NFL Fans… At long last—we have made it! The professional football season is within striking distance! Before you know it, your favorite team will be lined up on Sunday with the happiness of millions of fans everywhere hanging in the balance. Unfortunately, the NFL is not in the business of keeping everyone happy… In each game, there can only be one winner, and at Super Bowl time, only one team will be left standing!
While almost every NFL fan enters the new season with hope sprung anew… as the season wears on—it becomes increasingly obvious that not all teams are created equally. Some have the chops to succeed come playoffs… and some… don’t.
Even amongst the teams that are trendy picks heading into the season!
So… without further ado, let’s take a look around the league at five legit Super Bowl 59 contenders… and five pretenders!
Which NFL teams are the heavy favorites in winning the Super Bowl LIX?
Contender: Cincinnati Bengals
I don’t know about you, but it seems like everyone is forgetting about Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals heading into this season…
Cinci was down last year because Burrow missed the bulk of the year with an injury, but he should be back and better than ever—and with him under center—this team is always in contention.
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He’s the kind of quarterback who elevates everyone around him.
Whether it’s his pinpoint accuracy, his ability to read defenses, or his ice-cold demeanor during the clutch moments, Burrow has all the makings of a legit franchise quarterback who can lead his team to multiple championships.
Of course, he still has to start with one… But he has done a great job of elevating a lowly franchise into regular contention early into his career.
And while there are some question marks about Cinci’s defense following the departure of D.J. Reader, we still fully expect this team to be Super Bowl ready!
Pretender: Green Bay Packers
While the Green Bay Packers were one of the best stories in the NFL last year—with the way that they turned their season around—and rallied to make a nice little playoff run behind first-year starter Jordan Love, let’s not get carried away, and start elevating them too much before the season even starts!
Defensively, the Packers have been a mixed bag. They’ve had games where they look dominant, only to follow them up with performances where they can’t stop a nosebleed.
They will need to find and maintain the form that they had in the second half of 2023 if the team wants to have any sort of sustained success this year!
On offense, while there is reason to be excited following the Josh Jacobs acquisition—let’s go into this with tempered expectations.
After all, the sample size with Jordan Love is still extremely small… and he was just given a boatload of money. We have no idea how that could impact things!
The Packers have a good chance of being a playoff team, but we are going to have to see more out of them before we start calling them Super Bowl contenders!
Contender: San Francisco 49ers
I know that the Kyle Shanahan haters don’t want to hear it, but even if he hasn’t managed to win a Super Bowl… yet… it is one heck of a football program that he has built up in the Bay Area.
They’ve crossed over into the rarified air of believing in them as legitimate Super Bowl contenders until they’re proven otherwise.
The 49ers’ defense was a little bit inconsistent last year, but most of their challenges seemed to stem from a couple of minor injuries here and there… and, in part—apathy—as San Francisco had a number of their games well in hand by the third quarter.
They did make a nice pickup, adding Leonard Floyd to their defensive line, which should help to take some pressure off Nick Bosa.
Either way that defense should be able to maintain the high standard that has been set during this recent era of dominance for the 49ers—if not improve with all that they have on the line this season.
Also… expect that offense to be as potent as ever. Obviously, the Brandon Aiyuk contract situation is not ideal… But we expect cooler heads to prevail and Aiyuk to eventually report to work—and he’ll be doing so with something to prove and future money to earn.
Plus, Brock Purdy has continued to come into his own under-center. “Elite” or not… it doesn’t really matter—the guy has been a game-changer for San Francisco!
All things considered, it is impossible to deny that Kyle Shanahan’s squad looks primed for a deep postseason journey. And who knows—this may even be the year that they transcend contention—and capture Super Bowl glory!
Pretender: New York Jets
It’s easy to get swept up in the hype around the New York Jets… After all, we have been doing this for the better part of two years now.
Aaron Rodgers abandons the Packer Gold and Green to wear Jets green and white—and leads them to a Super Bowl? No doubt, it’s a storyline that writes itself, and the media has had a field day with it.
But let’s take a step back and really examine what we’re looking at here… Because I don’t want Jets fans to get their expectations too high again.
Rodgers is undeniably one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
But he’s also going to turn 41 during this season—not to mention that he is coming off of an Achilles tear, you know… the one that derailed this whole Jets Super Bowl movement last year.
He also implemented his own natural rehabilitation program, which consisted of god knows what.
The idea that he’s going to waltz into New York and immediately turn this team into legit Super Bowl contenders is far-fetched when you consider that we don’t even know what Rodgers as an individual will look like next year.
The Jets are an intriguing team, but to call them Super Bowl contenders feels premature. They have the potential to be great, but there are just too many question marks right now, like how the chemistry will be offensive if Hasaan Reddick ever plays football for them… Not exactly minor details!
They might make the playoffs, but a deep run seems unlikely. For now, they’re more pretender than contenders.
Contender: Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions have long been lost at the bottom of the barrel in the NFL, but those days might finally be behind them, thanks to Dan Campbell’s leadership.
