The 2025 NFL playoffs are right around the corner, and there are still 10 teams that have a somewhat realistic shot of making it to the postseason. Unlike in years past, there isn’t one truly dominant team. It feels like anyone who makes it to the playoffs could get hot and make it to the Super Bowl. Nobody is safe, and that’s what has made this season so entertaining.

Every team has a weakness. Everyone is beatable. So today, I’m going through all 10 playoff contenders in the AFC, identifying their biggest weakness and laying out how they can fix it (if they even can this late in the year). Starting with the 1-seed…

Denver Broncos: Offensive Consistency

If you’ve watched the Denver Broncos this season, one thing is clear: they have one of the best defenses in recent memory. If it weren’t for Houston, they’d have the best defense in the league by a country mile. Their pass rush is one of the most efficient we’ve ever seen, and they have a really solid secondary led by Pat Surtain II to back them up. But you know what hasn’t been great this year? Their offense.

Alright, I’ll admit that was a little unfair. The Broncos still rank 14th in the NFL in scoring, but considering they were a top-10 offense a year ago with a rookie quarterback, it’s been a fairly disappointing season for Bo Nix and the rest of Denver’s offense. I will give them a ton of credit because they’ve come through in the clutch time and time again, but in the postseason, you can’t rely on fourth-quarter comebacks.

So how do they fix it? Well, it really boils down to Nix. He just flat-out has to play better. We know what he’s capable of; he showed it as a rookie and at times in the fourth quarter this year. He simply has to be more consistent; that’s the only way this offense can reach its full potential.

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New England Patriots: They Haven’t Really Been Tested

The New England Patriots don’t have any glaring weaknesses. Sure, some position groups could be better, but the one thing that sticks out is the fact that they haven’t really been tested. They’re 11-2, and that’s an incredibly impressive feat, no matter who you’ve played, but I would’ve liked to see them play some tougher teams this year. I know that’s not up to them, but it could cost them in the postseason.

By the end of the year, the Patriots will have played five, maybe six teams with a winning record. They have played the Bills (9-4) twice, the Buccaneers (7-6), the Panthers (7-6) and the Steelers (7-6). The Ravens (6-7) could end up with a winning record by the end of the year, but they’re not all that good either. In fact, the Patriots rank dead last in the NFL in strength of schedule.

You always want to go into the postseason with some blood on your hands. They’ll get another tough challenge against Buffalo this week, but that’s about it. We’ll see if their lack of competition comes back to bite them, or if they’ll be just fine.

Jacksonville Jaguars: All Around Consistency

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ biggest weakness for most of the year was consistency. They’d go out and beat the Chiefs one week and then go to overtime against the Raiders a few weeks later. Trevor Lawrence specifically struggled with consistency for the better part of the year, but I will admit, they’re already on their way towards solving this issue.

Over the last four games, the Jaguars have been much more consistent. Their offense has scored 25+ points in each of those games, and their defense has come up big, holding all but one of those opponents to under 20. Lawrence has looked great outside of a few bad interceptions against Arizona, and it’s helped Jacksonville take control of the AFC South.

The key to maintaining this consistency offensively will be Lawrence. We’ve seen him have some very high highs, but also some very low lows throughout his career. Right now, he’s certainly peaking, but is it too early? Will he resort to the mean once the playoffs come around? That’s my biggest concern, and the only way to fix it is for Lawrence to stay locked in and cut down on the mistakes.

Their defense is certainly playing great football right now, but like Lawrence, they’ve been pretty up and down this year. It wasn’t all that long ago that they gave up 36 points to Davis Mills and the Texans. Or 29 points to Geno Smith and the Raiders. All it takes is one bad half for them to lose confidence and start playing like that again. It will be up to Anthony Campanile to keep this team focused and not let them get too high or too low emotionally.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Aaron Rodgers

Are there any Aaron Rodgers truthers still out there? If so, can you at least admit that he is far past his prime and needs to retire after this year?

Sure, you can point to the pass defense and say that’s the Pittsburgh Steelers’ biggest weakness. I wouldn’t really argue with you, they’ve been bad, but I think the thing that’s really going to hold them back if they make the playoffs is their offense, specifically their passing offense.

Let’s look at the last five games for Rodgers. He’s averaging 176 yards per game while throwing four touchdowns and two interceptions. You remember that big 52-yard play to DK Metcalf on the Steelers’ opening drive against the Ravens last week? That was the Steelers’ first completion of over 20 air yards since October 26th, when they lost to the Packers.

So how do they fix it? I don’t really know. Rodgers is 42 years old. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. He is what he is at this point in his career, and that’s a very average quarterback. The Steelers’ defense has some issues, but Rodgers just isn’t good enough to elevate an offense anymore.

Los Angeles Chargers: Injuries

The Los Angeles Chargers have been decimated by injuries this season, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, and it may ultimately be their downfall. Justin Herbert was playing like an MVP early in the season. Then Rashawn Slater got hurt, and he was still very good. Then Joe Alt and Omarion Hampton got hurt, and he slowly started falling off.

