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Kansas City Chiefs: AFC West is Wide Open

By Leigh Oleszczak

Oct 16, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Jalen Richard (30) carries the ball against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second quarter at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 16, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Jalen Richard (30) carries the ball against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second quarter at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Kansas City Chiefs have as good a chance as anyone to win the AFC West after a week of divisional match-ups. It’s literally anybody’s division to take.

For the past five seasons, the Denver Broncos have owned the AFC West. They won the division with an 8-8 record in 2011 with Tim Tebow calling the plays, and then once Peyton Manning entered the division, there was no more competition for the title. It was Denver’s to lose every year.

This year is a different story though.

In a season in which many analysts predicted the Broncos to fall off and the Chiefs and Raiders to be battling it out for the AFC West title, all four teams in the division are in the hunt right now. Yes, even the San Diego Chargers, who took down Denver on Thursday Night Football last week.

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    • As it stands right now, the Broncos and Raiders both have 4-2 records and the Chiefs are sitting at 3-2. The Kansas City Chiefs are the only team in the division to have had their bye week already, so things will get easier to calculate once the other three have theirs.

    Within the division, only the KC Chiefs sit undefeated. They’ve notched victories against the Chargers in week one and just took down the Raiders this past weekend.

    The Raiders and Chargers are both 1-1, with the Raiders beating San Diego in week five, and the Chargers taking down Denver this past week.

    As for the Broncos, they’re the only AFC West team to be winless in the division so far, with that loss to San Diego fresh on everyone’s mind.

    Obviously the Broncos aren’t going to go winless in the AFC West and the Chiefs likely won’t go undefeated. Kansas City did go 5-1 in the division last year and really should have been 6-0 had it not been for five turnovers in a Thursday night match-up against the Broncos early in the season.

    The chances of Kansas City running the tables on a tough division aren’t likely, even though they’ve now won seven straight AFC West match-ups. Impressive.

    With the Chargers showing some fight against the Denver Broncos, we now can see how wide open the AFC West is.

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    The Chiefs have had some brutal losses, but they had their best game of the season this past weekend. If those are the Chiefs we’ll be watching this year, then bring it on, other teams!

    Denver’s defense hasn’t been as legit these past few weeks, coughing up games to the Falcons and the Chargers. The quarterback situation could be one that comes back to haunt the Broncos.

  • Derek Carr once again faltered against the Chiefs, falling to 1-4 against them in his young career. The Raiders have lost four straight games to Kansas City and are 1-6 against them since Andy Reid came to town. Their defense is trash.

    • San Diego has seemingly discovered new ways to blow games this season, but as long as

    Philip Rivers

    is under center for them, the Chargers offense will always be a threat to score.

    This division has become one of the most competitive in all of football.

    The past few years has seen the AFC West be a little more competitive. Manning and the Broncos owned the division from 2012-2014 (though the Chiefs did give Denver a run for their money in 2013 before the late season implosion), but 2015 was when things started to turn a bit.

    With the Broncos still trying to figure some things out at the quarterback position, this is the year that the KC Chiefs have to go out and fight hard for that AFC West crown.

    The Oakland Raiders are turning that corner to becoming a good team, but they showcased on Sunday that they’re not there yet, and they did so against a division rival.

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    Oakland hadn’t played many tough teams before Kansas City came to town and their game against the Chiefs was their first real test. They failed miserably.

    But hey, the Kansas City Chiefs have had the same problem over the past few years. As bad as Oakland typically plays against the Chiefs, the Chiefs play just as poorly against the Denver Broncos.

    That will have to change in order for a Super Bowl bid this year.

    We’re well past the days where an 8-8 or 9-7 record could win the AFC West. This division has become one of the most competitive in all of football.

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