KC Chiefs Look To Continue AFC West Dominance in Week 7 Against LA Chargers
The Kansas City Chiefs will host an AFC West rival, the Los Angeles Chargers, on Sunday at 3:25 on CBS. Tony Romo and Jim Nantz will have plenty of quips to go around throughout the game, and there should be enough good football to keep the Taylor Swift mentions to a minimum.
Every game between these two teams when Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert play against each other has finished within one touchdown. Despite the close matchups in recent years, the Chiefs are going for their fourth straight win against the Chargers. It feels like before each season, some national pundit will declare the Chargers the preseason favorites. Without fail, something will derail their season, whether it be an injury or bad coaching, and the Chiefs end up running away with the division. This will feel like one of those separation games if Kansas City can go out there and handle business.
If the Chiefs win, they will move to 6-1 on the season while the Chargers will fall to 2-4. The Las Vegas Raiders, currently 3-3 and starting Brian Hoyer at quarterback, may be the biggest perceived “threat” after this weekend. The Broncos, who the Chiefs will face again next weekend for the second time in three weeks, are sitting at 1-5.
The AFC West is trying to keep up with the Chiefs, but head coach Andy Reid, Mahomes and the rest just won’t let them. Despite having won seven consecutive AFC West titles, the Chiefs seem to always have a chip on their shoulder when it comes to winning the division. A couple of years ago, when everyone in the division seemed to add pieces that were supposed to help them catch up, it just didn’t work out that way. Davante Adams, one of the best receivers in the NFL, seems to be fed up with the Raiders. The Russell Wilson experience in Denver has been a disaster. The Chargers just can’t get out of their own way, especially late in games when the pressure is on.
To make things even worse for the rest of the AFC West, the Chiefs’ defense has shown it is a unit not to be messed with and one of the best in the NFL. Giving Mahomes and company a top-tier defense is downright scary for the rest of the division and NFL in general. Steve Spagnuolo's group will be tested multiple times by really good offenses in the coming weeks, including this weekend against the Chargers, but it can really show it is an elite defense with a solid performance this weekend.
When considering the numbers, it is staggering to see how dominant Kansas City has been in the AFC West of late. The Chiefs have won 45 of their last 51 division games. If the Chiefs beat the Chargers on Sunday, the division will essentially be wrapped up before Halloween. If it comes to fruition, this would be the eighth consecutive season the Chiefs win the AFC West. That would pass the 1970s Los Angeles Rams teams that won seven consecutive division titles and put Kansas City in second place all-time. The New England Patriots hold the record with 11 consecutive division titles, so the Chiefs still have a few more seasons before they can catch that record.
The Chiefs are in a great position to keep their dominating run over their division opponents going, not just this year, but for years to come. With a young defense that keeps getting better and an MVP quarterback leading the offense, the trend looks likely to continue for a while. For now, a win over the Chargers on Sunday would put the Chiefs in a great position to win the AFC West once again.
Kansas City dominating the division has become a fall tradition at this point, like chili and cinnamon rolls or pumpkin spice... anything you can think of. It seemed like someone would give the Chiefs a challenge, and that just hasn’t been the case. When the NFL has so much parity from top-to-bottom, it’s fun to follow a team like the Chiefs that is so consistent in its winning ways.
