Advertisement

2024 NFL Season: Predicting all eight division winners heading into the new year

Who will the eight division winners be in the 2024 NFL Season?
Lou Scataglia
Lou Scataglia

NFL Spin Zone

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) practices during mini camp at Detroit Lions headquarters and practice facility in Allen Park on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

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.

NFC North - Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions won the NFC North division last year, again got better this offseason, and should be in line to win it again this year. I could see the Green Bay Packers making a run at the NFC North, but they might not have quite enough to takedown Detroit. Last year, both the Lions and Packers advanced far into the postseason, so this divison could be among the best in the NFL.

And heck, there is no use counting out the new-look Chicago Bears, who now have Caleb Williams at the QB spot. However, Detroit has all the momentum.

NFC South - Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons have the best quarterback in the NFC South, and that does usually dictate who wins the division in a given season. The team inked Kirk Cousins to a massive deal, but then proceeded to use a top-10 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on Michael Penix Jr.

Honestly, both moves are thoroughly awful, but in a weird way, Atlanta should be a good team in 2024 if Cousins can return to his pre-Achilles tear self. It's a major injury, and it's an injury that Cousins has never had to deal with before.

However, he's stayed amazingly healthy his entire career, so Kirk Cousins should bounce back and given the Falcons a viable QB for the short-term.

NFC East - Philadelphia Eagles

It's hard for me to peg the Cowboys as the NFC East winners in 2024. The Cowboys lost a good bit this offseason, notably losing Dan Quinn to the Washington Commanders. On the flip side, while I am lower on the Eagles than most, they did add a good bit of talent and are in the driver's seat to recapture the NFC East title.

Even though Dak Prescott is better than Jalen Hurts, I like the Eagles roster talent more and think they have enough to push themselves over the edge and earn a top-4 seed in the NFC playoff race.

NFC West - San Francisco 49ers

This is another obvious division winner for me personally, but please do not count out the LA Rams, who rebounded last year and won 10 games. The Rams might not have quite enough talent to dethrone the San Francisco 49ers, but if this division was only decided by tiebreakers, I would not be surprised.

The Rams are going to be excellent, but the 49ers are excellent-er, if that makes sense. The Niners should also have a great shot at earning the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, but I would also not count out the Detroit Lions to be able to do that.

Lou Scataglia

Lou Scataglia

Lou Scataglia is a Site Expert for Predominantly Orange and NFL Spin Zone, while also contributing across the entire division. Having crossed the 5-year mark with FanSided, Lou has authored thousands of articles and also enjoys his career as a business education teacher.