The Kansas City Chiefs sit alone at the top of the AFC West with a 4-0 record. After watching two teams from the division struggle, is this still the best division in football?
Without a doubt, the toughest division heading into the 2017 season was the AFC West. The Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders both went 12-4 in 2016 while the Denver Broncos went 9-7, but missed the playoffs. The then San Diego Chargers didn’t win many games, but they didn’t look as bad as some of the other teams around them in the draft.
We’re only a quarter into the season, but the AFC West is starting to look less intimidating after four weeks. For one, the Raiders, a lot of people’s Super Bowl pick, look like they were buying into the hype and now are struggling to win games.
Oakland has dropped their last two to put them at 2-2. That’s not the worst of it for the Raiders though, as quarterback Derek Carr was injured in the game against Denver. Carr will miss two to six weeks with a back injury and now EJ Manuel will be taking the reigns at quarterback for the silver and black.
Fortunately for Manuel, he’s got the Ravens coming to town this weekend and then will face the 0-4 Chargers. If the Raiders defense can step up and help Oakland in those games, they could still be in the AFC West race by the time Carr comes back (assuming he’s okay to return after two weeks).
People were high on Oakland this year and a big part of that was because of Derek Carr, who hasn’t looked all that great in four games this year. His offensive line isn’t as lethal as it was a year ago, which could play a role in why Carr is struggling to move the football.
I mentioned the 0-4 Chargers so we’ll get to them now. I’ll admit I thought the Chargers were being overlooked when it came to the AFC West, but now I feel quite silly for that statement. The Los Angeles Chargers can’t close games out. They find ways to lose football games and they won’t be a threat to win the AFC West, let alone make the playoffs.
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Last, but not least, we have the Denver Broncos. The Broncos were an interesting team this offseason because they still have a tremendous defense, but their offense didn’t find many ways to improve. I’m not convinced that Trevor Siemian can get that team back to the Super Bowl.
Yes, the Broncos are 3-1 last year, but remember… They started 4-0 last year and went 5-7 down the stretch. Denver still has some big tests on the horizon, and we’re seeing now that Dallas and Oakland might not be as good as advertised, so are those still “big” wins?
Speaking of records, last year, the Chiefs were 2-2, but won the AFC West. Could the Raiders still be a threat to do that or is Carr missing time going to doom them?
There’s no debating at the moment that the Kansas City Chiefs are the best in the AFC West (and in the entire league), but can they keep that momentum up? They’ve got a tough slate of games on the horizon and if they can emerge out of that group with just a loss, then we can say this team is really legit.
What do you think, Chiefs fans? Do you like Kansas City’s odds at winning the AFC West again?