NFL power rankings: Ranking the Chargers and all 32 teams after Super Bowl
NFL Power Rankings - Contenders tier:
5. Buffalo Bills
As long as the Bills have Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs on the offensive side of the ball, they'll be contenders. But there are questions on both as Allen will take the offseason to rehabilitate from his elbow injury and it's probably not impossible that Diggs could be dealt somewhere.
The Bills played all their cards last offseason financially and I'm not sure relying on Von Miller's return from injury is enough to make me buy their candidacy as a high-end contender vs. Cincinnati or Kansas City in the AFC.
4. San Francisco 49ers
Brock Purdy off a torn UCL? Trey Lance? Another option? The Niners have to decide which one of their quarterbacks will lead a stacked roster into battle against the group of Top 5 or 10 quarterbacks in the league.
The Eagles and the Niners are easily the top two teams in the NFC right now, but quarterback is what gives the Eagles the edge even if the rosters are even.
3. Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals upended the league's travel plans after they made the AFC Championship game for the second straight year. There was no Patrick Mahomes-Josh Allen Atlanta battle.
The good news is the Bengals will get to keep innovative defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. The story of the offseason will be their Burrow extension, but another name to keep an eye on is Tee Higgins. As time goes on, those trade talks should intensify.
2. Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles came up just short of knocking off the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. But make no mistake about it, they're still the class of the NFC. And until the Niners figure out their quarterback situation, I'd say it's a wide gap right now.
However, the Eagles have a lot of offseason questions to answer. Both defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon and offensive coordinator Shane Steichen got poached for head coaching positions in Arizona and Indianapolis respectively. How their replacements perform will determine a lot, seeing as Nick Sirianni does not have offensive play-calling duties.
They have around 20 key free agents and quite a few starters whose fates have to be decided. As mentioned previously with the Chargers and Bengals, the quarterback extension is a critical aspect of their offseason after Jalen Hurts' MVP-worthy Super Bowl performance.
1. Kansas City Chiefs
It was ridiculous when analysts and fans wrote off the Chiefs last offseason following the Tyreek Hill trade and 2022 AFC Championship loss to the Bengals. Patrick Mahomes then took his game to another level (yeah, that's somehow possible) and Kansas City are the champs.
Unlike some of the other top 10 teams who have tough decisions to make, the Chiefs are really in the clear. They have a lot of cap space that has opened up as a result of the Hill trade and now get to use the draft capital Miami gave them in that trade.
The Kingdom's reign will continue until someone knocks them off, and that's looking awfully hard to do right now.