So much for the AFC West being the NFL’s premier, loaded division in 2022.
The Denver Broncos went all-in to trade for quarterback Russell Wilson. The Las Vegas Raiders traded for wide receiver Davante Adams and brought in supposed offensive mastermind Josh McDaniels as head coach. The Los Angeles Chargers traded for pass-rusher Khalil Mack, entered Year 3 with Justin Herbert at quarterback, and had many evaluators thinking they could be a Super Bowl contender.
And here we are through Week 11, with the AFC West race basically over.
Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and the Kansas City Chiefs took down the Chargers in a wild Sunday Night Football victory that featured an all-too-familiar finish for these teams.
The Chiefs — who were getting lost in the NFL talk with teams like the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles off to hot starts — are now an AFC-best 8-2.
Kansas City has a three-game lead over the 5-5 Chargers, but it’s essentially a four-game lead because the Chiefs clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker by sweeping Los Angeles. Then the Raiders and Broncos are each an extremely disappointing 3-7 after Las Vegas took Denver down in overtime on Sunday.
What pundits thought would be a division featuring four playoff contenders has turned into a division that is quite likely decided before we even reach Thanksgiving, and has only one winning team.
The Chargers, Broncos, and Raiders believed they were ready to challenge Kansas City, but Mahomes has reminded them who’s king– and that it may stay that way for a long while.
After the Chiefs’ win over the Chargers on Sunday night, the AFC West was heavily mocked by NFL fans on Twitter:
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.