The 2024 season is right here. The Baltimore Ravens and Kansas Town Chiefs get issues began this night, adopted via a Friday night time matchup between the Inexperienced Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles.
With out a generation to misspend, let’s have a look at The Athletic’s NFL workforce selections for MVP, Tremendous Bowl champion and extra.
40-two workforce participants replied (some opting no longer to reply to the whole lot, so there aren’t all the time 42 responses). Right here’s what they suspect.
Patrick Mahomes has already gained the award two times — in 2018 and 2022 — so why no longer a 3rd generation occasion the Kansas Town Chiefs attempt to three-peat? Our workforce overwhelmingly picked the soon-to-be 29-year-old quarterback to just do that.
Past quarterbacks ruled our MVP vote casting, they took a again seat on this division. Tyreek Hill completed fourth within the AP Offensive Participant of the Presen vote casting two seasons in the past and was once runner-up closing season when he led the league with 1,799 receiving yards, 13 TDs and a career-best 112.4 receiving yards in line with recreation. Our workforce thinks he’ll proceed his dominance catching passes from Tua Tagovailoa in Mike McDaniel’s offense in Miami.
In his 3 NFL seasons, Micah Parsons has completed moment, moment and 3rd in Defensive Participant of the Presen vote casting. His sack totals have inched up each yr — 13 to 13 1/2 to fourteen — and indicators level to the previous Penn Situation megastar linebacker breaking via in 2024. Myles Garrett gained it closing season next a 14-sack marketing campaign that adopted 5 consecutive double-digit sack seasons. Coming into the season, it seems like a Parsons-Garrett fight and we’ll get to look them at the similar ground Sunday when the Cowboys discuss with the Browns.
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Six quarterbacks had been decided on inside the first 12 selections of the 2024 NFL Draft and 3 are a number of the 5 freshmen receiving votes from our workforce on this division. Refuse. 1 pick out Caleb Williams won 31 of 42 general votes. Expectancies are prime for the Bears’ quarterback, to mention the least.
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So long as Mahomes is in Kansas Town, this feels just like the most secure selection. The Chiefs gained the date two Tremendous Bowls, 3 of the date 5 and feature performed in 4 of the closing 5. Mahomes was once named MVP in every of the Chiefs’ Tremendous Bowl victories. The Bengals and Texans each won 4 votes. Cincinnati misplaced the 2021 Tremendous Bowl to the Los Angeles Rams and the Texans have no longer reached a convention name recreation since becoming a member of the league in 2002.
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The Lions made the playoffs closing season for the primary generation since 2016 and reached the NFC Championship Recreation — they misplaced 34-31 to the 49ers — for the primary generation since 1991. Can Dan Campbell get Detroit to its first Tremendous Bowl in franchise historical past? The Packers and 49ers gained’t form it simple, in keeping with our workforce.
Awe … it’s the Chiefs. OK, that’s no longer in point of fact a miracle. However that’s what occurs whilst you win back-to-back Tremendous Bowls and feature Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones for your aspect. The 49ers completed with the second-most votes, becoming next they misplaced to the Chiefs in time beyond regulation in closing season’s Tremendous Bowl.
Kansas Town in demand the 3 lead vote-getting matchups and won votes towards six other warring parties. However our workforce likes the Chiefs-Lions showdown maximum, adopted via Chiefs-Packers and a Chiefs-49ers rematch. The lead non-Chiefs Tremendous Bowls? Texans vs. Eagles and Bengals vs. Lions.
