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NFL training camps are opening all around the league, which means football is back and soon our Sundays will be awesome again.
It also means some teams are already starting to feel a lot of pressure to have big years this season.
Sure, all teams want to be successful but let’s face it – a bunch of teams know they’re not going to be good – hello Falcons, Giants, and Texans (among many others).
But there are a few other teams that know they have to be good this season. And not just good, but really good. Championship windows in this league can shut down pretty quickly and you need to win now when you have the pieces.
So let’s look at the three teams with the most pressure on them entering this season.
1. The Kansas City Chiefs.
Remember when the Chiefs beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl in February of 2020 and everyone rightfully started predicting how many more they would win with the great Patrick Mahomes at QB? Well, they haven’t won any since then and when you have an all-world talent like Mahomes under center, that just isn’t good enough. You need to win now and you need to win often.
The Chiefs followed up their Super Bowl season with a loss to Tom Brady and the Bucs in Super Bowl 55. Getting to two Super Bowls in a row isn’t easy so they get credit for at least getting there… and losing to the GOAT.
Last season they barely beat the Bills in one of the best playoff games ever and then lost to the Bengals at home in the AFC Championship Game. That was a bad loss, even if the Bengals were a very good team and came close to beating the Rams in the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs need to get back to winning championships. Anything short of that has to seem like a failure. Which is precisely why they have so much pressure on them entering the 2022 season.
2. The Green Bay Packers.
Aaron Rodgers has flirted with retirement the past few years but once again he’s back at training camp (looking like Nic Cage in Con Air) and ready for another run at a Super Bowl. Rodgers, of course, hasn’t won a Super Bowl since way, way, way back in the 2010 season and have lost four NFC title games since then.
The Packers have also lost back-to-back playoff games at home, including a stunner to the 49ers last year in the divisional round.
Like the Chiefs, anything short of a trip to the Super Bowl has to be considered a failure for Rodgers and Co. There are no moral victories left for one of the greatest QBs ever. Time is running out quickly for Rodgers and he knows his chances of winning another Lombardi Trophy are going to run out pretty soon.
3. The Buffalo Bills.
The Bills are the sexy pick to win the AFC and rightfully so – QB Josh Allen is a stud and the team is loaded on both sides of the ball. They came basically 11 seconds away from beating the Chiefs in the playoffs last year which would have led to them hosting the Bengals in the AFC title game and it’s not crazy to think they could have then gone to the Super Bowl.
Buffalo has surpassed the Patriots in the AFC East, so division titles, while nice, are far from the real goal this season. With that comes pressure. The Bills are another team that have “Super Bowl or bust” vibes to them and I’m sure everyone on their team would agree with that.
This pressure is a good thing for these three teams. It means you’re very good and that you matter.
It also means there’s a strong chance your season is going to end in extremely disappointing fashion.
Quick hits: Pitcher picks off 3 straight runners at first… Giants pitcher feels bad for ‘stupid’ move… Boring NBA uniforms… And more.
– A minor league pitcher picked off three straight runners at first base and fans were in awe.
– Giants pitcher Carlos Rodon kicked a bat right into a teammate’s leg and felt “stupid” about it after.
– Mike Sykes explains why the NBA has problem with so many boring uniforms.
– Tim Tebow hopes college football doesn’t lose its best games.
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