An Early Look at the AFC West
Non-conference Opponents
· by Paul Pulley
The current NFL scheduling formula, which has been in place since 2002, has each division playing games against a division from the opposite conference every year on a rotating basis. The AFC West plays the NFC divisions on an easy to remember rotation of North, South, East and then West. For the 2018 season, the Kansas City Chiefs will be playing the teams from the NFC West. The NFC West includes: the Arizona Cardinals, the Los Angeles Rams, the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks.
While all 16 games are important in the win/loss columns, if it comes down to end of the year tie breaking procedures to determine playoff seeding, the results of the inter-conference games have a lesser value than do intra-conference games.
The San Francisco 49ers
The first NFC team the Chiefs will face this season will be the 49ers on September 23rd, week 3. This is the home opener for the Chiefs and while the 49ers look to be improved with their new franchise QB Jimmy Garoppolo, I think the crowd at Arrowhead, coming to see the Chiefs new franchise QB starting his first home game, will cause Garopppolo and the 49ers offense all kinds of problems. In some ways, San Francisco’s defense was even worse than Kansas City’s last year. While giving up fewer yards, they gave up more points and spent more time on the field. I believe the Chiefs will put up too many points for the 49ers to keep up.
The following week, Septembert 30th, week 4, San Francisco will head south to Los Angeles to visit the Chargers. This will be a tough test for the 49ers against that Chargers defense. With both Los Angeles and San Francisco having tough schedules to start their seasons, this could turn into almost a must win for both teams. With the Chargers coming off a “road” game against the Los Angeles Rams and the 49ers playing consecutive road games, I will have to give the advantage to the home Chargers in this one.
The third AFC West team San Francisco will face will be in their home versus the Oakland Raiders on Thursday night, November 1st, week 9. Normally I would say the home team has a huge advantage on Thursday night games but the 49ers will be returning home after visiting their division rival Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, October 28th, while the Raiders will be coming off a home game versus the Indianapolis Colts. Since Levi’s Stadium is only about 30 miles from the Oakland Coliseum, the travel time for the Raiders shouldn’t be exhausting. This should be a good matchup but I’m going to pick the Raiders on this one.
The final AFC West opponent for the 49ers will be the Denver Broncos on December 9th, week 14. The 49ers will be returning home after a Sunday night game against their division rival Seattle Seahawks. Denver will be traveling to San Francisco after visiting the Bengals in Cincinnati the week before. I believe this will be the only victory for San Francisco against the AFC West in 2018.
The Arizona Cardinals
The second NFC West team the Chiefs will play this year will be the Arizona Cardinals on November 11th, week 10, in Kansas City. The Chiefs will be retuning from a road game versus the Cleveland Browns and although the Cardinals will be coming off of their bye week, I still think the Chiefs will prevail.
The first AFC West opponent for the Cardinals will be on Thursday night, October 18th, week 7, hosting the Denver Broncos. The Cardinals will be returning home from a trip to play the Minnesota Vikings while the Broncos will be traveling to Arizona after a home game versus the Los Angeles Rams. The Cardinals should have the advantage in this game.
The Cardinals will have the pleasure of playing three AFC West teams in back-to-back-to-back games. After visiting the Chiefs, the Cardinals will return home to host the Oakland Raiders on November 18th, week 11. The Raiders will be traveling to Arizona after hosting the Chargers the previous week. I don’t think Arizona is going to be much improved this year and the Raiders will win this game.
In their third consecutive week and final opponent versus the AFC West, the Cardinals travel to Los Angeles to play the Chargers in week 12, November 25th. The Chargers will be staying home after hosting their division rival Denver Broncos on November 18th. The advantage here should go to the Chargers. I think if the Cardinals are going to pluck a victory from the AFC West, it will have to be on their home Thursday night game versus the Broncos in week 7.
The Los Angeles Rams
The third NFC West opponent for the Kansas City Chiefs will be the Los Angeles Rams. This will be a “home” game for the Rams, played in Mexico City on Monday night, November 19th, week 11. There will be a couple story lines to this game, with Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib now playing for the Rams, Sammy Watkins being a Chief and two up and coming QBs in Jared Goff and Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs will be coming off their home game against the Cardinals, while the Rams will be traveling to Mexico after hosting their division rival Seattle Seahawks the previous week. This should be an exciting game and be one of the biggest draws on Monday night but I am kinda expecting the Rams to win this one.
The game versus the Chiefs is the final game against the AFC West for the Rams. Their first AFC West opponent is another Monday Night game in week 1, September 10th, when they travel to Oakland to take on the Raiders. If the Rams defense is what most are expecting it to be, I believe the Raiders will struggle in this game and the Rams will come away with a victory.
After their week one game in Oakland the Rams return home to face their division rival Cardinals in week 2 and then remain home to host the “visiting” Los Angeles Chargers on September 23rd, week 3, while the Chargers will be returning home from playing the Bills in Buffalo. On paper, this has the makings of a good defensive battle but I think if Philip Rivers isn’t showing signs of age, the Chargers could come away with a win.
The Rams travel to Denver to play the Broncos on October 14th, week 6. This will be the second of three consecutive road games for the Rams, having traveled to Seattle in week 5. Denver will be returning home after playing the Jets in New York on October 7th. I think the Broncos will be over matched in this game and the Rams will secure a victory.
The Seattle Seahawks
The 4th NFC West opponent for the Chiefs will be the Seattle Seahawks. This will also be the final AFC West opponent for the Seahawks as the two teams will meet in Seattle on Sunday night December 23rd, week 16. Seattle will be returning home after visiting their division rival 49ers the previous week, while the Chiefs will be coming off a mini bye having hosted the Chargers on Thursday night December 13th. I think the 10 day rest will be enough to give the Chiefs the advantage against Seattle.
For the first game against the AFC West, the Seahawks will travel to Denver to play the Broncos on September 9th, week 1. With Denver returning almost the entirety of their 5-and-11 team with the exception of starting QB, I think Seattle will win this game fairly easily.
Seattle’s next AFC West opponent won’t be until week 6, October 14th, when they travel to Oakland to play the Raiders. Seattle will have played their division rival LA Rams the previous week, while Oakland will be returning home after visiting their division rival LA Chargers. This should be a fun game to watch but I think Oakland will win in the end.
The third AFC West opponent for the Seahawks be when they host the Chargers on November 9th, week 9. The Seahawks will be returning home after playing the Lions in Detroit the week before and the Chargers will be coming off of their bye week. The Chargers get their bye after playing the Tennessee Titans in London. With the Seahawks not as good as they where a few years past and the Chargers coming off of their bye, I believe the Chargers will have the advantage here.
My Final Guesstimation
For my summation of the AFC West vs the NFC West, I have both the Chiefs and Raiders going 3-1, Denver losing all 4 but the Chargers winning all 4. So, this is my way too early look at one-fourth of the 2018 schedule. Go Chiefs.
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