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What they mentioned
“Mike McCarthy. McCarthy has proven he can win in the regular season with three straight 12-5 seasons. But that regular-season success hasn’t translated to the playoffs. If that doesn’t change, the coach of the Cowboys will.” — Dan Duggan, Giants essayist
“Nick Sirianni. When you fire and replace both of your coordinators, the pressure is now on you. It’s win or be fired yourself.” — Adam Jahns, Bears essayist
“Robert Saleh. He’s entering his fourth year in New York with an 18-33 record. Saleh’s personality and perch in the league’s most high-profile city give him more cache than his results have earned. With Aaron Rodgers back from injury, Saleh and the Jets are out of excuses. If this team doesn’t make a run, there will be major changes in New York.” — Josh Kendall, Falcons essayist
“Sean McDermott. He only gets so many shots with Josh Allen to prove he can get the Bills back to the Super Bowl.” — Paul Dehner Jr., Bengals essayist
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“Mike McCarthy: He’s got 36 regular-season wins to one playoff win over the last three seasons and is on an expiring contract with Bill Belichick as a coaching free agent. That’s a lot of pressure.” — Jeff Howe, NFL essayist
“Robert Saleh. If he can’t win this season with that defense and a healthy Aaron Rodgers, he may not be long for his job.” — Adam Hirshfield, NFL writer
“Nick Sirianni. Was last season’s second-half collapse a fluke or a sign of a bigger problem? The Eagles are talented, but a slow start will turn up the volume and heat on the man in charge.” — Doug Haller, Cardinals essayist
“Dave Canales. He’s the least proven head coach in the league in terms of overall track record, which means he has the most to prove. There are other coaches facing greater pressure this season, but they are much more seasoned/proven.” — Mike Sando, NFL essayist
“Dennis Allen. The Saints are on the short list of middling teams that could bottom out this year as some of their top talent is getting older and a bit worse. They have issues at quarterback and may struggle on both the offensive and defensive lines. Things seem a bit stale in New Orleans, and Allen needs to prove that isn’t the case.” — Joe Buscaglia, Expenses essayist
What they mentioned
“Arizona. Last year you saw the culture set, now the talent level has risen for a full season with Kyler Murray.” — Dehner
“The Falcons are in a really good place. The mood around the building with Raheem Morris is through the roof, and Kirk Cousins and OC Zac Robinson should really help the skill players shine. They’re also in a very winnable division.” — Howe
“Tennessee Titans, because after an aggressive offseason following another double-digit loss season, they will force their way into contention in the AFC South and have a shot at the playoffs.” — Mike Jones, NFL essayist
“Denver Broncos. I’m a believer that the Sean Payton-Bo Nix pairing will work well. I don’t love the skill-position pieces around Nix, but it’s the first time since Payton coached Drew Brees that I can see him having full confidence in a quarterback. I could envision a second-place finish in the AFC West and a possible wild-card berth.” — Larry Holder, NFL essayist
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“The Chargers — they have the talent to turn things around and they have a head coach who knows how to win.” — Dan Pompei, NFL essayist
“Cardinals. I’m reaching deep for this one because anyone can say the Bears. But the Cardinals could be a sneaky team for the biggest turnaround even if they’ll still be far from a serious contender. They were more competitive than the typical 4-13 team in Jonathan Gannon’s first season as head coach. They also were 1-8 without Kyler Murray and 3-5 after he returned to the lineup. A healthy Murray combined with Marvin Harrison Jr. could turn things around fast for the Cardinals.” — Duggan
“Seattle Seahawks. Geno Smith should have a nice rebound of a season and the Seahawks defense should be much improved with more youth under new head coach Mike Macdonald. The Seahawks also have a very favorable schedule, which should allow them to make a run to make the playoffs.” — Nate Taylor, Chiefs essayist
“Falcons. Atlanta gets a new coach with a strong defensive pedigree and leadership skills in Raheem Morris, and a proven quarterback in Kirk Cousins to pair with ascending playmakers Bijan Robinson and Drake London. It also helps that the Falcons play in the NFC South.” — Joe Individual, Panthers essayist
“Washington. The Commanders only won four games last year. I think they could double that win total and maybe compete for the NFC East title if things go poorly for the Eagles and Cowboys. Dan Quinn ends up improving the defense and Jayden Daniels shows they have a franchise QB.” — Jon Machota, Cowboys essayist
(Representation: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; footage: Todd Rosenberg, Cooper Neill, Kara Durrette / Getty Pictures)
