The NFL Playoffs are officially here. With the first two playoff games involving AFC Teams, let’s start with previewing every single team that made the playoffs in the AFC conference and give my pick for who will represent the AFC In Superbowl 59.
Oh my gosh, the Kansas City Chiefs made the playoffs, won the AFC West, and got the number 1 seed in the playoffs. What a stunning event in the NFL that a Dynasty yet again appears in the playoffs.
With how great the Chiefs have been, what has the big difference been this year? Oh, that’s right acquiring WR DeAndre Hopkins via trade. They even got faster by drafting Xavier Worthy as well. Hopefully, he won’t turn into a piece of work like Rashee Rice has been with that car accident. Remind me why he wasn’t suspended for that again. Eh, who cares Rice suffered an injury and won’t be available for the playoffs this time. Who will, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown? Along with Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt in the backfield, this offense is loaded.
Travis Kelce is also on the team, but he has shown signs of decline this season. Surprisingly it’s Noah Gray who leads the team with touchdowns in the tight end department. To make this better Patrick Mahomes is the best QB in the league and it’s not even close.
It also helps that the Chiefs defense is still a Top 10 unit in the NFL. Although their 3rd down defense isn’t the greatest and their secondary could use some improvement.
With Andy Reid still the head coach of this team, the Chiefs should have another deep run in the playoffs. So Who else is going to try and dethrone the Chiefs this year?
Congratulations Buffalo, you yet again won the AFC East division and made the NFL Playoffs as the 2nd seed. It’s absolutely well deserved with the talent on this team and Sean McDermott as the head coach. Remember when many analysts claimed he was on the hot seat? Those days are long gone, hopefully.
Looking at their offense it’s really solid. Josh Allen is one of the 5 best QB’s in the NFL and had a really strong season despite not having a true number 1 receiver. Look Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman are great players, but they haven’t been number 1 receivers. Heck neither got over 820 receiving yards. James Cook has yet again been a really great running back with another 1,000-yard rushing season.
Along with a Top 10 defense, On paper, this team has the best chance to beat the Kansas City Chiefs. After all, Buffalo did beat them in the regular season this year. However, there is one problem with the Bills, they are the most cursed team in the NFL. No matter what they do bad luck just is attracted to this franchise. Looked at the Bills’ history with missed kicks and missing 4 straight Super Bowls. I hope they can break the curse, but sometimes specific types of curses are unbreakable. Just look at the New York Jets, they have been dysfunctional since they won Super Bowl 3.
If I were to name one team that frustrates me the most this year it would be the Baltimore Ravens. So many times this team has been annoying and I am at my wits end with the team. What further frustrates me is what happened in Week 18. Instead of ensuring health for the playoffs, Baltimore played most of their starters. Guess what, Zay Flowers suffered an injury that will keep him out of that wildcard game against Pittsburgh. They never learn, do they?
Speaking of that Wildcard game they face the Steelers who have been Lamar Jackson’s kryptonite for all of his career. Yes, the Ravens won the last game, but the Steelers had injury issues and a pick-six at the end of the game made this core more lopsided. Baltimore is the most overrated team in the NFL, just look at how inconsistent that defense has been. That pass rush especially has disappointed me excluding Odafe “Jayson” Oweh and Kyle Van Noy. A big issue to is the decline of Justin Tucker who has not been himself on the field all year.
Do the Ravens have the pieces to make a deep run? Absolutely. Especially with this year having a new running game with Derrick Henry. I would also include Justice Hill, but he suffered a concussion at the end of the regular season and might not play. However, let’s be honest here This team all season has had a coaching problem and I have called this out early in the season. The Ravens for years have been their worst enemy, and It either put up or shut up for the Raven.
Let’s be honest here this team is absolute trash. The only reason why they made the playoffs is due to how bad the AFC South division is. This team has a tremendous amount of problems that a shopping list can be made.
Not only has CJ Stroud regressed this year, but the entire team has.
That also includes the coaching staff. By the way how in the world does Bobby Slowik keep getting interviews for head coaching jobs? He has done an terrible job this season and it doesn’t help that his playcalling has gotten predictable. I am so confused about how he keeps getting interviews after that horrendous game against the Detroit Lions where they blew a 23-7 lead.
To make things worse, the Offense will not have two important players on offense. Stefon Diggs suffered a Torn ACL mid-season and Tank Dell suffered a brutal knee injury against the Chiefs. That injury Dell suffered is so severe that he may not even play till 2026. Just terrible and I wish him well in the best of recovery. As for the Texans, yeah don’t expect a deep run for the team, although stranger things have happened in the NFL.
It’s cool to finally see a properly coached Chargers squad. After the disaster of the Brandon Staley tenure, the Chargers knew that they needed an upgrade at the coach to be a true playoff team. So, the Chargers hired Jim Harbaugh to coach and he has been excellent this year. You can tell this team is more organized when watching the footage.
