2025 NFL Preview - AFC

Matthew Seall
Sep 3, 2025
12 min read

AFC West

Will the Chiefs be dethroned?

This is the best division in the NFL. The Chargers, Chiefs, and Broncos all made the playoffs last year, and there’s not an expectation for any of those teams to take a big step back. Every coach in the division is a legend already. Three have won a Super Bowl (Andy Reid, Sean Payton, Pete Carroll) and two have won a college football championship (Jim Harbaugh, Carroll).

The Chiefs have won the division every year since 2018 when Patrick Mahomes became the starter. They’ve been to the past three super bowls and were 15-2 last season. For much of Mahomes reign, the Broncos and Raiders were inept. When Brady, Belichick, and the Patriots won something like eleven straight AFC East titles, it was partly due to all the other teams in their division stinking up the joins. The Chiefs benefited from a similar situation, which isn’t to discount the incredible performance they’ve put on for the past decade. But the Chargers, Broncos, and Raiders have all closed the gap. With Pete Carroll now coaching the Raiders, the floor at least is much higher for the Raiders in a long time. This division will be great.

The, yeah, I think they’ll win it again, team: Chiefs

I can’t find a great argument why another team would oust the Chiefs. They still have the best quarterback to go with a great defense. It won’t shock me if the Broncos win the division, but KC has too much champion pedigree. For two years in a row, their regular seasons have been somewhat grueling, and they've still ended up as champions. They haven’t had a great receiver since Tyreek Hill left and have scrapped the offense together under Mahomes and Travis Kelce. I am expecting a bounce back from Mahomes, but I’m unsure where the help is going to come from. In 2023 Mahomes was lingering into whiny referee territory, and in 2024 he accidentally blew out the ACL of his best receiver, Rashee Rice, on a freak interception play. As a fantasy owner of Mahomes and Rice, it was nearly the worst thing you could imagine. Your own QB destroying your receiver’s knee. Despite that, and their top running back breaking his leg early in the season, they went 15-2, and one of those losses was when they simply rested starters for the playoffs at end of the season.

This is not the Bronx Bombers of early Mahomes era anymore. There’s no more home runs, or splashy bat-flips. This is a team of pitchers, with that great defense holding it together for most of the game, and Mahomes shutting the door when a play needs to be made. Pitching and defense still wins championships.

The most interesting team: Broncos

The Broncos have a good home field advantage, their defense should be great, and Sean Payton is an awesome coach. I have a hard time imagining Broncos QB Bo Nix winning a division over Patrick Mahomes, but Nix had a surprisingly fantastic rookie season. I mostly don’t like the Broncos wide receivers very much, and thought they were terrible in their playoff loss to the Bills last year, dropping several passes from Nix, killing drives. That defense also got the ball run down their throat by the Bills, so I don’t think the defense is that good to eliminate good offenses, but, they did have a good offseason adding more players, and the press is loving the Broncos, especially that defense. If Nix and defense make a leap, they can win the division, so I am most interested in the Broncos this season.

The, I don’t care what you do in the regular season, team: Chargers

The Chargers are notorious for inevitably shooting themselves in the foot so it’s hard to see them winning this division. But their coaching staff with Harbaugh is very good, and Justin Herbert is so solid, it’s hard to imagine them falling off a cliff.

I’ll be honest here. I’m not interested in the Chargers. I think they’ll be fine in the regular season, and I don’t enjoy seeing their home games where half the time the opposing fans take over the stadium in LA, it’s sad. I am going to judge their whole season on how they look in the playoffs, which I expect them to make. Justin Herbert has quietly been involved in two of the fugliest and strangest playoff games I have ever witnessed, going 0-2 in them. A couple years ago they blew a 24-point lead to a lowly 9-8 Jaguars squad that committed a bunch of turnovers. Last season, they got rocked by a Texans team that had a bunch of injuries and average offense. Chargers were dropping balls left and right, the special teams blew up in their face, and Herbert was shaky and had several turnovers. I’ll watch the Chargers here and there hoping to catch Herbert throw a couple bombs, but I don’t expect the team to look much different.

The, what the heck is this team?: Raiders

The Raiders will be competitive since Peter Carroll now leads them, but it would shock me if they won the division. The talent isn’t fully there to me and the offensive line seems shaky. I don’t think their defense will be very good and I sort of expect them to get gashed on the ground by solid running teams like the Broncos and Chargers. Their offense will be interesting to see. New QB Geno Smith is an underrated Red Zone Channel baller but is very streaky during games. They have young talent in tight end Brock Bowers and rookie running back Ashton Jeanty, but their receivers are guys your dad has no clue of.

