NFL Season Preview: Jack Goddard talks Super Bowl contenders and division winners

With the NFL returning next month, will the LA Rams - fronted by Matt Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald - retain the Super Bowl title that they narrowly won in February?

No matter their talent, it won’t be an easy feat. No team has won back-to-back Vince Lombardi trophies in 17 years when the New England Patriots and a youthful Tom Brady successfully defended their crown.

In fact, the Patriots are the only team to have won the Super Bowl more than once in the last 14 seasons, with 10 more winners - the Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants, Ravens, Seahawks, Broncos, Eagles, Chiefs, and Buccaneers - joining the Rams and Patriots on the roll of honour in that period.

The NFL is a competition designed to offer as much parity as possible - the draft and fixture list is deliberately scheduled to benefit the worse teams and bring them up to scratch with the rest. As such, we’ve sifted through all 32 teams to give an idea of who will be competing at State Farm Field in Arizona for Super Bowl LVII.

AFC

AFC East

The AFC East will be strong this season and it’s always risky to write off a Bill Belichick-led Patriots side, especially with a talented second-year quarterback in Mac Jones. 

Meanwhile, the Dolphins potentially have the best wide-receiver duo in the league as second-year wideout Jaylen Waddle has been joined by Tyreek Hill, who made a big-money move from Kansas City. But serious questions remain over quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and whether he can get the best out of his weapons.

As such, it’s tricky to look past the Buffalo Bills for the division title. Josh Allen is now arguably the best signal-caller in the NFL and his connection with Stefon Diggs is second-to-none. 

The Bills’ defence was statistically the best in the league last season too, allowing just 18.3 points per game.. The Super Bowl favourites should narrowly beat out the competition.

AFC North

The Cincinnati Bengals were the surprise winners of the AFC last year, defeating both the number-one-seeded Tennessee Titans and Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs on the road to the Super Bowl. 

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is now entering his third season in the NFL, meaning he should improve on his impressive form from last year, especially considering the targets he has at his disposal - Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, and second-year superstar Ja’Marr Chase.

Cincinnati has also made three additions to their offensive line in free agency in the hope that they will give up fewer than the 51 sacks posted last season. If they can do that they should retain their AFC North title.

The Baltimore Ravens may run them close with the majority of their injured running back corps set to return, but Cleveland and Pittsburgh have serious (albeit very different) quarterback problems that should put them out of contention.

AFC South

The Titans surprisingly topped the AFC seedings last season, but their number-one position was misleading - very few fans or pundits truly believed they were the best team in the AFC - as Tennessee eventually proved by losing out in their first play-off game.

The Indianapolis Colts look like the team to focus on this season despite signing third starting quarterback in as many years. This time Matt Ryan, who should bring a very big season from third-year pro Michael Pittman Jr, who managed more than 1,000 yards with Carson Wentz behind him last year.

The destination of the AFC South title may ultimately be decided by the form and fitness of two star running backs. The Colts will be significantly bolstered by the running game of Jonathan Taylor, who ran for 1,811 yards at an average of 5.5 yards per carry in 2021. Derrick Henry, meanwhile, missed nine games for the Titans last season, but wasn’t particularly efficient when he did play, running 3.1 yards or fewer per carry in each of his final three appearances.

AFC West

The AFC West looks the tightest division this season with all four teams boasting a genuine chance of taking the title.

The Broncos finally have a world-class quarterback after Russell Wilson joined to give both Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy some worthwhile ammunition for the first time in their careers. Javonte Williams may have a breakout year at running back with Melvin Gordon set to deputise, while the Broncos defense was already excellent last season.

The Raiders, meanwhile, now have someone for Derek Carr to aim at. In Devante Adams they have arguably the best receiver in the league, whose remarkable knack for getting open makes him almost impossible to contain.

Kansas City Chiefs: can win their division once again

The Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs will both also be fronted by excellent signal callers once more, although Justin Herbert’s side will hope to improve on their disappointing 9-8 record from last season - where their tactic of simply ‘score what you want, we’ll score more than you’ backfired more than planned.

It’s still hard to look past the Chiefs though - even without Tyreek Hill, they will still invent genius ways to score, with Mahomes, Kelce and Edwards-Helaire now joined by Juju Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

Wild cards

Denver Broncos
New England Patriots
Tennessee Titans

NFC

NFC East

The Dallas Cowboys romped the NFC East last year but have lost receiver Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns. They’ll be hoping CeeDee Lamb can step up despite the fact he’ll now be receiving lots more attention from opposing cornerbacks.

At least Lamb won’t have to go up against Trevon Diggs, the Cowboys’ star corner who managed 11 interceptions (the most in the league) and 21 passes defended (second-most in the league) last season. He’ll be looking to make another big impact next year.

Elsewhere, the Eagles will be hoping for a step up from Jalen Hurts this year, especially after equipping him with former Titans receiver AJ Brown. Washington also disappointed last season after winning the division the year before. Chase Young missed the second half of the campaign after tearing his ACL - his return may improve a defense that surprisingly stuttered last time out.

NFC North

Aaron Rodgers shocked everyone when pledging his long-term future to the Green Bay Packers after Devante Adams’ departure.

Green Bay’s wide-receiver room is down to the bare bones now, with Allen Lazard, Sammy Watkins and old-as-time Randall Cobb being Rodgers’ main veteran options. Expect Aaron Jones to see plenty of receptions from running back.

All that paves the way for the Minnesota Vikings to stake a claim for their first division title in five years. New Head Coach Kevin O’Connell has arrived from the Rams, where he was Offensive Coordinator, and he’ll likely give Kirk Cousins more free reign than run-first Mike Zimmer.

A more pass-heavy offense will likely result in Justin Jefferson having a massive year at wide receiver, after two very good seasons so far. If Cousins and Dalvin Cook can be properly protected by the Vikes’ offensive line - their problem position for years - they can finally retake the North.

NFC South

It looked as if he was finally done, but 45-year-old Tom Brady returns to the Bucs to try and deliver Tampa Bay their second successive division title (they won the Super Bowl as a wild card).

Even in his mid-40s, Brady is by far the best signal caller in the NFC South, with Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota and Baker Mayfield heading up the Saints, Falcons and Panthers respectively.

Tom Brady: back again to quarterback the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Even with Christian McCaffrey as the true leader of the Carolina backfield, it is almost impossible to envisage a situation that could allow Brady to be usurped by one of these three QBs.

With Mike Evans, Julio Jones, Chris Godwin, Russell Gage and even Cameron Brate to aim at, the Bucs should win an otherwise weak division comfortably. The Saints may give them a run for their money if they can get Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas firing on all cylinders.

NFC West

The reigning Super Bowl champs are going to get a run for their money here, most likely from the San Francisco 49ers, who finished the regular season last year 7-2, then made the NFC Championship game against the Rams.

The 49ers are now Trey Lance’s team, and their success will rely entirely on how well he adjusts to starting quarterback duties. He’s suddenly got all the help he needs with Deebo Samuel (and Brandon Aiyuk to an extent) happy to run or catch the ball as much as they can.

The Rams are still stacked with talent on both sides of the ball though, with Aaron Donald, Bobby Wagner, Jalen Ramsey and co. just as menacing as the telepathic Stafford and Kupp combo. It will be interesting to see how Cam Akers progresses this year at running back, while Allen Robinson replaces Robert Woods after a truly awful campaign in Chicago.

Wildcards

Los Angeles Rams
Green Bay Packers
Philadelphia Eagles

Recommended bets

Buffalo Bills to win the Super Bowl @ 7.2
San Francisco 49ers to win the NFC Conference @ 8.2