AFC West remains two-horse race between Chiefs and Chargers

The AFC West won’t be decided until December. Why? Because the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers don’t play their first match until Week 11 in Mexico City — on Monday Night Football no less — before squaring off at Arrowhead Stadium come Week 17.

In short, there’s a damn good chance that the last week of the season determines a first-round bye for one team. As well as that, it could determine the fifth seed for the other.

While the Oakland Raiders have significantly improved the roster, and the Denver Broncos swapped out one aging quarterback for another, it’s really all about Kansas City and Los Angeles. Last year, both teams finished 12-4 after beating the other one in the opposing team’s building. The only difference? The Chargers went 4-2 in the division with a brutal home loss to Denver, while the Chiefs swept the Broncos and Raiders.

Want $250 to bet on NFL futures?

Going into the 2019 campaign, it appears we’ll see more of the same. Both teams are legitimate Super Bowl contenders led by star quarterbacks. In one corner, Philip Rivers. The 37-year-old with nine kids remains one of the best in the game, throwing for 4,308 yards and 32 touchdowns a season ago. In the other corner, Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes is the best player in the game today, earning MVP honors as a 23-year-old in only his second season by throwing for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns.

On paper, the Chargers are virtually the same team they were a year ago. One can argue that they lost a little up front with the departures of Darius Philon and Corey Liuget inside, although first-round pick Jerry Tillery out of Notre Dame hopes to replace that production. Los Angeles lost wide receiver Tyrell Williams as well, but will get back tight end Hunter Henry for his third season.

In Kansas City, the roster changes were a bit more drastic. While Tyreek Hill’s situation remains unclear, the offense is almost completely the same. However, the defense has undergone a complete makeover. Coordinator Bob Sutton was fired and replaced by Steve Spagnuolo, who brings a Super Bowl-winning resume to the table. The Chiefs are going from a 3-4 to a 4-3 scheme, and helped to push that along with the trade of outside linebacker Dee Ford and the release of his counterpoint, Justin Houston. To replace those lost sacks, Kansas City general manager Brett Veach signed Alex Okafor, then traded for both Emmanuel Ogbah and Frank Clark.

Read: 5 – Star Basketball Recruit Decommits from Duke

Factor in the additions of Tyrann Mathieu, Bashaud Breeland and second-round pick Juan Thornhill, and the unit is vastly different from the one we saw giving up 37 points in the AFC Championship Game.

Come September, the AFC West will have four teams believing they can win the crown. In reality, it will be Kansas City and Los Angeles staring each other down in December.