Will the Chiefs win the Super Bowl again and 7 other key questions for the 2024 NFL season

The 2024 NFL season is fast approaching. As with any season, fans will be eager to see stars and storylines unfold, while pleasant surprises and logic-defying disappointments are on the horizon.

The Chicago Bears selected USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in the draft and sent Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who doubled down on their quarterback efforts by also acquiring Russell Wilson after he failed for two seasons with the Denver Broncos.

The San Francisco 49ers narrowly missed out on a Super Bowl appearance, but they’ll be determined to bring home their first title since 1995. Expectations are high in Houston, with CJ Stroud coming off a spectacular rookie season that had Texans fans thinking big. And the Kansas City Chiefs are still the Kansas City Chiefs, with the two-time defending Super Bowl champions entering the season with a target on them.

Yes, many teams have high hopes as they head into a 2024 campaign that will undoubtedly be characterised by big performances, big action and big games.

Here are eight key questions for the coming season.

1. Can the Chiefs do it again?

The Chiefs have won back-to-back Super Bowls. No team in NFL history has won three straight Super Bowls, and there’s probably no defending champion that has entered a season with as much attention as Kansas City has this year. But questions about the team’s performance come with a whole host of other questions.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship didn’t stop the team from winning a championship last season. Could it do so this year? There’s also wide receiver Rashee Rice’s legal troubles and the ongoing controversy surrounding kicker Harrison Butker’s graduation speech at Benedictine College last spring.

While the team will try to overcome these off-field issues, there are also questions on the field. Even with players like Patrick Mahomes and Kelce leading the way, the Chiefs didn’t have a dominant offense last year and hardly crushed the regular season. So can they withstand a sluggish game for a second straight year? Will rookie receiver Xavier Worthy finally provide Mahomes with a viable alternative that isn’t named Kelce? Plus, is the team worn down from so many games played over the past few seasons?

2. Will Aaron Rodgers return to form?

Aaron Rodgers’ 2023 debut with the New York Jets ended in the most New York way possible when he suffered a season-ending injury after four games. The Jets never recovered, but Rodgers is back and they’ve added pieces around him. It’s Super Bowl or nothing for a team whose fans are hungry for a title.

Will Rodgers, who enters the season at age 40, be as healthy and effective as he was when he was with the Green Bay Packers? Tom Brady is the only starting quarterback to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy at age 40 or older, and the Jets likely won’t go any further than Rodgers can take them.

3. Will a changing of the guard bring change for the Los Angeles Chargers?

Jim Harbaugh won the national championship with the University of Michigan in January. He is now the new head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, led on the field by talented quarterback Justin Herbert.

Harbaugh has won everywhere he’s coached and the Chargers are perpetually failing, so this could be a good marriage, though the team could use some help at receiver. The Chiefs are the team to beat in the AFC West, but the Chargers could be ready to make some noise.

4. What will happen to the Dallas Cowboys?

The Dallas Cowboys didn’t win the Super Bowl last year. They didn’t even make it past the playoffs, which only adds to the pressure.

The story has become familiar to Big D: The Cowboys are a great team in the regular season that collapses in the playoffs. They simply can’t afford to repeat the same thing this year, or head coach Mike McCarthy will be out of a job and quarterback Dak Prescott could find himself playing center for another team.

5. How will the Baltimore Ravens respond?

The Baltimore Ravens have a star quarterback in Lamar Jackson, who was voted NFL MVP last season. That’s a good thing, but like Prescott and the Cowboys, he needs to take a step forward in the playoffs, where he struggled, including last season’s AFC championship game loss to the Chiefs. The AFC looks well-equipped again, so can Baltimore handle the stress of a regular season and carry that momentum into the playoffs? Jackson and his teammates will need to be at their best.

6. Is this the year the Green Bay Packers return to the NFL elite?

For much of last season, the Packers were underachieving and there was talk that Jordan Love wasn’t Aaron Rodgers’ heir after Rodgers left for the Jets. But then they turned things around and demolished the Cowboys in the playoffs before giving the San Francisco 49ers a scare in the divisional round.

This team appears to be on the rise and it may be a question of how far they can go when they take the next step. While Detroit should be tough in the NFC North, the Minnesota Vikings are in transition and the Bears could be experiencing some growing pains in Chicago, don’t sleep on Green Bay.

7. Is it a new day in New England?

This year marks the first time since 2000 that the New England Patriots have started a season without either Tom Brady or Bill Belichick on the bench. The Patriots have been downright bad in recent years, but with Jerod Mayo replacing Belichick as head coach and Drake Maye (3rd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft) on board, a new era has definitely begun.

Quarterback Joe Milton III was also selected in the draft, while veteran Jacoby Brissett was brought in and will start the season opener. The question is how long will it take for the team to get back to winning ways? And how patient will the fans, so accustomed to winning, be?

8. Who will bounce back?

After a Super Bowl loss, the Philadelphia Eagles looked poised to become a force again last season. They started the season 10-1 before losing five of their final six regular-season games before quietly exiting the playoffs in a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Future Hall of Famer Jason Kelce retired and new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore was brought in to help the Eagles get back to where they expect to be.

Joe Burrow is one of the biggest names in the league, but injuries have derailed his 2023 season. As one of the biggest threats to the Chiefs’ dynasty, Burrow must stay healthy if the Cincinnati Bengals are to win the franchise’s first Super Bowl title.

Josh Allen is a great quarterback, but his recklessness can lead to turnovers. Receiver Stefon Diggs, who was traded to the Texans, is gone, so the pressure is on Allen and the rest of the Buffalo Bills. The Jets should be better and the Dolphins have been formidable, making the Bills’ ability to dominate the AFC East more difficult to handle, let alone their chances of dethroning the Chiefs. Some say the window of opportunity could be closing in Buffalo. Time will tell.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com