Which AFC Teams Will Make the 2022 Playoffs That Missed in 2021?
By Reed Wallach
The NFL season may not kick off until the beginning of September, but it's never too early to discuss the playoffs in January.
With the NFL schedule being released this past Thursday, sports bettors can begin to plot out paths to the postseason for specific teams, namely two that narrowly missed the postseason in the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Chargers.
On the Thursday, May 12th edition of Daily Betslip, Iain McMillian and Donnavan Smoot each advocated for a team to make the postseason after missing it in 2021 after taking a look at their respective schedule.
McMillian made the case for the Colts, who lost in Week 18 to the Jacksonville Jaguars to keep them out of the playoffs, citing that the team is in one of the easiest divisions in the NFL and replaced volatile quarterback Carson Wentz with a veteran in Matt Ryan that can thrive behind the team's elite offensive line.
As for Smoot, he was all over the Chargers, who are in the second year of head coach Brandon Staley's tenure but more importantly year 3 of the Justin Herbert era. Herbert has announced himself as an MVP candidate and the team has made moves to surround him with talent on both sides of the ball, notably trading for star pass rusher Khalil Mack from the Bears.
After missing the postseason by a game in a heartbreaking loss to the Raiders in overtime, Smoot thinks the Chargers are a threat to win the AFC West and a surefire pick to the make the postseason this time around.