(Photo via Opertinicy)
Everyone knows that March is the month of rankings in the sports media world. However, with March wrapping up and baseball beginning, I will soon be too distracted by other important things to be able to identify my top 20 most dominant athletes in the last 20 years, or to rank the worst anchors on ESPN. That said, there’s still some time left and lots of blogs to write, so here are my early Projected AFC Divisional Rankings for next season:
AFC East:
1. (z) New England Patriots (13-3)
2. (x) Buffalo Bills (9-7)
3. New York Jets (7-9)
4. Miami Dolphins (6-10)
Listen, it’s the same old thing with the Patriots. Say what you will about the team morale or internal conflict, but at the end of the day it’s Brady and Belichick––should be enough to rattle off a 13+ win season. I like the Bills to return to the playoffs again this year as a Wild Card team with a solid, defense-focused draft. I like McCarron and think he can be a serviceable quarterback for a solid offense alongside a decent defense. (Photo via Keith Allison)
AFC North:
1. (z) Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)
2. Baltimore Ravens (8-8)
3. Cleveland Browns (7-9)
4. Cincinnati Bengals (3-13)
The big story out of the AFC North is actually the Browns this offseason, as they’ve made several big moves to garner a promising, young offensive group. However, this is still the Cleveland Browns we’re talking about––you’ve got a discombobulated defense, miserable coach, and relatively weak offensive line with Joe Thomas gone. That said, the Steelers are my favorites to win the division with their reliable offensive core of Roethlisberger, Brown, and Bell. (Photo via Keith Allison)
AFC South:
1. (z) Houston Texans (12-4)
2. (x) Jacksonville Jaguars (9-7)
3. Tennessee Titans (7-9)
4. Indianapolis Colts (5-11)
It seems like every year for the past couple seasons people have been claiming “this is the year” for the Texans, but it never ends up panning out. Things seem a little different this year for Houston––the already stellar defense added Tyrann Mathieu, and the Texans’ young offense with a full season out of Deshaun Watson makes this a potentially scary team. The Jaguars, in my opinion, will take a step back this year. It’s my belief that Bortles hit his ceiling last year, which is not a good thing. The Jacksonville defense is unusually strong, but I doubt Bortles can do enough again this year to push them past 10 wins.
(Photo via Sgt. Alexander Martinez)
AFC West:
1. (z) Kansas City Chiefs (11-5)
2. Oakland Raiders (8-8)
3. Los Angeles Chargers (6-10)
4. Denver Broncos (4-12)
Is Patrick Mahomes an upgrade from Alex Smith? Well, time will tell. From what we’ve seen, Mahomes is just as capable an NFL passer and arguably more athletic. Otherwise, the Chiefs remain mostly unchanged before the draft, which I’d say is a good thing––Kareem Hunt and Tyreek Hill are both coming off of excellent seasons. I expect every other team to regress except the Raiders under new HC Jon Gruden. (Photo via Jeffrey Beall)
x = Clinched Division
z = Wild Card
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