Chiefs Are Winning the AFC West, AGAIN

Laddie Morse

We all know you’ve got to win your division if you want the best chances of going to and winning another Super Bowl. That’s been a little more difficult this season because once you become the Champion then every team you face prepares for the game as if it is their personal Super Bowl. That’s the most likely reason the Chiefs have lost a game this year… and that all the scores, in most of their games, have been so close.

The Kansas City Chiefs are going for their 8th straight AFC West title in a row. The team with the most AFC West titles in a row before the Chiefs made it to seven, in 2022, was a tie between the Broncos and the Raiders. The Raiders did in from 1972 to 1976 and the Broncos did it from 2011 to 2015, right before the Chiefs current streak began. Let’s take a look and see where the teams currently stand:

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With K.C. two full games ahead of the Los Angeles Chargers before they meet up in Arrowhead next Sunday, the game has a lot less meaning. Sure, we want to see our Chiefs beat the be-geez-us out of the team from L.A., but if they happen to lose, it won’t change the standings in the division any at all.

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The Broncos are in H-E-double-hockey-sticks. Why? Because — according to Sportrac.com — they paid their newest QB:

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“Russell Wilson signed a 5 year, $242,588,236 contract with the Denver Broncos, including a $50,000,000 signing bonus, $161,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $48,517,647. In 2023, Wilson will earn a base salary of $8,000,000 and a signing bonus of $20,000,000, while carrying a cap hit of $22,000,000 and a dead cap value of $107,000,000.”

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In other words, they overpaid for… nothing… basically. This Denver team finished in last place in the AFC West in 2022 with a 5-and-12 record. In the meantime, they also overpaid for their newest Head Coach, Sean Payton. From SportsIllustraded.com:

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“Sean Payton’s contract with the Broncos is for five years and “in the neighborhood of” $18 million a year. That number would make Payton the second-highest-paid coach in not just the NFL….”

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The Broncos are 1-and-5 this season and looks to be headed towards as similar record as last season. Not good. In H-E-double-hockey-sticks??? I think so. The Broncos next five games look like this:

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The Vegas Raiders appear to be stuck in the mud. Their record is 3-and-3 and they’ve lost games to the Bills, the Steelers, and the Chargers. Two winning teams and the Chargers who are one game below .500, a team that’s already had their Bye Week. The team has undergone some rather tumultuous situations over the past few years, all brought upon themselves.

The Raiders allowed their 2022 QB, Derek Carr, to go home before their season ended which also marked the professional end of a long time relationship between he and their all-star WR — Devante Adams — who they paid $140M before the previous offseason, someone who was close to Carr in college.

After the debacle that surrounded then HC Jon Gruden, the team said they held no responsibility. Right!

In November of 2021, the Broncos WR Henry Ruggs was arrested and charged with multiple felonies after he killed a woman in a car crash. In January of 2022, the Raiders hired a new GM, Dave Ziegler. Then the Raiders traded for Jimmy Garoppolo to be their future QB, this past offseason. They wrote a new contract for Garoppolo for three years and $72.75 M. The changelings have made more changes than there are black dots on dice in Vegas.

The Raiders next five games look like this:

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The Raiders may have a chance against the 1-and-5 Bears or the 1-and-5 Giants, but in the other games, those teams are a combined. 13-and 5, including the Jets who are 3-and-3.

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The Chargers are like the stock market going eternally up and down. The Chargers lost their only Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XXIX (49-to-26 to the 49ers). Their location in Southern California makes them a media target and those media persons always seem to place them in a way too high preseason projection. The Chargers were once the San Diego Chargers and were charter members of the AFL beginning play in the 1960 season. They were winners of the first five out of six season in the FAC West… until the Chiefs took over and went on to the very first Super Bowl vs the NFL’s Packers following the 1966 season.

Today, the Chargers may have one of the best rosters in the league, but never seem to have a breakthrough that is required of all championship teams. From BoltBeat.com comes this quote:

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“Since Staley took over in 2021, the Chargers have allowed 22 conversions on third-and-11 or longer on 72 snaps, including penalties — a 30.6 percent conversion rate that is tops (worst) in the league over that span.”

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The Chargers Head Coach Brandon followed that up by saying, right after the Bolts most recent loss to the Cowboys,

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“Yeah, we’re one of the top

3rd down teams in the NFL.”

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How Staley can be so out of touch is beyond me. That’s part of the problem with the Chargers: honesty. They don’t have it. To beat all other comers… their QB Justin Herbert is now 27-and-27. Mediocre? At best. Yep.

Here a look at the Chargers next five games:

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The Chiefs are really taking off. When you’re worst problem is… who do you throw the ball to… and you have the best QB in the league… perhaps ever… then you’re problems are not so problematic.

The Defense is another matter all together. In most seasons since Andy Reid came to town (in 2013), I’d be ragging on the defense. Not any more. The Defense is the strongest part of this team… and the Special Teams may be right behind it (0:30).

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The Chiefs have long had a huge advantage over all other AFC West foes when it comes to staffing. The Chiefs have one of the best, if not the very best, coaching staffs in the NFL. How else do you explain the constant upgrading of the defensive backfield when all of those playing as DBs continue to be among the league’s elite. Credit Dave Merritt — CBS — and Donald D’Alesio — Safeties — and Steve Spagnuolo — DC.

The Chiefs next five games looks like this:

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If K.C. can make it through this five game span with a 4-and-1 record, the fight for the AFC West crown will be all but over. Perhaps not mathematically, but in terms of the emotional battle, it will be won.

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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