Luckily for LA, Hampton is back, and they’re getting more and more healthy each week, but their two starting tackles being out for the year might just do them in. Just look at Monday night, for example. Herbert was sacked seven times. Philadelphia has a good defense, but they’ve struggled to rush the passer this season, and they were still all over Herbert.

I don’t really know how to fix the injury bug. I guess just don’t get hurt?

In all seriousness, everyone catches the injury bug at some point; it just so happens that the Chargers had arguably their best team since 2018 when it struck. Still, they’ve been good. They just need their offensive line to play better.

Buffalo Bills: Run Defense

The Buffalo Bills’ defense has been very average this season. They give up 22.5 points per game, but it’s not because of their pass defense. They actually rank second in the league in opponent passing yards per game (171), but it’s their run defense that’s been letting them down big time.

The Bills’ opponents are averaging 135 rushing yards per game, which ranks 28th in the league, and they’re giving up 5.1 yards per carry, which ranks 29th in the league. Teams are just running it all over them this season, which is very strange considering they ranked 11th in rushing defense last year. In Buffalo’s four losses this season, they’ve given up nearly 150 rushing yards per game. And in the playoffs, when it’s cold and teams want to go to the ground game more often, that’s a recipe for disaster.

So how can they fix it? Well, this late in the season, it’s hard to fix a problem like that. You can’t go out and trade for an elite run stuffer, and there certainly aren’t any difference makers on the free agent market. They just need to commit to being more physical upfront and take pride in defending the run. That’s really all they can do at this point.

Houston Texans: Offense

There has been one glaring weakness for the Houston Texans this season, and I’ll tell you right now, it definitely isn’t their defense, which ranks No. 1 in the league in scoring and total defense. It’s their offense, specifically their quarterback, C.J. Stroud.

After his incredible rookie season, Stroud has struggled a bit. In 27 games since his rookie year, he’s thrown for 5,908 yards (218 per game), 32 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. Those numbers aren’t horrible, but you’d like them to be a bit better from your franchise quarterback. This year has been worse than last year, though. He’s thrown 12 touchdown passes (four of which came in one game against a banged-up Baltimore defense) and six interceptions. Take that one game against Baltimore out, and he’s thrown eight touchdowns to six picks. Also, on Sunday night in their win against the Chiefs, Stroud completed three total passes in the second half. That’s not going to cut it in the playoffs.

The only way for their offense to improve is for Stroud to take the next step overnight, and so far, he hasn’t shown any reason to believe he can do that. This is a Super Bowl-caliber defense. This is not even a playoff-caliber offense. They need to make improvements quickly, or else they could be first-round exits.

Indianapolis Colts: Quarterback

The Indianapolis Colts were riding high for most of the season, but their world has come crashing down. They’ve lost three straight games, and now Daniel Jones is out for the year. They’re so desperate at quarterback that they just brought in Philip Rivers, who will likely be their starter for the remainder of the season. They’re 8-5, and they currently sit outside of the AFC playoff picture, which is wild when you consider they were the 1-seed not all that long ago.

So, with Jones out and Rivers in, their glaring weakness is at the quarterback position. At least, that’s what everyone assumes. Is a 44-year-old grandfather really going to return after 4.5 years and carve up defenses and help them make a playoff push? I don’t think so, but there really isn’t much else they can do. They were lucky to get Rivers, because at least now they have a veteran with playoff experience. Still, I wouldn’t feel great if I were a Colts fan.

Baltimore Ravens: Red Zone Offense

The Baltimore Ravens have had a lot of issues this season. First, it was Lamar Jackson getting hurt. Then it was their defense suffering a ton of injuries. They’ve overcome those and are one game out of the AFC North, but the thing holding them back right now is their red zone offense.

Last year, the Ravens were the most efficient red zone team, scoring a touchdown on 74 percent of their drives. This year, they rank 30th in red zone touchdown percentage, scoring six points just 44.9 percent of the time. Again, I know they’ve been injured, but Jackson has been back for weeks now, and they’re still having major problems in the red area.

The fix is very simple: just do what you did last year. Get the ball to Mark Andrew or Isaiah Likely. Let Derrick Henry run through some defenders’ faces. Get Jackson out in space and let him use his legs. Basically, do anything other than what you’ve been doing this year, and they should be fine.

Kansas City Chiefs: Late Game Situations

If you’ve followed our work, you’ve heard us talk at nauseam about how much the Kansas City Chiefs have struggled in one-score games this year. After going 11-0 in one-score games in the 2024 regular season, the Chiefs are 1-6 in one-score games this year. They just can’t seem to find ways to execute when the game is on the line, and it’s pretty much the sole reason they’re 6-7 right now. Their offense ranks 11th and their defense ranks 7th in scoring, which are almost exactly where they ranked last year (12th and 6th) when they finished 15-2. There’s no reason they shouldn’t be a 10-win team right now, other than they just can’t execute when the game is on the line.

So how can they fix it? Well, I find it hard to believe that Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid just forgot how to win close games. It just comes down to execution. They can’t keep making these little mistakes in the final five minutes. Even if they turn it around right now, it may be too little too late for Kansas City.