Would the Chiefs be better off not winning the AFC West?

I tried telling people back in October that by Christmas we’d be talking about the Chiefs winning the AFC West.

OK, that’s a lie.

However, the Chiefs have a solid chance to win the AFC West. They trail Denver by just a game now with two games to play and the Chiefs hold the tie-breaker.

But is being the AFC West champion better than being a wild-card team?

This is all speculation at this point, obviously, because things can change big-time. If the Chiefs won the West, they’d be the likely No. 3 seed. The red-hot Steelers are currently the the No. 6 seed.

In that scenario you’d have a Steelers-Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium. You may recall that the Chiefs beat Pittsburgh 23-13 at home on Oct. 13. However, the Steelers played that game without Ben Roethlisberger.

Here’s the other scenario. If the Chiefs end up as the top wild card, they’d be the No. 5 seed. That means you’d have a Chiefs-Texans game at Houston. You may recall that the Chiefs beat the Texans 27-20 in Houston to open the season.

Again, a lot can change (if the Chiefs win the division, they could end up facing Denver or the Jets). Which of these two scenarios sounds better? Vote in our poll and leave a comment if you choose.

This story was originally published December 20, 2015 at 8:25 PM.