It has only been roughly one month since the Rams defeated the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI. But since Los Angeles was crowned NFL champions, the NFL landscape has changed with recent trades and acquisitions during free agency, especially within the league’s American Football Conference.
With the 2022 NFL draft coming up and five months remaining until the first NFL preseason game, former Ravens and Jets linebacker and ESPN radio personality Bart Scott declared his seven teams that will earn playoff spots in the AFC next season.
However, missing from Scott's list of teams is the Chiefs. The team that is home to quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill and now JuJu Smith-Schuster that finished third in total offense last season (396.8 ypg), fourth in pass offense (281.8) and fourth in total points per game (28.2 ppg) during the 2021 regular season.
Scott believes that the Bengals, the Broncos, the Bills and the Colts will win their four—AFC North, South, East and West—divisions respectively. The former Pro Bowler selected the Browns, the Chargers and the Ravens to make the playoffs as AFC wild-card teams.
The AFC North division will be tough call, considering the body of work Joe Burrow showed with the Bengals last season and in their Super Bowl run, the addition of Deshaun Watson in Cleveland and Lamar Jackson remains a threat in Baltimore. The Broncos signing Russell Wilson at quarterback makes them a favorite to win the division.
The Bills are primed as an early favorite to win the AFC East again. To say the four-time Pro Bowler in Mahomes will not lead Kansas City to a playoff spot in the AFC next season is absurd.
However, the games determine a winner and a loser. As things become crystal clear with team’s draft needs and offseason free agency moves take shape, it will be interesting to see how the Chiefs stack up against other competition within the conference.
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