Who will be our biggest AFC challenge?

[gordonelloyd]

This is probably too early to talk about, and the post is too long, but since there is not much football discussion going on now, here goes:

Cincinnati: they are my biggest concern if Burrows is healthy and they keep Higgins. They generally play us close and Burrows is one of the 2 quarterbacks that can match Mahomes at their best ( Alan is the other). They improved his protection by drafting Mims and signing veteran Trent Brown when he is healthy. I don’t think they will miss Joe Mixon as Moss will step right in and did a great job filling in for Taylor last year for Indianapolis. they have significantly upgraded their defence at DB with Gino stone and the return of Bell. Like us, they also have good coaching.

Houston Texans: if Stroud does not have a sophomore slump, I think the Texans will rival Cincinnati as our biggest challenge. With the addition of Diggs they probably have the best set of receivers in the league, Mixon should be a slight improvement at RB (thank God they did not get Barkley!). And they improved the defence with Hunter and Autry. Their draft probably got a DB starter (Lassiter), OT starter (Fisher) and TE depth. As a really young team they should improve just from another year of experience, despite no longer having a last place schedule and also no longer catching other teams by surprise. They have a great three year window until they have to pay Stroud. They also have good coaching.

Baltimore: probably not a worry as Jackson is NOT a good enough quarterback when you have to count on him, I doubt Henry will improve the running game as it was already very good, and free agency hurt their offensive line without the draft sufficiently making up for that. Also, I think their defence has deteriorated with losing LB Queen, DB Stone, and edge Clowney, AND Defensive coordinator MacDonald Going to Seattle as head coach and defensive line coach Weaver going to Miami as defensive coordinator. We saw it with Philadelphia last year how losing key coaching personnel can hurt.

Buffalo: I don’t think Buffalo is a worry. Allan just doesn’t have enough support. They decimated their receiving room and I don’t think Samuel and Coleman can fix that. Allan will probably have to play more hero-ball, so likely he will fall apart more often. They also had losses on defence (DBs Poyer and White, DE Floyd) that will probably hurt.

New York Jets: They are only a worry if Rogers returns to his MVP form, and I don’t think that’s likely. At WR Wilson now has a partner in Williams, but that will NOT be enough. They also made good moves at OL getting Smith from Dallas at OT (too bad we didn’t get him) and backing him up in the draft with Fashanu. Adding Reddick at edge should improve the DL. So they should improve. But challenging theChiefs and the other teams above will come down to Rogers.

Miami: this is a bit like Baltimore. They don’t have a good enough quarterback in Tua to beat us. They also lost key defensive players especially Wilkins. Overall, what they lost in free agency was NOT offset by what they gained (even with OBJ! Who I think will do nothing for them.)

Cleveland: this is probably the only other team worth mentioning and it would depend on Watson returning to the top form he showed at Houston. That is highly unlikely. I do expect and hope Nick Chubb will fully recover as he is one of my favourite players. Too bad he doesn’t play here! I doubt adding Jeudy will improve their passing much.

The rest of the teams aren’t worth mentioning, but I will say something about three of them anyway.

Pittsburgh: Russell, Wilson, and Justin fields will be an improvement at QB, but are not going to be a threat.

Indianapolis: if Richardson could play a full season like he did for the first several games last year as both a passer and runner, they might be a threat. But if he plays like that, just like last year, he will probably not last a full season. if they can find a safer way to use him and cut back on his hero ball running They could really move up. And with Taylor, he does not need to run. This will be interesting to watch.

Jacksonville: they probably won’t even beat out Tennessee to finish second in their division after Houston.

[BryanBusby]

So far this year it looks to be the police.

[RunKC]

Fast cars and commencement speeches

[digger]

The biggest threat to the Chiefs this season...








wait for it...






is...


the...


Chiefs...


That's the list...

[PHOG]

Injuries

[Rainbarrel]

Nobody expects Nix Magic

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by PHOG

Injuries

This.

Mahomes has no peer...

[louie aguiar]

If Burrow is healthy then it’s the Bengals

[Jewish Rabbi]

The Refs

[ChiefsCountry]

Mahomes health

[Megatron96]

A lot of question marks with certain teams, such as HOU, IND, CLE, but it seems like the answer should still be CIN. Assuming that Burrow's wrist is going to be 100%, and Higgins will remain a Bengal, I believe they'll end up rising to the top of the AFC.

HOU could be there, assuming CJ Stroud is the real deal and has a season similar to, or better than, last year. Some uncertainty there, but compared to IND and CLE's QB questions, CJ Stroud seems like a pretty solid bet.


BAL is BAL. As long as Lamar continues to be a run-first QB they'll be in the hunt during the regular season, but will inevitably fail in Jan.

BUF doesn't look as good on paper, and I don't believe they'll even win their division.

Tua is not going to lead MIA to the SB this year, or any year.

If Rodgers is really healthy, and NYG has finally fixed their OL, (lot of 'ifs') they could contend. The pair of stories I've read about the Jets recently say that Rodgers looks 100%, and there's never been anything wrong with his arm or his football IQ. They still have one of the best defenses in the league, so this is all about their OL.

I suppose that LAC could be a dark horse threat, but even with Harbaugh I think the attrition of losing Allen/Williams and a host of other players will hamper them enough to keep them out of contention, so I'll have to see it to believe it.


No one else in the AFC matters.

[Indian Chief]

It really feels like Buffalo is taking a step back this year.