With the Chiefs stumbling, Denver and Los Angeles battle for AFC West supremacy. Who will seize control of this wide-open division?
It’s officially a two-team race in the AFC West. Following the Kansas City Chiefs’ loss to the Houston Texans last night, they are now 6-7 on the season and trending in the wrong direction. Below them, fourth in the standings, the Las Vegas Raiders are 2-11 at this point and already eliminated from playoff contention. That leaves the Broncos and the Chargers as the two teams in this division that can realistically come out on top.
Now it’s important to note the Broncos are 11-2 and while there’s still question marks surrounding this team and some of their wins haven’t been as convincing, the record speaks for itself. 11-2 is tied for the best record in the AFC. The Chargers, at 8-4, have a huge opportunity tonight to take down the Philadelphia Eagles in a statement win and move to 9-4.
Again, 9-4 is not good enough to win the AFC West as of right now, but 9-4 would be good enough for a wildcard spot if the season were to end tomorrow, hypothetically. But all in all, the Chargers would prefer to win the division to avoid the wildcard.
Luckily for them, in an AFC West that in recent history has always included the Chiefs at the top, this is the first year that the division has been this open and feels this winnable. The Broncos are not the Chiefs of the past, and just because they only have two losses right now doesn’t mean that will hold through the rest of the season. This is a team that’s very susceptible to losing games. While they’ve won a bunch of close ones this season, you can very easily lose a couple more in the final weeks.
And so overall, entering tonight against the Philadelphia Eagles, it’s a two-man race in the AFC West.