Also Posted On X By The DVAXN Group 25 NFL Football Outsiders ~[Cleveland OH] ~ From BR NFL Staff
4. Houston Texans
4. Houston Texans
- All aboard the hype train!
There is absolutely zero question that the Houston Texans are the most-hyped team of 2024. There's good reason for much of it. Quarterback C.J. Stroud was a revelation last year on the way to Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. The team added multiple veterans on both sides of the ball, whether it was wide receiver Stefon Diggs and running back Joe Mixon on offense or edge-rusher Danielle Hunter and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair on defense. This is a team replete with talent on both sides of the ball.
Texans general manager Nick Caserio told reporters that inside the building, the team is doing its level best to tune out the outside noise.
"Yeah, I think anything that's really discussed outside of the building doesn't really have any relevance to us, "Caserio said. "We're not going to spend any time on things that, quite frankly, don't matter. Our expectations for the players is to come in with a good attitude, put a good foundation in place, be a great teammate, be resilient — because we're going to face some things as a team, we're going to face some things individually — and put the best version of yourself on the field each day."
Houston is admittedly a (mostly) young team unused to being viewed as a Super Bowl contender. But in players like Diggs, Mixon and wide receiver Robert Woods, the team has some players who have participated in deep playoff runs. Woods wasn't on the field for Super Bowl LVI against Mixon's Bengals, but they understand what it takes to navigate the long season.
Nothing is guaranteed in the NFL—especially in an AFC loaded with elite quarterbacks and good teams.
But make no mistake—the Houston Texans are legit.
3. Detroit Lions
- It's the end of the world as we know it—and fans of the Detroit Lions feel fine.
After decades of futility, the Detroit Lions won the NFC North for the first time ever in 2023. The team came within one game of the franchise's first Super Bowl last year.
As star edge-rusher Aidan Hutchinson told reporters ,for him the goal this season isn't just to win two more games than 2023. It's to "Restore the Roar" in the long-term—to lift the Lions to heights the franchise hasn't seen since the 1950s.
"I think everyone has put everything into this upcoming year, and I feel like for the years to come as well, because it's not our last year we're all playing," Hutchinson said. "There's a lot of great players on this team, and I think we could just have repeated success over the next few years."
At least one of our analysts is on board with that possibility—Sobleski ranked the Lions as the No. 1 team in the NFL in his Power Rankings.
"Let's look at this as a training camp projection going into the 2024 season and envision how the season can develop," he wrote. "The Kansas City Chiefs are top dogs as back-to-back Super Bowl champs. Patrick Mahomes gives them a natural edge over pretty much everyone else. However, L'Jarius Sneed is now gone. Left tackle remains a question mark. Rashee Rice faces a potential league suspension. These little cracks can open the door for others to walk through."
"The Lions were one half away from appearing in their first Super Bowl," he went on. "If not for a couple of Josh Reynolds drops, they should have been. Detroit is ascending. Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta are entering their second seasons and should be even more dangerous. More importantly, last season's bottom-six pass defense has been overhauled, with Carlton Davis III and Terrion Arnold now at cornerback. It's time."
You heard him, Lions fans. For what it's worth, New Orleans is an absolute blast to visit—or so we've heard.
2. San Francisco 49ers
- Might as well address the elephant in the room in San Francisco. Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk may have requested a trade, but unless a team makes a "Godfather" offer we'll be shocked if he's actually moved. Will either Aiyuk or Deebo Samuel likely be gone in 2025? Yup—there's only so much money to go around, and Brock Purdy's extension is going to be—large. But teams with one overriding goal don't generally trade their WR1—even if they drafted his potential replacement this year.
And the San Francisco 49ers have one goal and one goal only this season—become the fourth team in NFL history to lose the Super Bowl and then win it the following year.
(If you're wondering, the Dallas Cowboys (Super Bowl VI), Miami Dolphins (Super Bowl VII) and New England Patriots (Super Bowl LIII) were the first three. It ain't easy.
While appearing on The Rich Eisen Show ,San Fran cornerback Deommodore Lenoir said that the 49ers are as tight-knit as ever—and committed to winning one more contest this season than last.
"We always been close, even after the Eagles loss in the NFC (Championship Game during the 2022 season)," Lenoir said. "It just brings us tighter, when we was able to get another step further. We didn't finish it with the win, but I feel like, this year, we got to get that taste out of our mouths. We got the pieces in the locker room, and we got the players that's willing to do it, and we got the coaches that's willing to call the right plays. We just got to finish."
The 49ers are as talented as balanced as any team in the league. It's a team without a glaring weakness. And they have to be considered the favorites in the NFC (again).
1. Kansas City Chiefs
Like it was going to be anyone at No. 1 except the two-time defending champions.
The Kansas City Chiefs have already established themselves as the NFL's newest dynasty. But in 2024, the team is trying to make history by doing something no team ever has—win three straight Super Bowls.
Star linebacker Nick Bolton admitted to reporters that he wants that three-peat—and he's not the only player in the Kansas City locker room who does.
"Everybody talks about it," Bolton said. "(There's been) an undefeated season, it's been done before. Winning back-to-back Super Bowls, that's been done before. To be on your own in history, I think that's special. I think everyone strives to be the No. 1 team to ever do that. We've got a lot of guys on our team that are gonna get a lot of credit when they get done playing, hang the cleats up, but I think being on top of the list would be three Super Bowls in a row. That's never been done before. I know Pat (Mahomes) and Trav (tight end Travis Kelce), those guys, man, they're hungry for it. We're hungry for it."
"The Chiefs are the most battle-tested team in the NFL," Davenport said. "They have the best quarterback in the game in Patrick Mahomes. The best head coach in the league in Andy Reid. They addressed their biggest weakness from a year ago big-time with the addition of veteran wide receiver Marquise Brown and rookie Xavier Worthy. The loss of cornerback L'Jarius Sneed was admittedly a blow, but the second-best defense in the league last year in terms of both yards and points allowed isn't just going to implode without him. Kansas City might not be the most talented team in the league. But until someone knocks them off the mountain, they are most assuredly the best."
- Might as well address the elephant in the room in San Francisco. Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk may have requested a trade, but unless a team makes a "Godfather" offer we'll be shocked if he's actually moved. Will either Aiyuk or Deebo Samuel likely be gone in 2025? Yup—there's only so much money to go around, and Brock Purdy's extension is going to be—large. But teams with one overriding goal don't generally trade their WR1—even if they drafted his potential replacement this year.
- It's the end of the world as we know it—and fans of the Detroit Lions feel fine.
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