AFC West Expectations
- Arjun Peroor
- Jul 24, 2024
- 4 min read
The football season is 44 days and for the next couple of days, I will speak of what I expect for each team in each division. Today, we will look at the AFC West:
Kansas City Chiefs
This one is simple. It is Super Bowl or bust and will probably be like that for the rest of Mahomes's prime. They can make history and become the NFL's first team ever to 3-peat. The Chiefs have dealt with players getting in trouble in this off-season but I believe despite that people will still expect them to be playing in February and anything short of that will be viewed as a failure.
Los Angeles Chargers
With the hiring of Jim Harbaugh, the Chargers are going to get a good look at Justin Herbert. Justin Herbert had a fantastic rookie season and because he was so good so early, many expected him to be a part of the conversation of the best quarterback in the league by now. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. He's still very good but he always finds himself one tier below guys such as Mahomes, Allen, Lamar, and Burrow. When being ranked. His play has staggered since his rookie year and the story seems to be the same every year with him putting up great numbers but not being able to take the team to the next level in terms of winning, The Chargers have made the playoffs once under Herbert but blew a 27-0 in that game. So with Harbaugh at the helm, pundits and fans will expect a big season out of Herbert despite losing Mike Williams and Keenan Allen. People look at Harbaugh as the QB whisperer as he got Pro Bowl-caliber seasons from Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick. If Herbert doesn't show improvement, then fans will start pointing the finger at him because thus far in his career he has been given the benefit of the doubt. The Chargers' expectation this year would be to make the playoffs.
Las Vegas Raiders
This team is a bit tricky. We don't know who will be the starting QB between Minshew and O'Connell. Davante Adams has made it known that he would take Tom Brady as QB right now at 45 years old. There's a bit of a weird dynamic with the team right now but one thing that Raiders fans and players are optimistic about this upcoming season is looking forward to having a full season with Antonio Pierce. It was evident that the players loved him and played their assess off since he got promoted and it finally looks like they have stability at the HC position. A reasonable expectation for this season would be to display stability at important positions such as HC and QB and have a winning season. Playoffs would be nice but a clean season with little drama is needed for this organization.
Denver Broncos
Finally, we have the Denver Broncos. They are at the beginning of a rebuild and look to build a strong foundation for the future. With Sean Payton getting the guy he wants, it is paramount that Bo Nix does play well if he does get the starting QB position. Normally, I am for the idea of QBs sitting a year or two before starting but Nix is 24 years old which is older than most QBs in their rookie year, and has played in college for 7 years so he should be more polished than your average rookie so I would like to see him beat out Zach Wilson for the starting job and play his rookie season and go through the ups and downs early. The Broncos also drafted his partner in crime Troy Franklin, a Wide Receiver from Oregon, so Nix should have a good safety blanket to go to during the early struggles of working with his new offense. With the Broncos being in a rebuild the expectation isn't too high when it comes to wins as I expect 5-6. However, Nix must show signs that he is the franchise guy and Sean Payton has to validate the idea that Russ was the problem last year and he can still work his magic when gets to hand-pick the QB. A lot of pressure is on Sean Payton and George Paton the GM but the team as a whole is playing with house money.
I will be doing these for each division per day. Tomorrow will be the AFC East. The list above is also in chronological order based on where I think each team will finish in their division. So in this case I expect the Chiefs to win the Division, the Chargers to finish second, the Raiders to finish third, and the Broncos to finish last.
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