AFC West is strong, but Kansas City Chiefs are overwhelming favorite
The Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders all have hopeful seasons ahead. However, catching the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West is going to be a monumental task.
Last year, Kansas City won the West by five games, finishing 12-4 while the Raiders and Broncos fought for second place at 7-9. The Chiefs are largely the same team in 2020, bringing back 20 of 22 starters from their Super Bowl-winning outfit.
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Additionally, the Chiefs have the best player in football at the sport’s most important position. Patrick Mahomes has proven a generational talent in his first two years as a starter, winning the league MVP, Super Bowl MVP and title before turning 25 years old (which he will in September).
Kansas City also has head coach Andy Reid. Long known for being a terrific, affable personality who could win every game but the big one, Reid has finally broken through in the mind of many as the elite coach he has always been. Paired with Mahomes, the duo forms the best quarterback-coach tandem in the NFL, now that Tom Brady has fled New England for Tampa Bay.
Lastly, the defense stands to improve. The unit was a different group the second half of last year, allowing the league’s fewest amount of points in December before playing sound ball throughout the playoffs en route to a championship.
Now, coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is entering his second campaign at the helm, and the defense didn’t lose a single player who played at least 46 percent of the snaps in 2020.
Read: AFC Power Rankings – Who Can Challenge Chiefs, Ravens?
If the Raiders, Chargers or Broncos are going to seriously challenge the Chiefs come Thanksgiving and beyond, one of their quarterbacks will need to play above expectations.
Derek Carr has never beaten the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in six attempts. The combined scores of those games? A whopping 175-70, including 75-12 against Mahomes.
Drew Lock looked promising as a rookie in five games, leading Denver to a 4-1 mark. The lone blemish came in Week 15 against the Chiefs on the road, where Kansas City won 23-3 in a game not close at any point of the second half. Los Angeles promises to trot out either veteran Tyrod Taylor or rookie Justin Herbert. If either could deal Mahomes a defeat in 2020, it would certainly be in an underdog role.
There’s reason to believe the AFC West’s trio below Kansas City could all fight for a wild card spot. To win the division, though, would require the Chiefs to sag and the other to rise beyond any reasonable expectation.
