Is Kansas City's AFC West Stranglehold in Jeopardy?

The American Football Conference's Western Division has been moderate since the Seattle Seahawks were sent to the National Football Conference in the 2002 season. Not a very deep division, but not that bad either. In the last five seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs have dominated the AFC West, and they became a juggernaut once Patrick Mahomes II became their starting QB. Mahomes is a future legend; in three seasons, the Chiefs have become the #1 superpower in the entire AFC, with the last two seasons seeing them reached the Super Bowl.

2019 ended with the Chiefs as Super Bowl LIV champions, but 2020 saw them come up short in Super Bowl LV. It was not a good game for the entire team, especially Mahomes, who couldn't connect and found himself running from the Buccaneers defense a lot. To me, Super Bowl LV was the first true setback in the young career of Patrick Mahomes II. But that's the thing: he's young. Mahomes will be 26 this season. He has a lot of time to build an amazing, Hall of Fame career. He already has a ring, he's a Super Bowl MVP, he's one of the best QBs in the league. We do not need to worry about Patrick Mahomes II.

But there is a slight worry for the Chiefs in 2021. This football fan has a feeling that their could be an uprising in one of the other three teams in the AFC West. One of them could make things difficult for the Chiefs, the back-to-back AFC Champions, and could--dare I say--topple them in the AFC West. Let's look at the challengers, shall we?

First off, the Denver Broncos. It's been tough for the Broncos and their fans since winning Super Bowl 50. Since Peyton Manning rode off into the sunset with another ring, the Broncos have had problems finding someone who can even come close to filling their shoes. This is despite having the greatest QB in Broncos history, and one of the greatest in NFL history in John Elway up in the front office. Right now, the Broncos' QB battle is between Drew Lock and the newly acquired Teddy Bridgewater. I've been hearing good things about Lock, and I know what Bridgewater can do. There seems to be optimism from Broncos fans that leads me to believe that good things could happen for the team in 2021. Maybe not a division title, but at least playoff contention? This season will tell the tale.

The Los Angeles Chargers' 2020 season was a horrendous one. Everyone dwells on the Atlanta Falcons and acts like they are the only team who blows double-digit leads constantly. The people who say that never watched the Chargers in 2020. So many games where they had big leads, but they fell apart in the second half. We even saw one game that featured some of the worst clock management that I or any other football fan has ever seen. All of those factors resulted in Anthony Lynn losing his job as the team's head coach after four seasons and only one playoff appearance (coming in 2018). The crazy thing is that the Chargers are a team with potential; Justin Herbert drew a lot of good attention at QB, and they have an amazing receiver group led by Mike Williams and Keenan Allen. They're also pretty good defensively, and that should improve due to the fact that their new head coach, Brandon Staley, was a defensive coordinator for the Rams. The Chargers could be a playoff team in 2021. They just have to do one thing: hold a big lead in games.

And then there's the Las Vegas Raiders, who are entering their second season in "Sin City." The Raiders made a lot of noise when they left Oakland for the second time, as this move saw them leave the state of California as a whole and head to Vegas. It's a fitting setting; the Raiders have always been flashy, and what we saw in 2020 was a team that was potentially on the verge of making the playoffs, with the biggest splash being a road win in Kansas City. Unfortunately for the team, the momentum ended there, as they ended up sputtering in the months of November and December, and were eliminated during Week 16 en route to an 8-8 season. The team still regrets trading linebacker Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears, but even so, the Raiders clearly are the team who has the best chance of making things difficult for the Chiefs. The Raiders' games against the Chiefs will take place on November 14 (in Vegas) and December 12 (in Kansas City). The Raiders should make the playoffs in 2021. As for winning the division, however, that will depend on those two aforementioned dates.

So in conclusion, the Chiefs are the measuring stick in the AFC West, they are that team to beat. The Raiders, Chargers, and yes, the Broncos each have what it takes to make the AFC West very interesting. This will be a very telling 2021 season.

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