Grading every AFC team’s regular season: The Jets hot rock bottom

We are less than a week away from the Super Bowl, but that will be getting enough coverage over the next few days. Instead of focusing on just two teams, we have decided to take a look back at how every team in the NFL performed in the 2024 season, starting with the AFC. All statistics sourced from SumerSports unless otherwise stated.

It’s hard to say too much negative about the Buffalo Bills in 2024. Josh Allen had an MVP-caliber year, the defense was solid, and they won 13 games. The only reason it’s not an ‘A+’ is they finished the year with four losses, all of which we thought were avoidable, and that cost them the number one seed, and arguably a place in the Super Bowl.

Tua Tagovailoa struggled to stay on the field due to his ongoing concussion issues, which is a real long term concern for both him, and the Dolphins. Tua’s absence was costly, as the string of backups just couldn’t get the job done. A late-season surge saw Miami nearly sneak into the playoffs, but overall, a bit of a nothing season.

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4-13 would usually be ranked lower than a ‘D-’, however, the Pats had extenuating circumstances that give them some excuse. It was the first season following the Bill Belichick era, and the roster was a mess from top to bottom. There is one significant bright spot, though: Drake Maye.

The Jets went all in to try and win a Super Bowl, which is commendable. Unfortunately, they are still the New York Jets, and it didn’t work. Despite signing future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers to lead the offense, they still only finished 17th in EPA/Play. Robert Saleh was fired mid-season, which felt unfair at the time, and only looked worse as the season progressed.

Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry led the best offense in football last year per EPA/Play (second in success %) and yet the Ravens still only finished 12-5. It felt like there was some meat left on the bone this season. Defensively, it took some time to adjust to Mike Macdonald’s departure, but Zach Orr should have the unit ready to compete from week one in 2025.

Will Brinson for CBS Sports wrote, “there's zero reason with a quarterback like Burrow for this team to be sitting at home eating pasta covered in chili in January,” in his season summary. It’s difficult to disagree with him. Joe Burrow had maybe his best season yet, and the team still went 9-8. It’s not good enough.

3-14 was a good representation of how the Browns played in 2024. They were awful. Defensively, they weren’t at the same level as 2023, and the offense, with Deshaun Watson still at the helm, was terrible. Cleveland seems to have finally moved on from Watson (at least figuratively), which is the only reason it’s not an ‘F-’.

It’s hard to separate the 2024 Steelers from the last decade or so of continual mediocrity. The Justin Fields/Russell Wilson experiment worked, with both players exceeding the play of Kenny Pickett in recent years. Yet the offense still lacks any elite weapons and the defense seemed to collapse down the stretch. At some point, change, at some level, may be needed.

For a team with preseason Super Bowl expectations, it wasn’t a great year for Houston. C.J. Stroud was by no means bad, but he didn’t hit the heights of 2023, or take the next step that some were expecting. Demeco Ryans has built a ferocious defense (6th in EPA/Play), but it wasn’t enough. Stroud and the offense did deal with some terrible injury luck, in their defense.

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What do the Colts do with Anthony Richardson? We liked the pick at the time, as he’s fun to watch and had the potential to become something great. So far, he has struggled mightily to fulfill that potential. Shane Steichen is doing OK as the head coach. This team is going nowhere at the moment, it feels, which is the worst thing you can do in the NFL.

Another team that had high expectations going into 2024 that failed to deliver. Trevor Lawrence looked unconvincing, which is a worry at this point of his career. Doug Pederson rightfully lost his job after a lackluster year. Brian Thomas Jr. is a stud, and we’re sure new head coach Liam Coen will be excited to work with him in 2025.

Will Levis was never the answer at quarterback, and neither was Mason Rudolph. To an extent, the Titans wasted 2024. Now they have the number one overall pick in a year when no one is really convinced by any of the QB prospects. Brian Callahan deserves another chance, but he better improve this team, and quickly, if he wants to keep his job.

We didn’t see a 10-win season from this Broncos team before the season started. We were Bo Nix-truthers during the draft and feel somewhat justified in our takes after he put together a nice rookie year. It’s not going to be easy to replicate the defensive performance in 2024 (1st in EPA/Play), so Denver has to hope Nix is able to take another step in year two.

Were the Chiefs good in 2024? We don’t really know. Their metrics and statistics are just fine, yet they won 15 games, claimed the number one seed and are in the Super Bowl again. It’s an impressive winning machine they have built in KC, even if it’s not the exciting, high-flying offense of a few years ago. The definition of ‘know how to win’.

Antonio Pierce was dealt a rough hand in his first year as the full-time head coach of the Raiders. His starting quarterback options were Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell, who aren’t good. Like some other teams on this list, we have no idea where this team goes from here, given the severe lack of talent on both sides of the ball.

An impressive first year for Jim Harbaugh in LA. The Chargers have had enough talent to be a playoff team recently, yet it took Harbaugh to realize that talent. If they can find another weapon or two for Justin Herbert, this could be a contender immediately.

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