The 2024 NFL season is rapidly approaching after it once felt like the wait would be eternal. Luckily, for fans across the world, we are only a few months away, and there’s no better time to look ahead for what might be in store for this upcoming season.
Kansas City Chiefs Are Team To Beat
Let’s start with the obvious here, the Kansas City Chiefs. When you preview the NFL season, it’s impossible to ignore what the Chiefs have accomplished in the last few years. Patrick Mahomes continues to be the best quarterback in the league by a mile, Travis Kelce is returning and still producing, and head coach Andy Reid remains one of the best at his job. Now, it’s hard to say that the Chiefs were able to upgrade their roster in the offseason and took some big losses such as L’Jarius Sneed going to the Tennessee Titans. Regardless, having Mahomes on the roster makes this team a Super Bowl contender anyway. And frankly, until another team proves to be capable of beating the Chiefs, they are deservedly thought of as the favorites to win it all again in 2024.
Strong Contenders Following
Outside of the Chiefs, there are a few strong contenders that will be closely behind. The Cincinnati Bengals are hopeful to get Joe Burrow back healthy this season. Burrow has openly told fans that he wants to remind everybody what he’s made of in his return. There is no reason to believe the Bengals can’t at least contend with him healthy throughout an entire season. The San Francisco 49ers are coming back with pretty much the same talented roster, barring any trade for Deebo Samuel or Brandon Aiyuk in the future. San Francisco has been dominant the last few years but just can’t seem to beat the Chiefs in any big game. And then you get teams like the Detroit Lions, the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, the Buffalo Bills, and the Houston Texans. Each of these groups is loaded with top-tier talent and is hopeful to make their pushes at a Super Bowl.
Some Teams Looking For Optimism
Unfortunately, not every team is going into this season with Super Bowl expectations. Some teams are just hoping to see some level of improvement from last year. For example, the Atlanta Falcons hope that Kirk Cousins can make them a playoff team, the Carolina Panthers hope Bryce Young can show some signs of potential, the Las Vegas Raiders hope to turn their franchise around, and the Chicago Bears hope to have found their franchise quarterback with Caleb Williams. These types of teams aren’t thought to be rivaling the Chiefs or 49ers, though they are going to be just as entertaining throughout the season given how much is at stake for their franchise. Another down season for a few of these teams could cause entire careers to get thrown off course.
Others Looking For Joy
There are two other teams that I wanted to highlight individually as well, with the first being the New York Jets. Now, the fans are hoping to win a Super Bowl, but realistically, most of them just want to see the postseason again. Remember, this Jets team hasn’t made the playoffs in a very long time and got just a few snaps out of Aaron Rodgers before he tore his Achilles and missed the entire season. If he can play a full year and make the Jets a fun team to watch, they’ll be a massive NFL story from start to finish. They’ll be even larger if they consistently win games. They have a talented roster; it’s all going to be about Rodgers’s ability to stay healthy. The other team that I wanted to bring up is the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Chargers have been touted as this powerhouse with a strong roster each of the last three years. In each of those years, they’ve done essentially nothing to prove that they are worthy of that title. They have only made the playoffs once in that stretch and choked a massive lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Wild Card round. This team has needed an influx of talent and a new coaching staff for a while. Thankfully, that’s what they are going to be getting in 2024 with Jim Harbaugh returning to the NFL after winning a National Championship with Michigan in the last college football season.
Harbaugh is a fantastic coach who has seen winning everywhere that he’s gone, and the Chargers roster is a dream to inherit. They already have their franchise quarterback and have a ton of talent around him, even if the wide receiver core is a little shaky on paper. Harbaugh is known to be a run-first, physical-minded head coach, and that’s something this team probably needs. Already we’ve seen him put a heavy emphasis on bolstering the offensive line even further, and overall, I believe that this group is going to be very good in 2024.
2024 Will Be A Spectacle
At the end of the day, this 2024 season feels like one that will be incredibly surprising. To see coaches like Harbaugh returning while Bill Belichick isn’t returning seems insane. To hopefully watch both Joe Burrow and Aaron Rodgers play football again is supposed to be a joy. And to look at how great this Houston Texans team can be now that they’ve added Joe Mixon and Stefon Diggs to an already great up-and-coming roster led by CJ Stroud will make it all even better.
There are so many other storylines to follow but not enough time to mention them all. This season preview should wrap up simply, the Chiefs are the favorites to win the Super Bowl, with a handful of other teams having put together championship-caliber rosters to compete against them. Will any of them find success against the reigning champs? Or will we once again have to watch Mahomes, Kelce, and Reid hoist the Lombardi trophy when February comes around? Those questions aren’t going to be answered anytime soon, but there’s no doubt that every other team in the league will want to snuff out their flame as soon as possible.
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