Latest news with #AFCWest
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Broncos predicted to take a step back in 2025
Broncos predicted to take a step back in 2025 The Denver Broncos took a huge step forward last season, reaching the NFL playoffs with a 10-7 record while starting a rookie quarterback. Many fans and pundits now expect the club to take another leap in 2025. Not everyone is confident the team will continue progressing, though. Touchdown Wire's Jarrett Bailey recently released his 2025 record predictions for each team, and he has the Broncos taking a step backward this fall. Bailey has predicted Denver will go 8-9, finishing behind the Los Angeles Chargers (9-8) and Kansas City Chiefs (14-3), above only the Las Vegas Raiders (8-9) in the AFC West. "Denver's defense will be one of the best in the league, but the offense will take a step back with a lack of top weapons," Bailey wrote for Touchdown Wire. It will be fascinating to track how that prediction ages in 2025 as quarterback Bo Nix enters his second season. Sean Payton's squad averaged 25 points per game in 2024, which ranked 10th in the NFL. Bailey expects two fewer wins and worse offensive production this year. Time will tell. Related: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
The Kansas City Chiefs hope to keep a near decade long run going atop the AFC West, but their continued success namely on the offensive side hinges on what they get out of the wide receiver position.
The Kansas City Chiefs hope to keep a near decade long run going atop the AFC West, but their continued success namely on the offensive side hinges on what they get out of the wide receiver position. originally appeared on Athlon Sports. More than any offseason in recent years, there is a feeling of vulnerability for the Kansas City Chiefs. A one-game sample from Super Bowl LIX has resonated in a major way, defining early expectations for the team next season. Advertisement Now is that fair for the champions of the AFC five out of the last six seasons? Maybe not, but the final game of the 2024 season did expose some flaws that no other team besides the Philadelphia Eagles exploited to such an extent. Some of those rest on the offensive side where the Chiefs struggled at times to even threaten a move of the chains. While the Eagles' outstanding defense turned in a legendary performance, there were glaring issues with the Chiefs not stacking up. One of those pain points remains at wide receiver. Andy Reid has some puzzle pieces at the position that either he must make a fit or choose to disregard. Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy are the two young stars of the group counted on for the biggest impact week to week. However, separate injury and off-the-field issues have their prospects for the entirety of 2025 in question. Advertisement Hollywood Brown like Rice missed most of last season with an injury so his return will be something to monitor. Juju Smith-Schuster remains in the fold while those further down the depth chart including Skyy Moore and Justyn Ross are in danger of being the odd ones out. There are many assets who provide many of the same talents for this offense. That means inevitably there will be a select few who will not make it through the summer once the Chiefs cut down to a final 53. With that in mind, what will the Chiefs need from their wide receivers? The Chiefs have not had a true No. 1 really since Tyreek Hill left and have gotten by just fine with tight end Travis Kelce being that go-to target. Heading into his final season, it's hard to expect that same level of performance. Advertisement Clearly, Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs receivers have a variety of challenges for each player spanning from improvement to making the roster altogether. As the players and coaching staff work through those trials this summer, they will need the pieces to come together to keep this machine operating at a high level. Related: Do Chiefs Have 'Enough In The Tank' For Super Bowl Run? Related: Chiefs' Mahomes Announces Major Decision on 2028 Olympics This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Our Raiders countdown to kickoff hits 91: Who wore it best and who's wearing it now
Our Raiders countdown to kickoff hits 91: Who wore it best and who's wearing it now We have reached 91 days until the Raiders kick off the 2025 NFL season. That means we take a look at the jersey... No. 91 Who's wearing it now: No one Who wore it last: DT Bilal Nichols Nichols signed with the Raiders as a free agent in 2022 and spent two seasons in Las Vegas. Who wore it best: DT Chester McGlockton Big Chester was a force from the interior on the Raiders defensive line for six years. He was the 16th overll pick in the 1992 NFL Draft. In his second season, he racked up 78 tackles and seven sacks. The following season he put up a career-high 9.5 sacks and began a run of four straight Pro Bowl nods. Ultimately putting up 340 tackles and 39.5 sacks in six seasons with the Raiders. He did a tour of the AFC West in his career, going on the play with the Chiefs for three seasons and then the Broncos for two seasons. He never again in his 12-year NFL career equalled the success he had in his first six seasons with the Raiders. In 2011, he suffered a heart attack and died. He was just 43 years of age
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chiefs Predicted To Continue AFC West Dominance With One Key Fix
