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With the NFL season fast approaching, what could hold the teams in the AFC back this year?
The actual start of the 2024 NFL season is still a few weeks away.
But with all 32 teams now having at least one preseason game under their belts, things are starting to fall into picture around the league. While all 32 teams — and their fanbases — might have high hopes entering the fall we wanted to take a moment and identify one issue for each team that could hold them back this year.
Starting in the AFC, here is each team’s potential fatal flaw for the season ahead.
AFC East
Buffalo Bills: A receiver room without anyone who can create separation
The Bills are entering their 2022 Chiefs era—rebuilding an offense without the help of a star receiver who can create separation on his own. While the pieces are complementary to each other, someone has to be able to create separation for themselves to ease the load on Josh Allen and OC Joe Brady. Who it is right now? The world may never know.
New York Jets: A brittle offense
The additions to the New York Jets this year all have one thing in common: none of them can stay consistently healthy. If the additions of tackles Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses, along with receiver Mike Williams can’t stay healthy, the Jets could go from Super Bowl contender to another season of what could’ve been.
Miami Dolphins: An inability to stay healthy
The Dolphins’ biggest issue for the last couple of seasons is falling apart down the final stretch of the season. Their inability to stay healthy makes their offense predictable and their defense brittle, making an early playoff exit inevitable. Even with a retooled defense and offensive line, if nobody can stay healthy it means trouble in Miami.
New England Patriots: A poor offensive line
The #Patriots offensive line got destroyed by the Eagles front today. 10+ sacks. Lack of protection hardly allowed QBs to run the offense, read through progressions, etc.
If today’s an indication — it’ll be their Achilles heel once again in 2024.
— Mike Kadlick (@mikekadlick) August 13, 2024
Yeah that’s a problem.
AFC West
Kansas City Chiefs: History
The Chiefs are trying to do something that has never been done in NFL history: Win three straight Super Bowls. Given everything that can go wrong over the course of an NFL season, repeating as champions is tough enough. Yet the Chiefs were able to do just that a year ago, emerging out of a stacked AFC and winning a pair of playoff games on the road. But can they do it again? There is a reason it has never been done before, after all…
Las Vegas Raiders: The offense
The Raiders offense was an issue for the team a season ago, as Las Vegas averaged just 19.5 points per game, ranking 23rd in the NFL. Early returns out of training camp have not been positive, as the offensive line has been banged up and Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew, battling for the starting quarterback job, have struggled. The defense could be very good, but this offense is a huge question mark.
Los Angeles Chargers: Creating explosive plays
In Justin Herbert the Los Angeles Chargers have one of the most talented quarterbacks in the game. But there are question marks around him when it comes to the offense. Will the receivers step up following departures of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams? What will production from the tight end position look like? Is the former Baltimore tandem of J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards ready to shoulder the load at RB, and how will all this assembled talent create explosive plays in Greg Roman’s offense?
Denver Broncos: The defense
The biggest question in Denver right now is likely who earns the starting quarterback job between Jarrett Stidham, Bo Nix, and Zach Wilson. But the teams potential fatal flaw comes on the defensive side of the football. This was a below average unit last year — at best — and will need to take a huge step forward if the Broncos are going to be successful this year. If not, then it might not matter who is under center in Denver.
AFC North
Baltimore Ravens: Offensive line
On paper, the Ravens offense looks scary, particularly when you imagine Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry standing next to each other in the backfield and the creative things Baltimore can do in the running game with those two. But having lost guards Kevin Zeitler and John Simpson in free agency, as well as having traded away tackle Morgan Moses, can the offensive line hold up their end of the bargain?
Cincinnati Bengals: The running game
This could show up on both sides of the football. Offensively, the Bengals are replacing Joe Mixon with Zach Moss, and it remains to be seen if Moss can handle the full workload in the AFC North and/or the team can get big contributions from players like Chase Brown and Trayveon Williams. On the other side of the ball, the Bengals’ run defense was near the bottom of the league a season ago, as they allowed 126.2 yards per game and 4.7 yards per attempt. Some of that might have been game-script related, but in this division, you will need to stop the run.
Cleveland Browns: Deshaun Watson
This is more of a “question mark” than a fatal flaw, but Deshaun Watson remains the biggest question mark in Cleveland, and if this team does not live up to expectations, quarterback play will be the reason why. Is this the year Watson finally makes it click in Cleveland, or not?
Pittsburgh Steelers: Quarterback
Wide receiver is certainly a question mark — although the much-rumored Brandon Aiyuk trade could address that position room — but quarterback is the bigger issue. Who wins the job? If it is Russell Wilson, can he return to form under Arthur Smith? If iti is Justin Fields, can he finally develop into the quarterback that was promised coming out of Ohio State?
AFC South
Houston Texans: An inability to run the ball
As good as the Texans were last year, they finished 2023 26th in EPA/rush. The hope is that with RB Joe Mixon in the fold, they can run outside zone with a bit more success and efficiency. However, Mixon has a lot of tread on his tires, and there’s no guarantee that the run game shapes up.
Jacksonville Jaguars: red zone issues continue
After replacing C Luke Fortner with Mitch Morse in the offseason, the Jaguars are betting that the continuity among everyone else will help the line grow. However, if their inability to run the ball inside the 20 continues, then it ties their hands behind their back when it comes to scoring in the redzone.
Indianapolis Colts: Health of their starting QB
The biggest question for the Colts is if Anthony Richardson’s freak injuries last year are just that—freak accidents that come with playing football. If he’s healthy, then the offense will continue to get better, but if he can’t stay on the field, the Colts are looking at another lost season.
Tennessee Titans: The QB
Initially, I was going to say the offensive line, but with Bill Callahan running that group, their floor is much higher. So we’ll pivot to the next question mark. Will Levis showed flashes last year, but needs to be much more consistent with his ball placement and not take as many hits as he did last year. The Titans have the defensive core to make a playoff run, but the QB will be the judge of how far they’ll go.
