Which five NFL teams are most likely to challenge the new champion Los Angeles Rams for the Super Bowl crown in the 2022 season?
The Los Angeles Rams are Super Bowl champions, and the rest of the NFL is trying to get to their level in 2022.
The Rams started making their plans for Super Bowl LVI more than a year ago when they struck a trade for Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. Although not every team in the NFL is just a quarterback away, the addition of Stafford to the Rams proved to be arguably the most impactful move by any team in the entire 2022 offseason.
Which teams are most likely to contend with the Rams and take their spot as Super Bowl champs in the 2022 NFL season? Let’s take a look at five candidates.
2022 NFL Super Bowl contender No. 1: Kansas City Chiefs
So long as the Kansas City Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes healthy and under center, I think you can pencil them in for the top five for the foreseeable future.
The Chiefs are simply going to be a tough out every single year.
As we have seen, you can have them on the brink of elimination with only 13 seconds on the clock and the Chiefs can still find a way to win.
It took some big-time plays for the Cincinnati Bengals and overtime to get out of Arrowhead with a victory.
The Chiefs have pieces on both sides of the ball to be a very tough out for teams for the foreseeable future and they’re not going anywhere.
The big question now with the Chiefs is how they approach the 2022 offseason. They could use some help in the secondary and may have to start thinking about an upgrade at wide receiver opposite Tyreek Hill.
2022 NFL Super Bowl candidate No. 2: Arizona Cardinals
This might seem like a joke considering the drama the Arizona Cardinals and quarterback Kyler Murray seem to be dealing with.
Ultimately, what’s going on with Murray in Arizona could be perceived as the beginning of the end for this marriage, or maybe it’s just a player who is looking to get a $40-plus million contract annually sooner rather than later.
Given the fact that former MVP Lamar Jackson has not received any long-term deal from the Baltimore Ravens yet, perhaps Murray is trying to expedite that process in his own way.
Or maybe he’ll actually end up getting traded.
Ultimately, I don’t see Murray going anywhere, and the Cardinals have a really good team that maintains the majority of its staff from last season.
In fact, the Cardinals have quite a bit of continuity across the board, and in the NFL, that cannot be overstated.
Interestingly enough, the home team of the city hosting the Super Bowl has also played in the game each of the last two seasons.
The Cardinals are on a trajectory — if all is well with Murray — to potentially be the third team in a row to be the home team in the Super Bowl following the Buccaneers in the 2020 season and the Rams in the 2021 season.
2022 NFL Super Bowl candidate No. 3: Buffalo Bills
It’s still hard to believe the Buffalo Bills didn’t come away from their trip to Kansas City with a victory.
Josh Allen put on one of the best playoff performances you’ll ever see, but the Bills could not get a stop on the Kansas City Chiefs with just 13 seconds remaining in regulation as Mahomes got his offense in scoring range and the Chiefs won in overtime.
The defensive side of the ball will almost undoubtedly be a huge area of emphasis for the Buffalo Bills in the 2022 offseason, especially in the pass rush department.
The Bills need some players that can get pressure on the quarterback quickly and they also might need to add to the cornerback position.
The offense won’t be a question whatsoever for this team.
Okay, I take that back. Brian Daboll is gone and obviously, he’s played a big part in the success of that side of the ball for the Bills in recent years.
But the idea is that Ken Dorsey can keep things trucking right along and Josh Allen obviously loves the guy, so there’s reason to believe they can make it happen.
The Bills have tremendous balance on the offensive side of the ball and with the core of this team coming back for another season, they are undoubtedly contenders to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LVII.
2022 NFL Super Bowl contender No. 4: Cincinnati Bengals
It would be rude to not include the Cincinnati Bengals on this list, right?
The Bengals are the reigning AFC champions.
They came within three points of Super Bowl LVI and I don’t think we’ve seen this team reach its full potential quite yet.
Joe Burrow can keep getting better. The offensive line can be upgraded. The Bengals’ defense has a lot of core pieces that have plenty of room to grow as well.
This Cincinnati team has been underrated plenty, reaching the Super Bowl with the longest preseason odds (150-1) of any team to make the big game in NFL history.
If the Bengals made the Super Bowl in just the second year of the Joe Burrow era, what might the future have in store?
Yes, the AFC is loaded with QB talent. There are going to be some epic battles in the future for that conference but the Bengals appear to be the type of team that is here to stay with all of the weapons on offense as well as an outstanding core of defensive players.
Moving forward, this team is a legitimate contender in the AFC.
2022 NFL Super Bowl candidate No. 5: Whoever Aaron Rodgers plays for
Over the last two seasons, no quarterback in a league that has had some outstanding quarterback play has played better than Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers has now won the MVP in back-to-back seasons.
Unfortunately, the Packers don’t have anything to show for it.
There has been some turmoil in Green Bay and it was reported at the 2021 NFL Draft that Rodgers might try and force his way out of the Packers organization.
Just under a year since those reports came to the surface, and it’s not certain how much — if anything — has changed for Rodgers. He and the Packers agreed to a restructured contract so he could at least have the option to leave in 2022, and there are plenty of people that think he will still do that.
There are others that feel like the damaged relationships in Green Bay for Rodgers have been repaired to the point that he can stay for the remainder of his playing career, but Rodgers has also seen the way Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford have changed teams and immediately won the Super Bowl in consecutive years.
Peyton Manning also did it just six years ago with the Denver Broncos.
Rodgers doesn’t have to leave Green Bay, by any means, but if he does, whatever team he goes to will be an instant Super Bowl contender in the 2022 season.