Chiefs Predicted To Continue AFC West Dominance With One Key Fix originally appeared on Athlon Sports. It is crazy to think that just one game ago, the Kansas City Chiefs were looking at potentially becoming one of the greatest teams of the modern era, and possibly ever, yet the loss to the Philadelphia Eagles ruined it all. Advertisement Such was the manner in which Kansas City was blown out 40-22 in the Super Bowl, many bandwagoners have jumped off, thinking the era of dominance is over. But not everyone thinks that. Yes, the AFC West is going to be tougher with the Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos, and Las Vegas Raiders all expected to improve, but for ESPN's Mike Tannenbaum, if the offensive line can sort itself out, the division still runs through Kansas City. "[Patrick] Mahomes had a lot of issues with protections last year," Tannenbaum said. "If that's cleaned up with Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, and Rashee Rice pending suspension, this offense can get back to being the explosive offense we've seen Patrick Mahomes have a couple of years ago. So, I'll take Mahomes and a great offensive line." Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) is pressured by Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jalyx Hunt (58).Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mahomes was sacked a career-high 47 times, including the playoffs, last season, and as we saw in the Super Bowl, it doesn't matter how good your quarterback is if he doesn't have time to throw; you have no shot. Advertisement Joe Thuney was traded, leaving the Chiefs to sign left tackle Jaylon Moore in free agency and draft another in Josh Simmons. Kingsley Suamataia was the left tackle last year but failed to secure the spot, so he is now projected to shift inside to take Thuney's left guard position. That is a lot of moving parts in front of Mahomes, and if the Chiefs are to prove the skeptics wrong in 2025, the offensive line simply has to play better. If it does, we agree with Tannenbaum that the Chiefs have the weapons to be a force; however, if Mahomes is running for his life, we may have a new AFC West champion for the first time in nine years. Related: Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes Reveals 2025 'Motivation' Related: Mahomes, Kelce Reveal Photos of New Restaurant This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Is Detroit's Super Bowl window closing already?
Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz is joined by NFL writer Frank Schwab look at the Lions place in the highly-competitive NFC North after Detroit's OL centerpiece Frank Ragnow retires. Hear the full conversation on 'Inside Coverage' - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript If you had to bet your house today on the Lions or the field in the NFC North. Advertisement Who would you bet? I, I think I'd take the Lions still, because there's flaws in the other teams, right? Like, but there's flaws in the Lions now too, so I think I'd take the I was pretty confident last year, yeah, Lions, Lions are gonna win that division. Now I'm like, well, uh, I, I think the Lions, like, you know, that's, that's the difference. When you lose a four-time Pro Bowl center? Like, yeah, I would stuff like, would you lose an offensive genius, who who is your offensive coordinator and He led the league in points last year. When you have, I believe it's the 2nd toughest schedule in the NFL projected. Advertisement I mean, this is, these are the things that kind of add up and I'm not saying the Lions can't win a Super Bowl, they certainly can. They, they have one of the best rosters in the NFL still. There's no question about that. They're gonna get their defense healthy, but it just, I, I, I worry, I worry for, you know, I have Lions fans, friends, and I worry that they're gonna 10 years down the road, they're gonna be looking back at those two playoff games and saying. Man, that was it. That was our shot, and we let it pass. I mean this is how quick it could change in the NFL. Who would you take, lines of the field? Advertisement I would take the field. I'll take the field. Uh, here's the other thing. Remember a few years ago, now the AFC West looks like it's gonna be very good, but a few years ago, everybody was sitting there saying, oh man, the AFC West is gonna be great, and it turned out to be a year where the, the, everybody but the Chiefs stun, right? Like we all remember that. I'm not so sure I'm ready to buy the NFC North hype this year to the same level as anybody else. If I'm being fair about the yeah buts that every team has, like, it is easy for me to say, OK, the Lions are great. Yeah, but they're replacing two coordinators, part of their offensive line. Advertisement I'm not sure what it's gonna look like in a bunch of positional coaches. Uh, the Vikings are gonna be great. Yeah, but we have no idea what JJ McCarthy actually looks like on the field. Like none. We have zero proof of concept on a rookie quarterback, essentially, uh, when it comes to the fact that we haven't seen him play any meaningful football. So it's easy for me to say, uh, I, I've been long on the, are we sure about Jordan Love Trane? And so now I'm sitting there saying, I mean, Uh, maybe with the Packers, and then it's super easy for me to say Ben Johnson's never been a head coach before. We don't know if all of this is going to gel together for the, the, the Bears. Advertisement I just, I, I don't know. Like, yes, I could easily see where all four of those teams are epic, incredible, and, and it's absolutely a joy to watch every Sunday. I could also see where this division sort of implodes and all of these teams are sitting here saying, man, this was supposed to be our year. Like I, I think there's a pretty easy case. If you're a Packers fan, it's easy to fault the rest of the division. If you're a Bears fan, it's easy to fault the rest of the division. At some point, you got to put that mirror at yourself and realize that if every single fan base within a division can find a massive reason that they don't think the other teams are gonna be great, I think there is a little bit of a pause for concern that the NFC North might be getting a little bit more praise right now than it deserves.
