Is AFC West race already over? NFL Network host is ready to crown the Chiefs again
The Chiefs were the first team in the NFL to lose a game in the 2023 season, and their AFC West foes might have been thinking that Kansas City was ready to fall off its perch.
Instead, we’re through seven weeks of the season and the Chiefs already have a three-game lead in the AFC West. Here are the standings.
- Chiefs 6-1
- Raiders 3-4
- Chargers 2-4
- Broncos 2-5
NFL Network host Rich Eisen talked about the AFC West race on Monday, and he had a blunt assessment.
“Through seven weeks of the AFC West, three words: It. Is. Over,” Eisen said. “It’s over. It is done. Done. Because if you want to win this division, you’ve got to go into Kansas City and beat the Chiefs. The Broncos didn’t do it. The Chargers didn’t do it. You think the Raiders are going to do it after losing to Tyson Bagent in Chicago? They are three up on the Raiders.
“When does Kansas City play the Raiders? ... They are at Las Vegas on ... Thanksgiving weekend and then they have a Christmas Day game home against Vegas. Taylor Swift and the Chiefs come down that chimney to take on the Raiders on Christmas Day. Hey baby, this thing is over.”
Associated Press writer Josh Dubow noted that since the start of the eight-division era in 2002, the Chiefs are just the third team to have a lead of three or more games in the AFC West through seven games. The others are the 2015 Broncos and the 2009 Broncos.
History shows the AFC West race was far from over through seven weeks of the season in both of those cases. Here’s a closer look.
The 2015 Broncos
Through Week 7 in 2015, the Broncos had a 6-0 record, while the Raiders were 3-3 and the Chiefs and Chargers were both 2-5.
Denver dropped four of seven games at one point after that, including a 29-13 loss at home to the Chiefs. After winning just one of their first six games, the Chiefs ripped off 10 straight wins and finished one game behind the Broncos in the West.
The Chiefs had a chance to win the West in the season finale, but Peyton Manning came off the bench and helped Denver stave off the Chargers 27-20. Manning had missed the previous six games because of an injury.
The Broncos ended up winning Super Bowl 50, and the Chiefs would be happy to do the same this year.
2009 Broncos
Denver was 6-0 at this point in the 2009 season and life was good under coach Josh McDaniels. The Chargers were 3-3, followed by the Raiders (2-5) and Chiefs (1-6).
Things soon would go south for Kyle Orton and the Broncos, as they suffered through a pair of four-game losing streaks and finished with an 8-8 record.
The Chargers ended the regular season on an 11-game winning streak and won the AFC West with ease. Denver, which had the big lead, missed out of the playoffs, a fate the Chiefs will hope to avoid.
This story was originally published October 25, 2023 at 10:01 AM.
