Titans’ trade for Julio Jones is latest move by AFC teams looking to overtake Chiefs
Acquiring wide receiver Julio Jones from the Falcons significantly improved the Tennessee Titans playoff odds.
Bet MGM bumped the Titans from 40-to-1 to win the Super Bowl to 25-to-1. Tennessee’s odds for winning the AFC Championship Game jumped from 22-to-1 to 12-to-1, per Titans Wire.
Those odds for being the AFC champions are tied for fifth-best along with the Colts and Broncos (perhaps hedging against a potential Aaron Rodgers trade). The Chiefs have the best chance to make the Super Bowl (21-10), followed by the Bills, Ravens and Browns (all 15-2).
Rich Eisen of the NFL Network talked Monday about the impact Jones will have on the Titans offense.
“Now he’s got Julio Jones and A.J. Brown, I mean we’re not even talking about the rest of the receiving corps and (running back) Derrick Henry,” Eisen said.
“You could create matchups where somebody’s nickel or dime packages got to get out there and here comes Derek Henry against that. OK the red zone is going to be pick your poison and guess what? The poison is going to leave you bruised. So kudos to Titans for doing it.”
The Titans, who won the AFC South last season, aren’t the only team to beef up its roster in hopes of supplanting the Chiefs, who have appeared in the last two Super Bowls, as the kings of the AFC. Here’s a look at what other teams have done.
Baltimore Ravens
2020 record: 11-5, wild card
The Ravens made a few key moves to improve their offense. They signed free agent Sammy Watkins, who played the previous three seasons with the Chiefs.
Guard Kevin Zeitler, who spent the last two seasons with the Giants, should help the offensive line. After trading Orlando Brown to the Chiefs, the Ravens signed former Steelers tackle Alejandro Villanueva.
The Ravens also drafted a pair of wide receivers. Minnesota’s Rashod Bateman was selected with the 27th overall pick, while Oklahoma State’s Tylan Wallace was a fourth-round pick.
Buffalo Bills
2020 record: 13-3, AFC East champions
Once upon a time, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders was on the verge of signing with the Chiefs, but he instead went to Denver. He’s been in the playoffs the previous two seasons with the Saints and 49ers. Now he hopes to get back to the playoffs with the Bills, who lost to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.
Buffalo improved its defense by drafting a pair of edge rushers in Gregory Rousseau and Carlos Basham Jr. in the first two rounds.
The Bills, who had the AFC’s second-best record a year ago, didn’t make a lot of noise in the offseason but they likely feel already close to the Chiefs level.
Cleveland Browns
2020 record: 11-5, wild card
Before Patrick Mahomes was injured in the AFC Divisional playoff game against Cleveland, the Chiefs were moving the ball with relative ease.
The Browns defense will be much different in the season opener. Cleveland signed a half-dozen free agents, including star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. The others: defensive end and Takkarist McKinley; defensive tackle Malik Jackson; linebacker Anthony Walker; and safety John Johnson III and cornerback Troy Hill.
Cleveland then drafted cornerback Greg Newsome II and linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.
The Browns also re-signed wide receiver Rashard Higgins, who caught five passes against the Chiefs in the playoff meeting.
