Top 10 Teams Most Likely to Win the AFC Championship in 2020-21
The AFC is honestly Still predictable. Even in an era where the Pats are all but dead in the water there’s not enough good teams to make things interesting. Realistically only a few teams have a legitimate chance while the majority of this conference is either tanking or it’s a long shot. Here’s the most likely teams to win the AFC Championship in the upcoming 2020/21 seasonThe Ravens look like the dominant threat to win the division. With Lamar Jackson being as scary as ever, there's no doubt it's only a matter of time before he wins a ring. Baltimore, I think, is the overall favorite. I mean, they have a deadly offense and a decent defense to contend with any team.
This team is mortal, but on paper, they look like a team deadly enough to win, and few teams can contend with them. They managed to get better in the draft. With all the talent they have, good luck stopping them.
Like I said in my remix, the Ravens are the favorites. They have a lethal combination of offense and defense.
The reigning Super Bowl champions will be dangerous yet again. They kept everyone they needed to. Patrick Mahomes has been elite in his first three seasons, and the offense has been explosive with guys like Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, Damien Williams, etc. They just added fuel to the fire with Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
They did lose a few guys like Emmanuel Ogbah and Kendall Fuller, but this is a team more than capable of winning the division and going back-to-back. They didn't have an amazing draft, but I'll say this: they really didn't need to have an amazing draft.
The AFC East is wide open, and Buffalo finds themselves in a strange position they haven't been in since the early to mid-90s. They are the favorites to win the division. The Patriots are dead in the water, and it may be time for a changing of the guard.
The Bills have a strong defense that's easily one of the best in the league. However, if they want to take the next step, Josh Allen needs to develop. He shows flashes of promise, but he's mostly just a runner - in other words, a poor man's Lamar Jackson. Stefon Diggs could help him out with that and be a huge weapon for Allen to work with. We'll see how it goes.
Obviously, last year the Titans shocked the world by eliminating the Patriots and Ravens from the playoffs. They almost made the Super Bowl, but Kansas City had other ideas. Now they look to go a step forward.
The biggest thing for the Titans is can Ryan Tannehill keep up what he has going? He revived his career and laughed at the Dolphins. Meanwhile, the Titans also have the equivalent of a human bowling ball in Derrick Henry. The dude is a beast who is tough to control. If he stays that productive, this team will be dangerous yet again.
They could be higher if not for Bill O'Brien as their coach. We could be talking about them being a Super Bowl contender with the return they should've gotten for DeAndre Hopkins. But no, instead they traded him for some hand sanitizer and a running back who hasn't been elite in three years.
I feel for Deshaun Watson and J.J. Watt. They will have to carry this team again, and nothing will change. Watson is really the only reason they're in the top five, let alone the top three. The media loves him. All I'm saying is they better have a decent season because 24-0 isn't exactly something you can recover from. It's not 28-3, but ask the Falcons how trying to put that behind them has gone.
It was a toss-up between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, but I went with the Browns because Pittsburgh's season will rely entirely on Ben Roethlisberger coming back. I have a little more faith in Cleveland. They probably won't win it, but this year is absolutely critical for Baker Mayfield.
All things considered, this Browns team should make the playoffs in a relatively weak AFC. The offense has talent, and Baker has all the tools to succeed.
Moving to their new home brings a new age for the Raiders. Vegas will be a dark horse contender in the AFC. Maybe they won't win the division from KC, but there's potential. They will have Josh Jacobs and now Henry Ruggs, not to mention Nelson Agholor and Tyrell Williams. They also got Nick Kwiatkoski, which is a huge addition to a team that looks sneaky good on defense. No excuses will save them if Derek Carr can't bring them back to the playoffs.
Denver, like Vegas, has wild card upside. I'll give them that. Maybe they don't make it this year, but next year they will for sure get over the hump. I'm still not sold on Drew Lock. He still looks raw at times, and this year he'll have everything to prove.
Denver got Jerry Jeudy and K.J. Hamler to add to Courtland Sutton, and they brought in Melvin Gordon to complement Phillip Lindsay. They also have Von Miller and Bradley Chubb, which could be a deadly force. There's potential here.
Indy found their new savior at quarterback in Philip Rivers. Jacoby Brissett isn't a bad backup, but he's not capable of leading a team. The Colts aren't far off from being legitimate. Rivers will have more protection but a weaker set of weapons overall than LA gave him.
Here's the thing: will he actually be better than last year? He threw a lot of interceptions last year, usually at the worst times possible. Was that a fluke, or are we nearing the beginning of the end for Rivers?
The Dolphins are a team that could sneak into the playoffs in a wide-open AFC East. They got a lot better talent in the offseason, and Brian Flores managed to coach arguably the least talented roster in 2019 to not be the worst team in the NFL. I feel with more talent, the Dolphins are a team to look out for.
An odd pick, sure, but they have made some interesting offseason moves, including bringing in Kyle Van Noy, Emmanuel Ogbah, and Byron Jones. Even after losing Minkah Fitzpatrick and Laremy Tunsil, they should be significantly better than last year. On top of that, they have Ryan Fitzpatrick back and got Tua Tagovailoa. Things may be looking up for the Dolphins, but they will have an uphill climb even in a division with the door open.
Alright, we all know Brady's gone, but you never know...