Entering this week the Kansas City Chiefs were holding a strong 1.5 game lead over the rest of the AFC West. A win against the Oakland Raiders would give the Chiefs a commanding lead. But a loss....
The Chiefs 24-20 23-20 overtime loss makes the AFC West now one of the most open division races in the NFL. The Chiefs hold a .5 game lead over the Raiders and a 1.5 game lead over the San Diego Chargers.
Here are the remaining games for the Chiefs, Raiders and Chargers.
Chiefs: at Broncos, Cardinals, at Seahawks, Broncos, at Chargers, at Rams, Titans, Raiders.
Raiders: at Steelers, Dolphins, at Chargers, at Jaguars, Broncos, Colts, at Chiefs.
Chargers: Broncos, at Colts, Raiders, Chiefs, 49ers, at Bengals, Broncos.
I'm more worried about the Chargers at this point. They seem to get hot around this time of year and their schedule looks manageable down the stretch. The Raiders have, in my mind, two near-certain losses against the Steelers and Colts. They could trip up elsewhere as well. We'll see how it shakes out for KC but I'm not nearly as confident as I was this time last week.
(The Denver Broncos are irrelevant as of now so no need to mention them in the conversation.)
Here's the full set of standings for the AFC West:
1. Kansas City Chiefs (5-3)
2. Oakland Raiders (5-4)
3. San Diego Chargers (4-5)
4. Denver Broncos (2-6)