NFL power rankings, AFC edition: Chiefs, Ravens loom on top

6. Tennessee Titans

For the first 25 minutes of the AFC Championship Game, it appeared the Titans may actually ride their fairy tale-esque season all the way to Miami for Super Bowl LIV. And, while the team ultimately fell victim to the Patrick Mahomes Comeback Tour, it should have no shame in what it accomplished in 2019.

Sure, the team may come to regret the massive extension it has given to quarterback Ryan Tannehill, but they will not have remorse for putting the franchise tag on Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry.

The Titans have a solid defense, and an offense bolstered by a run-first identity. On defense, they’ve added veteran pass-rusher Vic Beasley in free agency who should raise the unit up a notch. They aren’t likely to win the division in 2020, but they didn’t in 2019 either and almost went to the Super Bowl. This is a good football team.

5. Indianapolis Colts

This may be a hot take, but Phillip Rivers will be playing with the best team he’s been on in since the days of Marty Schottenheimer in San Diego. The Colts are a legitimately good team and if Rivers can give them 75 percent of his peak-self, the Colts could contend with the best teams in the conference.

The defense was already good under coordinator Matt Eberflus, led by its young superstar linebacker Darius Leonard, but added one of the league’s best interior defensive lineman in DeForest Buckner via trade this offseason.

On the offensive side, the team still has top-10 wideout T.Y. Hilton, and adds tight end Trey Burton and rookie running back Jonathan Williams to the fold to present a formidable challenge for opposing defenses.

The offensive line is absolutely the best of Rivers’ career – so at the very least he ought to be able to remain upright and make some throws. Until they prove us right, we’ll slot them at fifth. But the Colts could compete with the conference’s top dogs by season’s end.