2018 NFL Division Winner Prediction - AFC Edition

Predicting division and conference champions and championship winners is hard. It seems that every team I pick, I jinx them and they don’t end up winning. But what kind of person would I be if I don’t try again? So in this article, I will try to predict each division winner in the NFL and their record. Just a little disclaimer, this list is strictly my opinion. So if your favourite team doesn’t win their division in my list, please don’t be offended.

Starting with the AFC East, I am still going to predict the Patriots win the division again. With
Belichick, Brady and Gronk on the roster, anything is possible, as much as I hate to say this.
Although the Dolphins do look good by adding WR Danny Amendola and QB Brock Osweiler,
who with a good team around him can be a dangerous quarterback, as he was in 2015, backing
up Peyton Manning in Denver the season the Broncos won Super Bowl 50, they aren’t going to
win the division. They shouldn’t have cut great players like Ndamukong Suh and WR Julius Thomas.
Also, the Jets won’t win the division unless they have a perfect draft and those players all have a
stellar rookie season which is unlikely. Finally, the Bills won’t win the division but might make the
playoffs after the good year they had in 2017. So, despite the defensive coordinator Matt Patricia
left to coach the Lions, that the Patriots have no backup QB and that they traded RB Dion Lewis
and CB Malcolm Butler to the Titans, the Patriots still probably have 1 more division win in them
at least before Brady and Belichick retire. The Pats will finish 11-5.

Moving to the AFC North, I say the Steelers will win the division. Realistically speaking, the Browns don’t have a shot unless they have a perfect draft, but them being the Browns, that’s unlikely. The Browns did have a pretty good draft, drafting QB Baker Mayfield first overall and CB Denzel Ward, but those players still need time to develop. They are not going to be automatic all-stars. Even with their new additions in Tyrod Taylor and Jarvis Landry they will still be mediocre at best and likely not even make the playoffs after a 0-16 year, let alone win the division. The Bengals are in the same spot. Andy Dalton, Vontaze Burfict, their coach Marvin Lewis, all mediocre. They will be a 5th or 6th wildcard team at best if they even make the playoffs. The Ravens are the only real team with a shot at beating out the Steelers for the division title and they have a good roster with Joe Flacco, Michael Crabtree, CJ.Mosley and Terrelle Suggs but with the possibility of Suggs being traded to the Titans to free cap space for next year’s free agency when they must resign key players whose contracts will expire next season will shoot their division title hopes in the foot. Thus that leaves the Steelers, with Big Ben, Brown, Bell, Shazier, and possibly Gronk, who may be traded to Pittsburgh, on a Steelers team who will have a big season next year in an attempt to win a championship before Ben leaves. But Bell isn’t going anywhere with the franchise tag. The Steelers will finish 12-4.

Moving on to the AFC West, I got my money on the Chargers. As a Broncos fan, it pains me to say this, but the facts don’t lie. The Chiefs got rid of their starting QB, Alex Smith, after the best year of his career in 2017, and now they have Patrick Mahomes, who’s played 1 game in the NFL thus far in his career. He has a lot of weapons in Tyreek Hill, Kareem Hunt and Travis Kelce, but a good QB is like the driving factor in the success of an NFL franchise. The Raiders have an all-star QB in Derek Carr and their new coach Jon Gruden was signed to a 10 year, $10 million contract and a new WR in Jordy Nelson, but I don’t think they can have another elite season like they did in 2016, and even then they didn't win the division. Besides the Chargers are 2-0 against the Raiders in 2017 and don’t expect to win your division if you lose both matchups to a division rival. And the Broncos who’ve signed many key players like QB Case Keenum, safety Su’a Cravens, CB Tramaine Brock, offensive tackle Jared Veldheer and DE Clinton McDonald still probably won’t win the division but will likely be a playoff team. Thus, that leaves Dean Spanos, Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates, Joey Bosa, Melvin Gordon to a division title. The Chargers will finish 12-4.

Now with the AFC South, I predict the Jaguars to win. Sure the Texans have Deshaun Watson, J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney and Deandre Hopkins, but with injuries like faced by Watson and Watt this season in 2017, they likely won’t be at their prime in 2018 which will limit the success of the Texans in my opinion. The Colts are likely to get their all-star quarterback Andrew Luck back from an injury that caused him to miss all of the 2017 season, but even with his exclusive treatment and rehabilitation that he got in Europe, the question of how many games he will start and the success he will have in each of those games still remains up in the air. According to NFL Insider, the Colts had the worst roster in 2017 and it will still be not excellent in 2018, even with Andrew Luck back. The Titans look good with new additions of Pats RB Dion Lewis, Pats CB Malcolm Butler, a possibility of acquiring OLB Terrelle Suggs in a trade from Baltimore and their own players in Marcus Mariota, Derrick Henry, Eric Decker, Corey Davis and Delaney Walker amongst others but still are no match for the Jaguars in my opinion. Blake Bortles, their QB is mediocre, but their running game with Leonard Fournette is spectacular, their wide receivers more than add up for the lack of expertise at QB and their defense is unreal, their defensive line, secondary and linebackers are all spectacular and were the backbone in the team’s run to the 2017 AFC championship game against the Patriots. All those factors combined will lead the Jags to a 2018 AFC South division title. The Jaguars will finish 11-5.

Do you guys agree or disagree with this list? Who do you think will win each division in the AFC in 2018? Let me know in the comments below. The NFC conference article will be coming out soon. Stay tuned until then! Cheers and have a great day everybody!