The AFC West boasts two of the top teams in the AFC, if not the NFL. Kansas City had the league’s top offense last year, with the young, hot quarterback who earned NFL MVP honors to boot. Then, the Chargers were one of the most complete teams in the league last season, and seriously challenged the Chiefs for AFC West supremacy. Both teams figure to be among the best teams in the AFC again this season. The Broncos have some talent on defense, and the arrival of former Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco may help them find stability at quarterback for the first time since the departure of Peyton Manning following their Super Bowl win some years ago. But it seems doubtful that this would be enough to life the Broncos into serious contention. And the Raiders are just suffering through some miserable times right now.
Let us take a closer look at each team in the AFC West for the upcoming season:
1. Kansas City Chiefs (projected division winners) - The Kansas City Chiefs appear, at least at the moment, as the clear cut favorites to seriously threaten the Patriots supremacy in the AFC this year. They lost to New England twice, true, but both games were very close. The AFC title game could have gone either way, but the Pats won it in the end. KC’s main strength, of course, is the explosive offense. The Chiefs had the league’s top rated offense last season, and they were explosive, averaging a league-high 35 points per game. Much of their success seemed to revolve around young star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who threw 50 touchdown passes, and also passed for over 5,000 yards. That was a performance that was good enough to earn him the NFL MVP honors. As good as the offense was, and as loaded as it seems going into this season, there were some concerns and even weaknesses on the team last season, which could continue to haunt this team in 2019. Particularly, that means the defense, which was nothing special. It was not awful overall, but it definitely was not a strong point and, in fact, cost this team some chances at key wins last season. They allowed 43 points against New England, and a whopping 54 against the Rams, and they lost both games. In fact, the Chiefs became the first team in NFL history last season to score over 50 points in a game and still lose, so that illustrates that the defense can be a liability. In the five losses, including the AFC Championship loss to New England, the Chiefs allowed a total of 201 points. Average that out between five games, and they allowed, on average, 40 points in those five losses. So that means that KC’s defense has to step it up a bit, if they want to give that incredible, record-setting offense a chance to shine deep into the playoffs this year. This is indeed a potential Super Bowl team, with a real chance at being a serious title contender. Everything appears to be in place on the offensive end, but that defense just seems to have too many question marks. Still, I like the Chiefs to easily win the AFC West, and to be, once again, one of the most serious contenders once the playoffs roll around in January.
2. Los Angeles Chargers (projected second place) - The Chargers surprised a lot of people with a very solid season. For a little while following their stunning win at Kansas City late in the season, they looked like they were in position to be the top seed in the AFC, and to steal the AFC West title from KC, who had appeared to own it for most of the season. But the Chargers lost to the Ravens, and lost that chance. They still finished 12-4, and avenged that loss to the Ravens by beating them in Baltimore in the Wildcard Game. But then, the Chargers had the misfortune of going up against the New England Patriots in the playoffs, and there season ended right there with a convincing loss up at Foxboro. One of the big limitations during the Philip Rivers era for the Chargers is their inability to beat the Patriots in the playoffs, having lost all three of the meetings between the two teams. Still, the Chargers enjoyed a strong season, ranking among the top teams offensively, and having a solid defense, to boot. That was what made them so dangerous, and they should be able to provide KC a serious run for the money in the AFC West, as well. In fact, if the Chiefs slip up even a little bit, the Chargers could and should be right there to take advantage, and possibly win the division title in their own right. Indeed, the Chargers at least appear to be in position to make a serious run, and to give Philip Rivers at least one more real chance at reaching the Super Bowl.
3. Denver Broncos (projected third place) - It was a familiar story for the Broncos last year. Defensively, they were alright. Not great, like they were during the 2015 Super Bowl championship, but they were decent. But their offense, on the other hand, was limited and limiting yet again. A promising 2-0 start was followed by a stretch where Denver lost six of their next seven games. They recovered a bit to win three straight, and appeared to have an outside chance at the playoffs. But they then went on to lose all four of their remaining games, and did not come close to a playoff berth. So, what went wrong? Again, the offense was just too limited. There was only one game when Denver’s offense looked very good, and that was against the Arizona Cardinals, when the Broncos smashed their way to a 45-10 win. Otherwise, there was not one game when they scored more than 27 points. In fact, they scored 17 points or less in seven of their games, almost half of the games that they played. They lost all seven of those games. So while their defense is good, it is no longer one of those elite units that can win games like that, apparently. And the offense simply needs to score more points and produce more yards. The arrival of veteran quarterback Joe Flacco from Baltimore, where he won a Super Bowl title some years back, should help, but he is hardly the elite, game-changing quarterback that Peyton Manning was when he arrived in Denver and changed the whole complexion and fortunes of this team. Right now, the Broncos still need some more consistency and production on the offensive end in particular, or they will suffer through another forgettable season without coming close to reaching the playoffs again.
4. Oakland Raiders (projected last place) - This situation is very messy, and will likely continue to be so at least until the team’s location is fully settled for the long term. The transition from Oakland to Las Vegas has been rocky, to say the least. But the Raiders are back in the Bay Area for at least one more season. And Jon Gruden, a Super Bowl winning coach, is trying to turn this stories franchise’s fortunes around. He has done it before, and with this team, back in the early 2000’s. But they are suffering through some truly miserable times now. The Raiders finished 4-12 and, frankly, it is almost surprising that they managed even that much. After all, this team had one of the worst offenses in the league, yet their defense was even worse! Yes, on defense, this team ranked dead last, allowing almost 30 points per game. Couple that with that mediocre offense that could not produce enough yards or points, and turned the ball over, and you have the recipe for a disastrous season. Indeed, the Raiders were one of the worst teams in the league, and other than a few, isolated games where they seemed to perform well, with an incredible offensive game (the only one this team had) against Cleveland early in the season, and an upset win over the Steelers late in the season. Mostly, though, this team was on the wrong end of the highlight reels, and without major improvements on both ends of the field, this team will likely have to endure another long season with lackluster fans feeling betrayed by this team’s imminent departure from the Bay Area.
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