2024 NFL Season: Predicting all eight division winners heading into the new year
The 2024 NFL Season is slowly approaching, so let's predict all eight division winners as we creep toward the start of the regular season. We are actually about a month and a half away from preseason games, so the start of the 2024 NFL Season is quickly approaching.
Last year, two division winners appeared in the Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers heading into overtime, where the Chiefs won their third Super Bowl in five seasons. Will there be a different Super Bowl champion in 2024?
Or can the Chiefs three-peat?
Before we predict that, let's predict the eight division winners.
2024 NFL Season: Predicting all eight division winners heading into the new year
AFC North - Cincinnati Bengals
It's not hard to pick the Cincinnati Bengals to win the division with a healthy Joe Burrow. Frankly, it is a bit of a concern that Burrow has never played a full season during his NFL career thus far, and this most recent season-ending injury was to his throwing wrist, which is major and certainly a significant thing to follow this year.
However, I am personally banking on Burrow and the Bengals to stay healthy, bounce-back, and capture the AFC North title.
AFC South - Houston Texans
The AFC South was won by the Houston Texans in 2023, and even if Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars stay healthy, the Texans are the better team. They have the better roster, better QB, and a better GM in Nick Caserio. Overall, this has to be looked at as a major year for the Texans, who now have the necessary firepower to make a Super Bowl run.
The division race could end up being very close, but I like Houston to eek this thing out once again, and QB CJ Stroud is going to have an MVP-caliber season.
AFC East - Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are in a different position than the Buffalo Bills. Buffalo had to shed a good bit of talent this offseason in an effort to get their cap situation in a better spot. They also have a turnover-prone quarterback who lost his top two targets earlier this offseason and is now throwing to deck furniture and lawn chairs at wide receiver.
I like the Dolphins chances to at least stop the Bills from winning the AFC East for at least one season. Dolphins GM Chris Grier added a ton of talent this offseason on both sides of the ball and is clearly wanting to continue to build on what Mike McDaniel has accomplished thus far.
AFC West - Kansas City Chiefs
Are we all clear here? The team who has won three out of the last five Super Bowls has kept the AFC West title in their hands in every season since 2016. There isn't any current threat in the division to dethrone the Chiefs, and KC is just looking at more than just a division title.
In the last two seasons they haven't won the Super Bowl (2020 and 2021), they lost the Super Bowl and lost in the AFC Championship Game. This team is the 2020s version of the recent Patriots dynasty.