The NFL kickoff is officially one week out, triggering the annual wave of hot takes, hot seats, and high expectations. From chaotic division battles to dark-horse contenders, no outcome is off the table for this season.
With two-time MVP Patrick Mahomes returning from a season-ending injury, all eyes shift to a wide-open AFC West. The Denver Broncos came within a game of the Super Bowl, but was their breakout season a real power shift in the division or was it just fool’s gold?
During Tuesday’s segment on FOX Sports’ show First Things First, hosts Nick Wright, Chris Broussard and Danny Parkins made their predictions. Here’s how they see the division unfolding.
Nick Wright’s AFC West Prediction
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To no one’s surprise, Wright has the Chiefs reclaiming the AFC West title, with the Broncos hot on their heels. However, his Chargers’ third-place analysis stood out, as he predicted them for third place, largely due to a brutal Week 3 through 10 schedule.
“I don’t think they’re gonna be terrible,” Wright said. “Weeks three through 10…how’s this work for you? Bills, Seahawks, Broncos, Chiefs, Rams, Texans, Ravens. Around week nine is when we’re gonna start hearing, guys year eight is the year Justin Herbert pops.”
Wright’s doubt regarding Herbert is nothing new, but his Broncos take relies on simple regression. Denver and Chicago were incredibly clutch in the fourth quarter last year, but Wright foresees those close-game bounces leveling off this season.
“They played 17 games in the regular season last like everyone, but they trailed in 15 of them,” Wright said. “They had a historically good record in one-score games. John Franklin Meyers is gone and Jonathan Cooper’s on the exempt list.”
Despite the adversity facing the Broncos this season, Wright still sees them as a playoff team. He projected them to finish 11-6 and finish second in the AFC West, driven largely by his confidence in head coach Sean Payton.
As a self-proclaimed Chiefs fan, Wright’s division pick comes as no surprise, but his logic is sound. The Chiefs have dominated the AFC West with nine titles in the last decade, and their defense looks noticeably stronger heading into this season.
“My pick for defensive player of the year was going to be Chris Jones because all of a sudden he has someone next to him,” Wright said. “Yeah, Peter Woods, who was projected to go top-five in the draft 14 months ago.”
Wright’s praise of the young Chiefs defense didn’t slow down.
“They’ve got R. Mason Thomas as another edge coming around and then Mansoor Delane, a top-six pick at cornerback,” Wright said. “So you’re going to have three months for this young defense, young secondary to learn [Steve] Spagnuolo’s scheme.”
Chris Broussard’s AFC West Prediction
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Broussard noticed issues fully otherwise, dropping Kansas Metropolis to 3rd place in his division standings. Not like Wright, Broussard is shopping for into Los Angeles, selecting the Chargers to dethrone the Chiefs and take the AFC West title.
“The schedule is form of mild for them [Chiefs],” Broussard mentioned. “So I received them sneaking in [the playoffs]. I actually am excessive on the Chargers. I feel [Jim] Harbaugh is superb. [Jesse] Minter is an enormous loss, however Harbaugh has all the time had good defenses within the NFL himself.”
Not solely is Broussard selecting the Chargers to win the AFC West, however he’s absolutely bought on the brand new pairing of offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel and quarterback Justin Herbert. Actually, he even expects Herbert to complete as an MVP finalist this season.
“So look, [Mike] McDaniel, perhaps I’m giving him an excessive amount of credit score,” Broussard mentioned. “However Tua [Tagovailoa] led the league in passing with Mike McDaniel. Herbert’s received expertise. I feel McDaniel and Herbert are going to be nice collectively. I count on Herbert to be within the MVP dialog.”
Danny Parkins’ AFC West Prediction
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Not like Wright and Broussard, Parkins has the Chiefs lacking the playoffs as they end in third place in his AFC West predictions.
“Lotta questions for the Chiefs,” Parkins mentioned earlier than unveiling 10 the explanation why they will not make the playoffs, together with their younger roster, stars like Travis Kelce and Chris Jones getting old and he believes that they are now not invincible. Parkins added that Kansas Metropolis’s schedule is hard (it ranks fifth in opponents’ profitable share from final season) and that extensive receiver Rashee Rice is not reliable.
As for the remainder of the division, Parkins mentioned that the Raiders have a “fairly strong basis for a last-place staff” earlier than calling on them to commerce star edge rusher Maxx Crosby. For the Broncos, Parkins mentioned that he thinks this 12 months’s staff is best than the squad that went 14-3 a 12 months in the past and likes their addition of extensive receiver Jaylen Waddle. Nonetheless, he does not assume they will have the identical luck they’d in one-score video games final season.
Lastly, Parkins picked the Chargers to complete in first for a “easy” cause.
“You’ve got Justin Herbert. You’ve got Jim Harbaugh. You’ve got Mike McDaniel. You’ve got the inevitability of Herbert’s abilities,” Parkins mentioned.
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