FS1 expert says CJ Stroud has one advantage over other AFC contenders trying to dethrone Patrick Mahomes

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Kansas City will pull on their pads and lace up their cleats as they prepare to enter the 2024 season as the team everyone wants to dethrone.

After winning three Super Bowls in the last five years, the Kansas City Chiefs will have to fend off the ambitious field to secure the first-ever three-peat.

Patrick Mahomes and his crew wait for the game schedules to be released next week to find out who they will open their account at home against.

Nick Wright predicts the Chiefs will host the Houston Texans in the opening game

NFL expert Nick Wright has speculated that the league will choose the Houston Texans to visit the Arrowhead faithful in GW 1.

Many analysts have tipped the Texans to be dark horses to have a realistic chance at the Super Bowl in New Orleans.

Signal-caller C.J. Stroud is entering his sophomore year and will return as the reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Furthermore, as he is on the cheaper rookie deal, Houston has a greater cap space to play with during the offseason.

The Texans have added star talent around C.J. Stroud on the rookie deal

They have shown no signs of using their finances in moderation, as they stole the headlines back in April after trading with the Buffalo Bills for Stefon Diggs.

As a result, they have made an AFC contender weaker in the process.

Furthermore, the Texans have added free agent running back Joe Mixon and four-time Pro Bowler defensive edge Danielle Hunter.

Stroud guided the Texans to the Wildcard round in the 2023 NFL playoffs but fell to the number one-seeded Baltimore Ravens.

The odds have been released in anticipation of the 2024 season for the favorite to win the AFC Championship.

Texans have been posted with the fifth-best odds, falling behind, The Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, and Buffalo Bills.

FS1 expert is convinced Stroud has a mental edge over the other quarterback contenders

On First Things First, Nick Wright believes the Houston Texans pose the biggest threat to dethrone the Chiefs.

However, he speculated it was because of one advantage that C.J. Stroud has that the other contenders do not.

“I also think there is a benefit to C.J. Stroud never having been beaten by Mahomes,” Wright explained on Stroud’s edge.

“Everyone else on that list, the last playoff game they played in was ended by Patrick Mahomes. Lamar (Jackson), John Allen, Joe Burrow, all of them, their most recent experience in the playoffs, they’re walking off sad and Patrick Mahomes is walking off celebrating.

Wright highlights how Stroud does not have the experience of losing to Mahomes, this could give him the mental edge over the other quarterbacks.

The Texans and Chiefs will play each other in the regular season, so Stroud may have experienced his first loss to Mahomes if they meet in the playoffs.