12. Los Angeles Chargers
You can’t help but wonder if what we saw last year from the Los Angeles Chargers was truly the ceiling of this team with Justin Herbert at the quarterback position.
Herbert is one of those guys that you just can’t quite figure out. There are some folks out there who believe beyond any shadow of doubt that Herbert is a top-5 quarterback in this league, but the results for the Chargers are not indicative of having a top-5 quarterback.
In fact, their results as a team are much more indicative of a quarterback that’s holding them back. Herbert was wildly efficient in the regular season last year and he completely wet the bed in the playoffs. Until this team starts proving something in the postseason, I think it’s more than fair to be critical of the way they play against good teams.
11. Houston Texans
The step back the Houston Texans took in the 2024 regular season was one of the most disappointing elements of the season. Houston was supposed to become a top challenger to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC, and they wound up really struggling throughout the course of the season.
Luckily for them, they play in arguably the worst division in all of football, and they were still able to host – and dominate – a playoff game. The Texans’ dominance over the Chargers in the Wild Card round of the playoffs was precisely the type of play we’d all expected from them all year, but we only saw a glimpse of it.
This offseason, they were back to the drawing board in some respects, making massive changes to the offensive line while also going young at receiver. CJ Stroud has to take another step forward for this team to truly be considered among the AFC’s elite.