aaron Rodgers is in Pittsburgh.

AFC North: Speaking of Pittsburgh, they do the same thing every year no matter what veteran who fizzled out elsewhere is playing quarterback.  Mike Tomlin finishes just above .500 each season and is either in the mix for or snags a wild card.  Don't expect things to be any different this year.  The only change was swapping Russell Wilson for Rodgers.

Are the Steelers better than the Ravens, though?  No.  I'm not even sure they're better than the Bengals (even though Cincinnati might be the most overrated team in the league).  If everything goes right, Cincinnati can win the division.  Even if it doesn't, they'll be that team nobody good wants to play late in the season.  Especially if they're out of it.  Cleveland is also in the AFC North.  Yeah, that's about all I've got for the Browns!

AFC South: In the AFC South, it's really just a matter of who'll be the least bad.  And that really comes down to just the Texans and Colts.  On paper, Houston is the better team.  And the only one that has any chance of beating the top teams.  Their spot at the top of the division is by no means guaranteed, though.  The margin between them and the Colts really isn't that big, so Indianapolis winning the division wouldn't be that big of a surprise.

Jacksonville or Tennessee winning the division, meanwhile, would be a surprise.  The Jaguars will at least be worth watching now that they've added Travis Hunter and plan on letting him play both ways.  The Titans used the No. 1 pick on Cam Ward, who isn't anything close to a franchise quarterback.  They're fortunate that the Browns are still in the league.  Because it's gonna be another long year in Tennessee.

AFC West: All four AFC West teams are capable of making the playoffs.  Three of them made it last year, and Pete Carroll could be the same type of difference maker in Las Vegas that Sean Payton was in Denver.  With that being said, it took Payton two years to get the Broncos going.  The Raiders are a little further ahead than where Denver was when Payton took over, but the AFC West is also a lot stronger.  So, while they'll be significantly better than the afterthought they've become in recent years, it still might be a stretch to say the Raiders don't finish last again.  (Although, last place could mean 8-9 or even 9-8.)

I'm also curious to see if the Chargers and Broncos can keep it going after last season's playoff appearance.  More significantly, can either of them challenge the Chiefs?  Or is it a situation where, by mid-November, they know they're battling for a wild card?  And, let's be honest, that's probably the best they can hope for.  Last season, everybody said the Chiefs would have a "down" year and they finished 15-2, which included a Week 18 loss in Denver when they didn't care at all.  So, yeah, just like the Bradicheck Patriots, the Chiefs are on top until somebody knocks them down.

So, like I said, the more things change, the more they stay the same.  The Bills, Ravens and Chiefs should all win their divisions again.  The only question is the South, but you'd still have to consider Houston to be the favorites.  That's the only division where somebody different winning it wouldn't be a surprise.  Which leaves the battle for the wild cards.

And those wild cards should all come out of either the North or West.  The Chargers should get one.  Even if they drop off a little, they're still one of the seven best teams in the AFC.  Simply because of what we've come to expect from them every year, I'll say the Steelers make it back, as well.  But Denver's wild card will go to Cincinnati instead.  The Bengals will be the only new AFC playoff team.

Ultimately, though, it'll come down to those same three teams at the top.  Kansas City, Buffalo and Baltimore.  The Chiefs have been to three straight Super Bowls.  The record is four straight.  What team holds that record?  The Buffalo Bills.  What team will prevent Kansas City from equaling it?  The Buffalo Bills.