By We’re five weeks into the NFL season, and teams are starting to take shape into whether they’re playoff contenders or not up to the task and pretending to be a playoff-ready team. Here are my thoughts on who’s legit in the AFC and who’s not.
Contenders:
Los Angeles Chargers
Who would’ve thought Mike Williams would’ve had the monster season he’s had so far? The 2017 first-round pick out of Clemson touts boasts 471 receiving yards this season, along with six touchdowns and 15.2 yards per reception. Williams has been a very pleasant surprise for the Chargers this season since he had 756 receiving yards and five touchdowns all of last season. Austin Ekeler has also been outstanding, being a threat on the ground as well as through the air. Ekeler’s seven touchdowns this season tie Derrick Henry for the most in the NFL. If the Chargers keep up this level of play, they’re gonna be a tough team to beat.
Buffalo Bills
On defense, safety Micah Hyde leads this team in interceptions, with three. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and cornerback Taron Johnson are at the top in tackles, with 30 and 27. Edmunds has recorded two tackles for losses while Johnson recorded one. In pass coverage, Johnson has recorded five passes defended and Edmunds has two. If the Bills continue their high level of play, they’re definitely deep AFC contenders and could very possibly see themselves in another AFC championship game. Maybe the Bills will even get a super bowl appearance.
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens are on a four-game win streak and Lamar Jackson is playing better and better each game. His passing yards have increased every week this season. Last week, Jackson threw for 442 yards in their overtime win against the Colts, but sure he’s a “running back” people say.
Jackson can indeed do it all. Sure, he rushes a lot, but he can also put up some very impressive passing numbers. The Ravens have been in multiple close games this year, but they’ve shown that they can win those close games. The veteran coaching of John Harbaugh helps in these moments. They had a huge win against the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football, where they got the 36-35 win. They also have the best kicker in the league in Justin Tucker. While NFL kickers were missing kicks left and right last week, Tucker has been solid throughout the season, going 11-12 on field goals, including the NFL record 66-yard field goal to win the game against the Lions in week 3.
Having a great kicker like Justin Tucker is crucial for a team’s success. I don’t think enough people recognize that. When the game is down to the line, and a field goal could be the difference, you sure as hell want a consistently accurate kicker to pull out the win for the team. If Lamar Jackson is able to continue to keep the Ravens in tough games, they’re definitely AFC contenders this season. With the help of wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and tight end Mark Andrews, Justin Tucker is more than capable to put them over the top in close situations. Never count out this Ravens team this year.
Pretenders:
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers are falling apart this season already. They’ve lost one of their key receivers in Juju Smith-Schuster to a season-ending shoulder injury. Big Ben is showing his age and looks like your grandpa out there. ESPN NFL analyst Damien Woody said that “Big Ben is washed.” He also went on to say that Roethlisberger can’t push the ball down the field, evidenced by his average 5.5 yards per pass. It’s safe to say Ben’s been a big fan of doing only checkdowns. Overall, Roethlisberger looks scared and timid in the pocket. Not having a veteran receiver in Juju is definitely going to make Roethlisberger’s problems worse.
It’s also alarming that the Steelers lost by 14 to the Bengals in week three. Now, the Bengals aren’t a bad team this season, but really…14 points? That’s not the loss margin a team wants to have after being one of the super bowl favorites more than halfway into the season a year ago. There are certainly worse teams than the Steelers right now overall, but this team has not met expectations so far this season, and their quarterback has underperformed the most. That’s not who a team wants to be struggling: the key to their offense. the Steelers are simply not going to be AFC contenders because they have one of the toughest schedules in the NFL this season. If this is how they’re going to be playing in those games, they can kiss a playoff berth goodbye.
Denver Broncos
The Broncos have had a good start to the season, but they haven’t had much competition. The competition they have had, they’ve lost. Their three wins have been against the Jets, Giants, and Jaguars, some of the worst teams in the NFL. They haven’t exactly played against other AFC contenders. Teddy Bridgewater is a solid quarterback, but he’s not quite ready to lead this team to the playoffs. The Broncos’ defense has done well, recording 12 sacks and 4 interceptions, but it’s just not going to be good enough. In another division, I think the Broncos could be a wild card team, but in the ultra-competitive AFC West, I don’t see the Broncos panning out as a playoff team this year.
Cleveland Browns
The Browns are another example of a team that has had good moments this season. They’ve got a great running back in Nick Chubb, and they’ve got the dominant defensive end and former number one pick, Myles Garrett. However, again, what’s going to be crucial for the Browns this season is the play of Baker Mayfield. I’m still not sure if Mayfield is up to the task of leading this team to the playoffs and making them AFC contenders. Mayfield has only thrown for over 300 yards once this season and his QBR currently stands at 41.6. To add insult to injury, Mayfield suffered a dislocated shoulder injury in the Browns’ week six matchup against the Cardinals. He said he plans to play through it, but how well is that really going to work out? I don’t think well.
The Browns have also not had a lot of games against reputable teams this year, the exceptions being the Chiefs and the Chargers. In the Chargers game, it was a good back and forth team. The Browns were in it throughout, even leading 27-13 with around 12 minutes to go in the third quarter. However, the Chargers and Justin Herbert just showed that they were on a different level than the Browns and that they can hang better in close games than the Browns can. When a team blows a 14 point lead all in the second half, that’s a team you gotta be at least slightly worried about. If the game against the Cardinals (37-14 loss) is any indication of how well the Browns play against elite teams, this team is not going to be a contender this season. They’re not consistent enough, as shown by their 3-3 record, and they never have been over these past several years. The Cleveland Browns are too much of an up-and-down team.
Well, there you have it. Those are my contender and pretender picks for the AFC. Let it be clear that I didn’t mention the Jaguars, Dolphins, or Jets because we all already know that they’re just plain bad. They’re not pretending in any way like the Browns or Broncos. They’re just terrible and they know it. The purpose of this article was to snuff out some of the bubble teams and give my analysis to see if they’re actually legit or not.
We’ll see how these picks turn out over the rest of the season. If I’m totally wrong on all of these, you can direct any “I told ya so!” hate comments to my Instagram DM’s @coopstershermy456.
Happy football watching!
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