The Chargers are at an interesting spot because not many thought they would get to this spot. Especially with the notable names they lost, it was going to be difficult. When Keenan Allen and Mike Williams departed, many wondered who would step up to the number 1 receiver role.
Well, two names stand out in Rookie 2nd Rounder Ladd McConkey and Quinton Johnson. Yes, Quinton Johnson looked solid this season. Along with JK Dobbins at running back and Gus Edwards as a backup, the offense is solid. With Justin Herbert at QB, the Chargers are an interesting team.
They just need one more player to Ringchase with them. Ezekiel Elliott come on down to LA. It’s too bad Elliot is nowhere near the player he was and is a liability on offense. It also hurts the team that Denzel Perryman can’t stay healthy as when he is out, the defense has just looked off. Who knows what his status will be this week, but at least the Chargers face a very terrible Texans team. Let’s see how the Chargers do
I wonder what type of magic spell Mike Tomlin keeps casting to get the Steelers to the playoffs. Almost every single year this team makes the playoffs no matter how poor the coordinator or the talent is. This time, the Steelers actually have good coordinators and talent on the field. It’s about time as I wouldn’t have trusted Matt Canada to run a middle school offense. Arthur Smith has done a much better job as the offensive coordinator. Teryl Austin has done yet another great job as the defensive coordinator.
Looking at the offense, Russell Wilson has had the best season of football since his Seahawks days. Has he been the same player? No prime Russell Wilson is long gone, but he’s been serviceable. It helps to have a better offensive line and better talent surrounding him. Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren are a great RB duo, Pat Freiermuth is a weapon at TE, and George Pickens has been a great receiver.
If you ignore him turning into a cancer by the day. Why is it that every time there is a top receiver on this squad they eventually turn into a cancer? To make things worse, Pickens has been dealing with Hamstring issues. He did return last week against Kansas City and Cincinnati, but it was clear he was playing hurt.
The Steelers’ defense yet again showcased themselves as a top unit. Both in rushing the passer and even stopping the run. Now can there secondary hold-up? Besides Minkah Fitzpatrick and Joey Porter Jr, the Steelers’ secondary is very lackluster. It also doesn’t help that Donte Jackson is dealing with a back injury.
Also, Pittsburgh got to wake up, and now. They had a terrible ending to the Regular Season losing their last 4 games, which cost them the AFC North Division. Now this week they get a gift, they facing the Baltimore Ravens. Baltimore has been Pittsburgh’s kryptonite in the Lamar Jackson. Yes, Pittsburgh lost there last game against Baltimore, but the Steelers didn’t have George Pickens.
The question for them is simple. Can they actually have a deep playoff run and go past the wildcard round of the playoffs? Or will they pull a Mike Tomlin classic and play down to competition? By the way, this team hasn’t gone past the Wildcard Round of the playoffs since 2017 and that needs to change.
I got to give credit to the Denver Broncos, I did not have any expectations for them whatsoever. Why should you with the Dead Cap that this franchise is paying Russell Wilson to not play with them? Then there is one part of the puzzle that I forgot about, Sean Payton is the head coach. Coaching matters in this league and he’s done a really good job with this squad.
I was not a fan of Bo Nix as a prospect, but my goodness is he making me eat my words because he’s done a really great job at QB as a rookie? Just ignore the terrible performances in the month of September, the easy schedule, and the mediocre performances against good defenses. The Bills defense is one of the best defenses in football so he’s going to have his hands full in that game.
As for the rest of the offense it’s been hit or miss. The run game has been decent with Javante Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin in the backfield. Cortland Sutton has finally stood out as a number 1 receiver, but besides that Denver’s defense receiver isn’t the greatest. However, there is one player that you have to keep an eye on, Marvin Mims. Mims has looked solid as a slot receiver in the 2nd half of the season.
Denver’s defense has yet again returned to being a top unit. The pass rush has been excellent with Nik Bonitto, Jonathan Cooper, Zach Allen, and many more. What’s been excellent for this defense is stopping the run. The main player I’m shouting out is John Franklin-Myers who’s had been a tremendous addition to that defense as a veteran and to the run game. What a great move by former Genius GM Joe Douglas of the Jets to trade him to the Broncos for some double bubble and old Tupac CDs.
Now the big question with the Broncos is, can their secondary hold up? Besides Patrick Surtain and Brandon Jones, their secondary has massive problems and they got exposed in that Cinncinati Bengals game. Well, at least they made it to the playoffs for the first time since winning Superbowl 50 9 years ago. Wait it’s been 9 years since that game? I’m getting old am I?
Just hand the trophy to the Kansas City Chiefs, we know you want to NFL. Especially with the Chiefs being the new dynasty of the NFL and wanting to please the Swifties. The Chiefs are trying to win three Superbowls in a row for the first time in NFL history and I think they represent the AFC in Superbowl 59. Hopefully, I’m wrong here because I would rather have a different team play in it.
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter here. Check out Stadium Rant Original shows on our Youtube channel and subscribe! Give our socials Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok a follow for more great content!
