AFC WEST 2021 PREDICTIONS

BY ADAM GREENE

Since 2016, the Kansas City Chiefs have dominated this division, winning five consecutive titles. They also managed one 11-5 Wild Card game appearance in 2015, the final year Peyton Manning dragged the Denver Broncos to the playoffs. It’s been a decade of dominance for the entire AFC West with four Super Bowl appearances between the Broncos and Chiefs and two victories.

The other teams in the AFC West haven’t done much in that time frame, other than trade away their best players and hire the worst coaches, but it’s a new year and things change.

How much? We’ll see.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: 14-3

Yes, not only do I think the Chiefs will repeat as AFC West champions, I think they’ll post the best record in the AFC and claim home field advantage in the postseason too. That means the road to Los Angeles begins in Missouri, which is ironic considering St. Louis is still suing the Rams for leaving five years ago. You’re the gateway to the west, St. Louis! Going to California is literally why you’re even a town.

Kansas City had one weakness, their offensive line, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers exploited it thoroughly in the Super Bowl. They’ve fixed it this offseason through trades, free agent signings and the draft, so what can you do if you’re another AFC West team?

Finish behind them in the standings. That’s what.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS: 11-6

The best of the bunch of second bananas is none other than the Chargers, who accidentally found their franchise quarterback last season and inadvertantly had to start him because a team doctor stabbed Tyrod Taylor in the lung.

LA is loaded on both sides of the ball and could be some real trouble for Kansas City in the future as head coach Brandon Staley makes his mark on the division. Just not this year.

DENVER BRONCOS: 10-7

For the Broncos, a 10-win season would be the end of a half-decade of QB and team-wide futility and a return to the postseason. Head coach Vic Fangio has tabbed Teddy Bridgewater as his QB after a preseason battle with Drew Lock. Six of Denver’s 11 losses were by a single score in 2020 and that was with the most turnover prone QB in the league. Bridgewater won’t be that and the Broncos will actually have their other stars, namely Von Miller and Courtland Sutton, on the field and out of the rehab facility.

LAS VEGAS RAIDERS: 9-8

We’re entering Year Four of Jon Gruden’s inglorious return to coaching from the broadcast booth and I’m betting it’ll look a lot like Year Three. Have the Raiders done anything to get significantly better than last year’s .500 team? Not that I can see.

Meanwhile everyone else in the division has. Las Vegas could be improved across the board and it just won’t mean anything because the rest of the AFC West is too tough.

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