We have seen this team has undergone a cultural transformation, and they’re no longer the league’s laughingstock. And with the impressive run we saw them make to the NFC Championship Game last year, it is hard to view them as anything other than legit Super Bowl contenders.
On offense, Jared Goff has found new life in Detroit. He’s not the flashiest quarterback, but he can make all of the throws when he is in the system… and he’s been very efficient and effective—in part, thanks to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who has emerged as a legitimate star at wide receiver, providing Goff with a reliable target who can make plays all over the field.
It also helps that he has one of the best offensive lines in the business protecting him, with the likes of Penei Sewell and Taylor Decker holding off would-be pass rushers.
The Lions aren’t as mature defensively, but Aidan Hutchinson is shaping up to be a star—and the unit as a whole continues to improve.
This team is no longer a pushover—they’re a legitimate threat in the NFC and beyond.
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Pretender: Buffalo Bills
People want to pretend like the Buffalo Bills have been knocking on the door of a Super Bowl for the past few seasons, but frankly, they haven’t even come close to getting over the hump…
And to make matters worse for the die-hard football fans in Western New York—something feels different heading into 2024—in a negative way.
For starters, the absence of Stefon Diggs should loom large on that offense. The chemistry that he and quarterback Josh Allen had developed was deep—and cannot be easily replicated. He also absorbed a ton of attention from opposing defenses and deserves way more credit than he got for his ability to open up opportunities for the receivers.
The departure of Jordan Poyer and Tre’Davious White, two staples on the defensive side of the ball, will also hurt.
For the Bills to legitimately contend for a Super Bowl, they needed to take a big step forward this year. Well, it looks like they are going in the opposite direction.
Contender: Kansas City Chiefs
I mean… Duh. Until proven otherwise—the Kansas City Chiefs simply have to be considered Super Bowl contenders…
Frankly, they are pretty much at the point that they would have to miss the playoffs outright for multiple years before we started to question their validity among the league’s elite.
They’ve got the best quarterback in the league, an innovative head coach, and a culture of winning that’s unmatched.
Travis Kelce is starting to show some wear and tear, but he and Mahomes can still get it done during crunch time. Plus, Kansas City has added new dynamic options through the draft with Xavier Worthy.
They are the epitome of a Super Bowl contender, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone if they aren’t in the mix once again this season.
Pretender: Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons have become a trendy pick as a sleeper team heading into 2024, but let’s pump the brakes a bit. Yes, they’ve made some exciting moves, but Kirk Cousins is still the lynchpin for those moves.
And while their young core is full of potential, that doesn’t mean they’re ready to compete for a Super Bowl just yet. Even with the addition of former Patriots star pass rusher Matthew Judon to help bolster that defense.
The NFC South is wide open, and that’s part of the reason why the Falcons are getting so much love, but the prospect of winning a weak division doesn’t make you a Super Bowl contender.
Just ask the 2023 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who snagged that dubious crown.
The Falcons might be able to sneak into the playoffs, but expecting anything more than that feels like a stretch.
Contender: Baltimore Ravens
After another letdown in 2023, the Baltimore Ravens have sort of been flying under the radar heading into this season, and you know what? We think that is probably for the best!
After all, there was a ton of pressure—both on the team and quarterback Lamar Jackson last year to get it done, and when you come up short in that situation—it is sometimes better to take a big step back and reset.
At least mentally…
Because on the field—they still have all of the horses one might need to make a charge at Super Bowl glory.
The defense was among the tops in the league last year—and though the departure of defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald might hurt, Ravens fans should feel confident that John Harbaugh will select a suitable replacement—and help bridge whatever gap might appear.
And on the offensive side of the ball, the addition of Derrick Henry should help take a lot of the pressure off of Lamar—as he’ll have another bonafide superstar with something to prove to help carry the load.
The Ravens are primed for a bounce-back year in 2024, and they have all the tools to make a serious run at the Super Bowl.
Pretender: Dallas Cowboys
Every year, it’s the same old story with the Dallas Cowboys—lots of talent, lots of hype, and lots of disappointment.
For a franchise with such a rich history and a massive fanbase, it’s been a long time since “America’s Team” lived up to its lofty expectations—and… sorry, Cowboys fans—we don’t anticipate 2024 being the year that all changes!
Not after what we saw out of this bunch last year—when they proved themselves to be the ultimate pretenders! I mean, the defense was one of the top-ranked units in the league, but it only seemed to be capable of padding stats against inferior competition.
And the second that they played a legit contender—it faltered.
Heading into 2024, we expect more of the same from that defense…
It boasts a true superstar in Micah Parsons, no doubt about it—he’s a relentless pass rusher and can make plays all over the field, but the secondary is still extremely vulnerable.
As we saw in that humiliating loss, they endured the underdog Green Bay Packers in the playoffs, who were led by first-year starter Jordan Love… Tough look for a team that was supposed to be among the league’s best!
In the same way that the Chiefs are contenders until proven otherwise—the Cowboys have to be viewed as pretenders until we see some proof that the tides are changing in Big D.
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