AFC West
Denver Broncos: 8-9
The Denver Broncos won 10 games in the 2024 NFL Season, becoming a lot better than people thought they would be. Denver rode a strong defense and an offense that began to figure it out under rookie QB Bo Nix and Sean Payton, but a year two regression from Nix is on the table until it isn't.
The defense could also just not be as good as we think. Denver did win eight games in the first year of the Sean Payton era, for what that is worth.
Kansas City Chiefs: 10-7
The Kansas City Chiefs just have not been a very explosive offense over the past couple of seasons, and they won all of their one-score games in 2024, which simply won't happen again in 2025, right?
Right??
The Chiefs could finally begin to get some chinks in their armor and could limp to a 10-win season, which would absolutely put them into a Wild Card situation in the AFC Playoffs for the 2025 NFL Season.
Los Angeles Chargers: 8-9
The LA Chargers won 11 games in the 2024 NFL Season, but many people across the NFL landscape don't seem to think that the team got all that much better in the offseason, and I would even take this a step further and stay that the ceiling with Justin Herbert under center might not be all that high.
Yeah, he's a good QB, but that's really about it. Could the Chargers have another iffy season and regress to below .500 in 2025?
Las Vegas Raiders: 4-13
Geno Smith and Pete Carroll were not able to make it work in the weaker NFC over those past couple of seasons, so I have no idea why the Raiders think they could make it work in the AFC. Another regression from Geno Smith and the iffy roster could force the Raiders to endure another brutal season, perhaps with only a handful of wins too show fir.