Chiefs and the AFC West

Laddie Morse

Let’s get something straight from up front, the Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is 30-and-5 against AFC West teams. Do I think that will change this season? No, not in the least.

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The Raiders 2024 Schedule:

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All Schedules provided by, and adapted from fbsSchedules.com

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I can see the Raiders going 2-and-2 in their first four games and immediately being at least a game behind the Chiefs.

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In an article for Raiders Fan-sided site by Kinnu Singh called, “Raiders QB dystopia sounds even worse than depressing division rival” in which the byline is “The Las Vegas Raiders are setting themselves up for a sluggish offense with an uninspiring quarterback room.” so it’s hard to see them breaking out of the gates with more than a 2-and-2 record. Kinnu Singh says:

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“In the 2024 NFL Draft, it wasn’t enough to land anything. There were plenty of quarterback-needy teams picking early, and Las Vegas was stuck at the back of the line…. Las Vegas selected Georgia tight end Brock Bowers in the first round and ultimately walked away from the draft without their next franchise quarterback.”

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The Raiders have Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew as their QBs and nothing else to write home about. In fact, there is nothing there to write home about, period. I’d be sick to my stomach if those were the Chiefs choices but K.C.’s backup Carson Wentz is head and shoulders better than either of their top two guys.

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Here’s the Denver Broncos 2024 Schedule:

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All Schedules provided by, and adapted from fbsSchedules.com

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It’s easy to see the Broncos falling to 1-and-3 or even 0-and 4 in thier first four games and also immdiately falling behind the Chiefs in the division and the conference.

PFF has ranked the Denver Broncos RB unti as the 29th best (worst?) in the NFL this year. Here’s what they had to say about them:

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“Undrafted rookie Jaleel McLaughlin was the bright spot of the Broncos’ rushing attack last season, posting an 84.5 PFF rushing grade on 76 carries. The big disappointment was Javonte Williams, who earned just a 64.4 rushing grade after recovering from a major knee injury in 2022. Perhaps Williams just needed a year to get his confidence back, because he was a highly touted running back in the 2022 NFL Draft.”

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Only the Raiders RB unit is ranked lower than the Broncos at #30. The way I see it, teams that will be capable ot beating the Chiefs must have a solid running game and stick to it. That… in no way describes the Broncos.

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Here’s the Los Angeles Charger 2024 schedule:

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All Schedules provided by, and adapted from fbsSchedules.com

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It’s easy to see the Charger being 1-and-2 and at least 2-and-1 prior to the time they host the Chiefs on February 29th. Any game in L.A. is like a Home game for the opposing team and with the raiders starting out their season then traveling to the Raiders, it’s likely going to be a 1-and-2 record prior to the time they play K.C. and 0-and-3 is not out of the question, even though the Panthers only won 2 games in the 2023 season.

The Chargers new HC — John Harbaugh — believes in the running game, but the corp is #26 in the raking that PFF mentions above. In an article called, “Recent Blockbuster NFL Contracts That Teams Are Likely to Regret” written by Brad Gagnon for Bleacher Report he says this about their QB Justin Herbert:

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“Herbert’s passer rating has actually dropped or remained the same every year thus far in his career. He’s never been even a second-team All-Pro and has been a Pro Bowler only once. He’s coming off a disappointing 2023 season and is now learning a whole new offense for a team that doesn’t appear to be overly competitive. It’s hard to see this pairing becoming something awesome.”

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The Chiefs chances of winning the AFC West have never seemed better than they are this year. What do you think?

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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