Chiefs’ dominance in AFC West faces challenges from Broncos, Chargers and Raiders

By Canadian Press on August 27, 2025.

The Kansas City Chiefs have won three of the last six Super Bowls, played in seven straight AFC championship games and won the AFC West nine consecutive seasons.

Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid are two titles shy of the record 11 straight AFC East crowns Tom Brady and Bill Belichick hoarded when they were together in New England.

Yet, the Chiefs’ grip on the division has never seemed more tenuous, and not just because they were humbled 40-22 by the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl that denied Kansas City an unprecedented third consecutive tickertape parade.

The Denver Broncos fortified an already elite defense spearheaded by the league’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year in cornerback Patrick Surtain II and added several key targets for second-year QB Bo Nix, who came within a blocked field goal with no time remaining of sweeping the Chiefs his rookie year. (Although Denver’s 38-0 win in Denver in Week 18 came against backups).

Broncos coach Sean Payton can’t stop raving about his roster, and for good reason.

The Los Angeles Chargers enjoyed a bounce-back in 2024 under new head coach Jim Harbaugh, with Justin Herbert winning more games (11) and throwing fewer interceptions (three) than ever.

The Chargers lost twice to the Chiefs, by seven and two points as Kansas City went a whopping 10-0 in one-score games on their way to the Super Bowl.

Whether the Chiefs can come up so clutch in close games again will go a long way toward determining if they’ll be dethroned.

And the Las Vegas Raiders hired former Super Bowl-winning coach Pete Carroll, who brought in his former QB in Seattle with the acquisition of Geno Smith, who had three winning seasons as the Seahawks’ starter following Russell Wilson’s departure.

The addition of Carroll gives the AFC West a concentration of coaching pedigree never seen before. Led by Reid, the league’s active leader in victories, the foursome of AFC West coaches own a whopping 721 collective wins in the NFL.

Can the Chiefs rebound from the Super Bowl debacle?

The Chiefs were throttled 31-9 by Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021 and the following season they lost at home in the AFC championship to Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Then they reached three consecutive Super Bowls, winning twice.

Their comeback in 2025 could rest on Travis Kelce’s bounce-back.

The four-time All-Pro tight end trimmed down considerably since the end of last season, when he was last seen walking dejectedly off the turf at the Superdome in New Orleans after the Chiefs were dismantled by the Eagles.

“He’s svelte right now. He looks like he’s 20,” Reid said.

Some had speculated the lopsided loss to the Eagles in February might drive Kelce to retire, but the newly engaged star is back and ready to serve as Mahomes’ top target once again.

Denver’s defense could go world-class

Payton hasn’t been shy about predicting great things for the Broncos this year, telling people he has one of his better teams all-time and declaring Nix among the top handful of quarterbacks in the NFL.

Much of that optimism stems from the fortification of an already stout defense.

The Broncos lured safety Talanoa Hufanga and linebacker Dre Greenlaw from the San Francisco 49ers in free agency and used their first-round draft pick on former University of Texas star Jahdae Barron, who won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back and was a consensus All-American.

Linebacker Alex Singleton, returning from a torn ACL that sidelined him most of last season, said Greenlaw has brought a new attitude to Denver’s defense.

“I love every single day coming to work with him,” Singleton said. “It’s been a ton of fun. He plays fast, he plays violent, physical — everything you want out of a linebacker.”

Chargers’

Justin Herbert ready for next step with Harbaugh

The Chargers are aiming to win the division for the first time since 2009 following Harbaugh’s first season in which LA returned to the playoffs and Justin Herbert threw just three interceptions all year.

Herbert shouldn’t have any opening-day jitters when the Chargers host the Chiefs in Week 1 in São Paulo, Brazil, not after playing in the preseason for the first time in his career.

The 27-year-old quarterback entering his sixth season went 2 of 5 for 46 yards while playing the opening series against the Rams.

Herbert had never played in an exhibition game before over his first five NFL seasons, but the Chargers’ $262.5 million quarterback asked for some limited action in this outing to get some work with the Bolts’ revamped offense, which is now missing starting left tackle Rashawn Slater.

“I wanted to go out there and see the pass rush,” said Herbert, who was sacked once by the Rams. “In practice as a quarterback you don’t always get the true feeling of a pass rush so I thought it would be helpful.”

When Herbert was a rookie in 2020, the preseason was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2021, Herbert was coming off a stellar rookie year and then-Chargers coach Brandon Staley didn’t want to risk an injury during exhibition play. Staley maintained that approach in 2023. Last year, Herbert was in a walking boot with a plantar fascia injury in his right foot that caused him to miss nearly three weeks of training camp.

Carroll, Smith aim to repeat Seattle success in Las Vegas

Tom Brady’s fingerprints are all over the revamped Las Vegas Raiders, who have made significant changes to their team structure. Owner Mark Davis has given minority owner Brady more control, and Brady influenced the hiring of Carroll as coach and John Spytek as general manager, and the pair acquired Smith and drafted running back Ashton Jeanty to revamp the offense.

Carroll spent 14 seasons in Seattle, going 137-89-1 and putting together double-digit victories eight times over a nine-year stretch, reaching two Super Bowls and winning one.

Smith revitalized his career with the Seahawks, signing in 2019 as the backup and then becoming the starter in 2022. He was selected AP Comeback Player of the Year when he led the league with a 69.8% completion percentage and threw for 4,282 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Predicted order of finish

Chiefs, Broncos, Chargers, Raiders

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Arnie Stapleton, The Associated Press

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