AFC Contenders who could challenge the KC Chiefs in the playoffs

Which AFC teams could challenge the Kansas City Chiefs come January?

As the Kansas City Chiefs look to “run it back” in 2020, there are several teams poised to take a step forward in the AFC. While the conference looked weak in 2019, that’s not the case in 2020. Of course, things looking good on paper don’t always pan out when it comes time to win games. Just look at the Cleveland Browns leading up to the 2019 season.

Following the change to the playoff structure, there will now be seven playoff teams from each conference instead of six. Not only does that mean that one more team will have a chance in January, but only one team will get a bye week during Wild Card weekend. For the top teams, every game during the regular season will be even more critical. As far as the teams that are “in the hunt,” it could provide some help.

After being the main talking point in 2019, the Baltimore Ravens fell short of expectations and lost to the Tennessee Titans in the Divisional Round last year. The expectations are skyrocketing for Baltimore in the upcoming season with some new additions and another year of development for Lamar Jackson.

Other teams that will look to get back to contention in 2020 are the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts. Both franchises took massive hits at the quarterback position in 2019. Ben Roethlisberger‘s season ended in Week 2, and the Colts had to navigate Andrew Luck retiring just before the start of the season.

Breaking down teams into four tiers, based on the likelihood of success, we predict which teams will be the top competitors in the AFC. While some organizations have all of the tools to make a good run, several teams need some questions to be answered.