Their running game was atrocious last year, a guy named Zamir White plodding into a stuffed hole, and I can’t say the offensive line will be any better. An old, seasoned, and portly Chip Kelly is back in the NFL calling plays for them so perhaps he’ll do a good job, or perhaps he’ll be somewhat of a disaster like how his last two stints in the NFL ended. But this team should be fun! They have a competent coaching staff and going from Antonio Pierce to Pete Carroll is as great as a head coach upgrade you will find in the NFL. To me, Antonio Pierce will always be known as the Punt God for his time with the Raiders. The man loved to punt. No clue what he’s up to now.

Division Winner: Chiefs

Player to watch: The rookie running backs.

Omarion Hampton of the Chargers and Ashton Jeanty of the Raiders will be fun players on teams that love to run football. Also RJ Harvey of the Broncos could be fun.

Game to watch: Raiders at Chargers.

Carrol and Harbaugh have been bitter coaching rivals through college and the pros for 20 years now. In the 2000s, it was USC & Stanford. In the 2010s, Seahawks & 49ers. And now in 2025, they’re back with the Raiders & Chargers. Both men have insane amounts of energy on the sideline and have made their money on leading physical football teams.

AFC South

The, are they still the Jags, team? Jags

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence looked on his way to solidifying himself as a total bust towards the end of last season before he got injured. New head coach, Liam Coen, intends to turn that around. It’s a huge year for Lawrence. The Jags also spent two first round picks on getting the most exciting player in the draft in two-way player Travis Hunter who won the Heisman at Colorado playing both Corner and Receiver. The Jags loved Hunter so much and how he could play two positions that they paid two picks to get him! Wow!

Excited for the Jags, but after all the excitement from the offseason, by the time we get to Thanksgiving, are they still the lowly Jags? I imagine so. Fun fact, with a college roommate once while we were drunk lying in bed we promised to go to the Super Bowl if the Jags ever go. Doesnt seem like this will be the year. Also, the Jags defense. Can you name two Jags defenders? No? That's okay, you're normal.

Don’t care what happens as long as the 1st overall picks looks bright, team: Titans.

I have no faith in the Titans' second year head coach, Brian Callahan, who seemed to make quarterback Will Levis worse last year instead of better which he was hired to do. Levis was the last QB in my rankings last year before he was benched. So was Callhan partly to blame for the demise, or was Levis just that bad?

Levis was in a horrible mayonnaise commercial where he did the splits across two jars of mayo so I lean to heaping a greater share of the troubles on Levis than Callahan. I love mayonnaise, but Levis really set us mayo fans back with his performances and that cringey commercial. Oh yeah, the special teams were also terrible for the Titans. The Titans got the first pick in the draft they were so bad and got Miami QB Cam Ward. Not sure what to make of Cam Ward. He’s a gunslinger type of guy with a lot of confidence and talent. I don’t have much confidence in the Titans. As for Cam Ward, he could be good, or he could finally be the rookie to beat Peyton Manning’s rookie interception record. I’m watching you, Brian Callahan.

The team in purgatory who no one is praying for, team: Colts

The earth goes around the sun and the Colts have another quarterback that nobody loves. Daniel Jones is the quarterback this season so the ceiling is very low for this team. Defense has a few guys. I imagine they’ll quietly go 7-10 and remain in purgatory. Fun fact, last year my dog kicked a tennis ball at my router during my fantasty draft during the third round and the compute auto-drafted Colts receiver Michael Pittman which ended up being a disaster. That is what the Colts seem to be. A team who keeps getting the router kicked off from underneath them and stuck to deal with the harsh decisions fate has placed upon. Or they just need to clean house and get a new GM.

The, can they be great, team? Texans

Houston has a great defense with a lot of blue-chip talent, Will Anderson and Derek Stingley to name a few. I really like their head coach DeMeco Ryans who seems to be a great fit for that city. CJ Stroud is a good QB and Nico Collins is a really nice wide receiver. The big question is if the offense can improve from last season which held them back at times. Everyone likes the Texans, but can they knockout any of the elite teams in the AFC? I think they can, and that they will prove it this year. This team played the Chiefs really well last year in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, and they smoked the Chargers in the Wild Card. I think this team continues to ascend. The biggest concern is their offensive line and their running game. A great defense deserves a great run game to pair it with. Like a good wine pairing, it makes all the difference at the big fancy restaurants, and that is where the Texans aim to be.

Winner Prediction: Texans

Players to Watch: Texans Defense, Travis Hunter

Game to Watch: Texans at Jaguars

AFC North

The, I like points and I don’t care who knows, team: Bengals

The Bengals offense will be great with Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, and Tee Higgins. Everyone hates their defense since they were terrible last year, but they did hire a new defensive coordinator, so maybe they improve enough to get this team back into the playoffs? Unless you’re a Bengals fan or degenerate gambler though, what do you care about the Bengals defense? This team is about Joe Burrow throwing dots around the field to Chase and Higgins. This should be a fun team. A team I can see both missing the playoffs or making the Super Bowl. If they fail to do well, be on the lookout for head coach Zac Taylor to possibly be replaced.

