{"id":59203,"date":"2025-06-02T22:40:51","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T22:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=59203"},"modified":"2025-06-02T22:40:51","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T22:40:51","slug":"ranking-the-chiefs-biggest-afc-threats-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=59203","title":{"rendered":"Ranking the Chiefs\u2019 biggest AFC threats in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that the NFL\u2019s teams have largely finished building their rosters for the coming season, let\u2019s consider which AFC teams will be the biggest threats to the <\/em>Kansas City Chiefs in 2025.<\/em><\/p>\n

15. <\/strong>Cleveland Browns<\/h2>\n

Fun fact: as of June 1, the Browns are going into 2026 with just 19 players under contract \u2014 while starting that offseason over<\/em> the salary cap. Following their contract with quarterback Deshaun Watson, it will be years before they can again field a competitive team.<\/p>\n

14. <\/strong>Miami Dolphins<\/h2>\n

This is one of my boldest takes for 2025: the Dolphins will be terrible. The roster is a shell of what it was a few years ago. The offensive line is still non-functional. Tyreek Hill doesn\u2019t have the same impact. The defense has lost pieces \u2014 and Jalen Ramsey is about to leave, too. Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb are coming off major injuries. I think they\u2019ll start the season slowly and never recover.<\/p>\n

13. <\/strong>Tennessee Titans<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m pretty optimistic Cam Ward becomes a top-12 quarterback. The Titans added free agents to the offensive line and drafted a variety of weapons. Those moves will put Ward in a solid environment. But this kept them from investing in their defense, which will be too poor for them to compete.<\/p>\n

12. <\/strong>Jacksonville Jaguars<\/h2>\n

I think the Jaguars\u2019 offense will be really good \u2014 especially if rookie Travis Hunter plays wide receiver \u2014 but the defense is a total train wreck. There\u2019s an argument that it will be the NFL\u2019s worst defensive unit.<\/p>\n

11. <\/strong>New York Jets<\/h2>\n

After the Aaron Rodgers era, I believe the Jets have done a good job of clearing the building. I love their pick of the Armand Membou. New York will be an elite rushing team \u2014 and I expect the defense to play better, too \u2014 but the passing game will be too limited to win consistently. Still, the team has made the right moves for a new coaching staff.<\/p>\n

10. <\/strong>New England Patriots<\/h2>\n

New England had a great draft, but I\u2019m skeptical about the rest of its offseason; aside from Milton Williams, I\u2019m not impressed with most of the team\u2019s signings. I\u2019m not sold on head coach Mike Vrabel, either \u2014 and I don\u2019t love the team\u2019s hiring of Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator. Vrabel will give them a better floor, but it\u2019s still a young team with a long way to go.<\/p>\n

9. <\/strong>Indianapolis Colts<\/h2>\n

For the most part, the Indianapolis roster is good \u2014 but I think the quarterback situation puts a big damper on the situation. Neither Daniel Jones or Anthony Richardson will be able to make a playoff push. While I really like the Colts\u2019 collection of weapons, it won\u2019t matter without competent quarterback play.<\/p>\n

8. <\/strong>Las Vegas Raiders<\/h2>\n

The Raiders are a weird team. I think the combination of Geno Smith, Ashton Jeanty and Brock Bowers is very strong, although they don\u2019t have a good outside wide receiver. Still, on talent alone, I think the offense will be good \u2014 but I have no idea what coordinator Chip Kelly plans to do. With so much investment in the offense, I\u2019m not encouraged about the defense. That will hurt the team\u2019s push to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n

7. <\/strong>Pittsburgh Steelers<\/h2>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter who ends up as quarterback. I\u2019m just not very high on the Steelers. D.K. Metcalf is their only functional wide receiver \u2014 and he is limited. Meanwhile, the defense is aging \u2014 and last season, it fell apart. But while the vibes are weird, head coach Mike Tomlin is still there. They\u2019ll still win nine or more games.<\/p>\n

6. <\/strong>Cincinnati Bengals<\/h2>\n

If this was a power ranking, I\u2019d have the Bengals lower \u2014 because I think their defense will once again be a total disaster. They made no moves in free agency and Shemar Stewart is not going to help in Year 1. But having Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins and Ja\u2019Marr Chase will still make Cincinnati a viable threat to the Chiefs.<\/p>\n

5. <\/strong>Houston Texans<\/h2>\n

The Texans have had a terrible offseason; their offensive line moves have been wild. They\u2019re putting a second-round rookie into Laremy Tunsil\u2019s spot. They signed Cam Robinson, Ed Ingram and Laken Tomlinson, who were disasters with their previous teams. The line was bad last year \u2014 and somehow, Houston made it worse. Still, the defense is elite.<\/p>\n

4. <\/strong>Los Angeles Chargers<\/h2>\n

Given this season\u2019s poor free-agent class, the Chargers\u2019 patient approach made sense. Nonetheless, I think they\u2019ll be worse this season. With a real running game, the offense should improve \u2014 but I think the defense could regress. A year ago, Los Angeles had an easy schedule and was relying on mediocre talent. The team did little to address that situation.<\/p>\n

3. <\/strong>Denver Broncos<\/h2>\n

I agree with many others: the Broncos had a really good offseason. While Dre Greenlaw and Talanoa Hufanga are risks coming off injuries, Denver already had a lot of defensive talent; they will help clean up the unit\u2019s weak spots. I think the offense will still be around average, but the defense should be a top-3 unit. It\u2019ll be awesome to see the Kansas City offense match up with it.<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>Buffalo Bills<\/h2>\n

I think the Bills had a good offseason. While I was lower on Maxwell Hairston than others, Buffalo was slow at cornerback. Hairston solves that. They didn\u2019t get an ace pass rusher, but I think T.J. Sanders and Landon Jackson will still help the defense \u2014 and the offense should remain elite.<\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>Baltimore Ravens<\/h2>\n

The Ravens\u2019 biggest weaknesses were safety and edge rusher. Drafting Malachi Starks and Mike Green solved those issues. Under a new coordinator, the defense had a slow start in 2024 \u2014 but in the second half of the season, it was pretty good. With those two rookies filling its two biggest weaknesses, I expect Baltimore to field a top-8 defense alongside its elite offense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Which teams will provide the greatest challenge to Kansas City\u2019s pursuit of a fourth-straight AFC championship?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":59204,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nRanking the Chiefs\u2019 biggest AFC threats in 2025 - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=59203\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ranking the Chiefs\u2019 biggest AFC threats in 2025 - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Which teams will provide the greatest challenge to Kansas City\u2019s pursuit of a fourth-straight AFC championship?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=59203\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-02T22:40:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/avtvip-2025-06-03T054022.769.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=59203\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=59203\",\"name\":\"Ranking the Chiefs\u2019 biggest AFC threats in 2025 - 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