The NFL season is still less than a couple of months before they start playing games. The schedule was released last month, and we have some exciting games to look forward to in Week 1. There were a lot of movements in free agency with some great players going to new teams. The NFL Draft saw some promising, young talent go to teams where they hope to make an instant impact. We are only focusing on the AFC and who’s the best team entering this season? The Kansas City Chiefs became back-to-back champions by defeating the Niners in a Super Bowl classic. Baltimore, Houston, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Miami, New York, and a few others are hoping to dethrone the Chiefs. Who are the top 5 teams in the AFC heading into the 2024 season? Below are my top 5 AFC teams heading into the 2024 season.

Kansas City Chiefs

The back-to-back Super Bowl champions is my top team in the AFC heading into the 2024 season. Patrick Mahomes is the best QB in the league and has been for a while now. On offense, they extended Travis Kelce and added offensive power also. They drafted the speedy receiver Xavier Worthy from Texans and signed Hollywood Brown to help the receiving core. The Chiefs lead the league in drops and they’re hoping to eliminate that problem. On defense, they kept their future Hall-of-Famer in Chris Jones by signing him to a huge deal. Unfortunately, they traded arguably their best player in the secondary in L’Jarius Sneed. Sneed was traded to the Titans, and he signed a big deal with Tennessee. Kansas City also added key veteran backups on offense. Irv Smith Jr. will complement Travis Kelce and they also signed Carson Wentz to backup Mahomes.

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens had a great season last year. They finished atop of the AFC and Lamar Jackson won his second MVP award. Despite having the homefield advantage for the playoffs, they fell to the Chiefs in the AFC title game. Baltimore kept quite a bit of their free agents during the offseason. The biggest acquisition was the signing of Derrick Henry to the team. Henry is one of the best running backs in this generation. If healthy, Henry could thrive in this offseason and Lamar Jackson could have another successful season. The defense was one of the better ones in the league last season. One of their leaders was Justin Madubuike and he signed a monster 4-year extension with the team. Baltimore lost quite a bit in free agency on both sides also. Losing Patrick Queen will hurt the defense, but this is still one of the AFC’s top teams.

Houston Texans

Two years ago, this franchise was in disarray and headed in a bad direction. Last year, they hired DeMeco Ryans to become the new head coach of the team. They drafted C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. and became one of the best teams last season. Stroud went on to have one of the greatest rookie seasons ever by a quarterback while winning Rookie of the Year. Anderson Jr. anchored what would become one of the better defenses in the league. Houston could arguably be the best team in the AFC this season. Stroud is still on his rookie deal, so the Texans made a lot of moves during the offseason. On offense, Houston added Stephon Diggs, Joe Mixon, and Ben Skowronek. The defense added some veteran defensive backs along with Danielle Hunter and Azeez Al-Shaair. As mentioned, this could be the best team in the AFC by the end of the year.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals are my fourth best team headed into the 2024 season. The Bengals finished last season with a 9-8 record with one of the toughest schedules. Joe Burrow missed the final seven games due to injury. Burrow is one of the best quarterbacks in the league and they’re wanting to get back to the Super Bowl. This is a big season for the Bengals due to the contracts of Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase. Higgins still wants a new contract seeing he’s playing on a 1-year deal and could be gone next season. With Higgins and Chase, this is still one of the best 1-2 WR combos in the league. On defense, Trey Hendrickson is still one of the best at his position. Can the defense still thrive after losing D.J. Reader? Cincinnati brought in Sheldon Rankins and that should help the Bengals this season.

Cleveland Browns

This was a toss-up between the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets. With the uncertainty around Aaron Rodgers and Haasan Reddick, I’m going with the Browns. This will need to be the year Deshaun Watson returns to MVP-like form. Watson missed the final portion of last year after having season-ending shoulder surgery.  The offense is hoping that Nick Chubb and Jack Conklin come back healthy after major knee injuries. Watson will have an assortment of weapons to throw at also. Amari Cooper, David Njoku, Cedric Tillman, Elijah Moore and the newly acquired Jerry Jeudy. The defense is still led by arguably the best defender in the league in Myles Garrett. Za’Darius Smith is another great rusher that the Browns have also. The secondary is still one of the best with Denzel Ward, Martin Emerson Jr. and Greg Newsome II.

Trav’s Top 5 AFC Teams for 2024 Season

1. Kansas City Chiefs
2. Baltimore Ravens
3. Houston Texans
4. Cincinnati Bengals
5. Cleveland Browns

What do you think about my top 5 AFC teams for the 2024 season? Who would you replace in the top 5? Who would you add in the top 5? Leave your feedback below about anything related to my top 5 AFC teams for the 2024 season.

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