The Front Runners: Ravens

The Ravens have been so dominant but haven’t won a big playoff game so probably don’t get the credit they deserve. When Lamar Jackson is healthy, they have appeared to be one of the greatest regular season teams of all time, they’ve been that good. Not much of an exciting offseason for them other than some drama around the kicker being accused for sexual misconduct. The Ravens will be good as long as Lamar is healthy. Shouthout running back Derrick Henry, all football fans should appreciate the last few great years we probably have left of him at his peak.

The crappy team that will get too much attention, team: Browns

The Browns are expected to be really bad, per usual, and per usual, will get too much attention for it, especially considering they drafted Deion Sander’s son. I actually don’t think they’ll be as bad as experts predict since I believe they do still have some talent on the team, notably on defense, and their head coach Stefanski has actually won two coach of the year awards for the Browns. About those two head coach of the year awards, I mean, was it mostly because the man got the Browns to the playoffs, the lowly Browns, rather than him being the best coach? Yes, it was mostly for that reason, but still probably deserved. They 2025 Browns are a team that should quietly go 6-11 or something and no one thinks much of them. Unless you have the Red Zone Channel, I dont imagine you'll see much of the Brownies.

The Mac Miller It Aint 2009 no more, team: The Steelers.

The Steelers feel old and worn out. Aaron Rodgers is their new quarterback and is going to be 41. In 2010 Rodgers won the Super Bowl over the Steelers and head coach Mike Tomlin, a few years after Tomlin won a Super Bowl with the Steelers. Tomlin and Rodgers are no doubt going to do all they can to reach former glories, but I don’t see it. Do you recall how weak this team was at the end of last season? Do you recall Derrick Henry and the Ravens skull dragging them in the playoffs after they limped their way in there? Perhaps after this season this whole Steelers malaise of the 2020s will finally be packed up and sent to the knackers. Or, Rodgers completes his Brett Favre arc, and the Steelers lose in heart-breaking fashion in the AFC Championship. I don’t see it though, dont believe the roster is there. Rodgers doesnt have near the weapons that Bret Favre had at the end of his career with the Vikings.

Winner Prediction: Bengals

Players to Watch: Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson. Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase.

Game to Watch: Ravens at Steelers

AFC East

The destined to fail again team? Bills

Josh Allen is the reigning MVP, married a move star, and is generally adored by fans and his peers. Allen and the Bills still cant get past the Chiefs in the playoffs though. I expect the Bills to march through the regular season with their easy schedule to a top seed record and lose in the AFC Championship at home. But maybe this is the year, they sure feel due. I’ll be rooting for them.

Are all the vibes really dead, team? Dolphins

Everyone is hating on the Dolphins, thinking they’ll be awful. I don’t think they’ll be that bad and haven’t heard great football reasons why they would be so bad. Besides the Bills, the Patriots and Jets shouldn’t strike any fear in the division and are winnable games. And when QB Tua Tagovailoa is not in concussion protocol, this team wins a fair number of games. The defense still has some guys at the edges. I think the Dolphins will be fine. I’ve heard the “vibes” are off with the team, but all of last season I heard similar sentiments thrown at the Eagles about their locker room vibes and they were incredible. I also love Dolphins, the animal, first and foremost. Any team with an animal that has a helmet on its head, I am in. Until I see something bad on the football field, I still think this team could sneak into the playoffs and inevtiably get destroyed in the cold up North somewhere in the first round, such are the high-water marks of the 21st Century Dolphins.

The, you cant hurt me, I’m already dead, team: Jets

The Jets are coming off the emotional roller-coaster that was the last two years with Aaron Rodgers. Almost everything went wrong the last two years. They’ve cleaned house and have a new coach and a new boring Jets quarterback in Justin Fields. The Jets can once again go do their own lowly Jets things up in their own corner of the world without all the chaos attached to them. Yeah, I have not much hope or excitement or care for this team. This was one of the few teams I labeled as Do Not Draft for Fantasy Football.

The, is the Death Star being rebuilt, or is this a new story, team: Patriots

Brady and Belichick are gone for good. Last season felt like the lazy hungover from that era, you know, when the party was so good, or you were that drunk, it took an extra day of sitting on the couch to get over it. That was the 2024 Patriots.

The 2025 Pats will be different though. They have a young promising quarterback in Drake Maye and a proven coach in Mike Vrabel. I think they’re on their way up, and will become a different team, separate from the gloried past. I don’t know if they’ll be much good this season. That roster was in real bad shape from all the damage done by the last years of Belichick and Jarod Mayo. I don’t see the talent there yet for them to be contenders, but they’ll be a competent team. I have not much of an opinion of Drake Maye. That Pats were so bad last year I never saw them on television so don’t know what to make of Maye. Excited to see how he looks with the new staff.