Wild West

The AFC West was supposed to be the Denver Broncos and three teams trying to play some football. It certainly was last year. The Kansas City Chiefs ended the 2012 season with the worst record in the league. The San Diego Chargers have been fading further in each of the past few years. The Oakland Raiders have simply been a mess for close to a decade. The Broncos were the only team from the AFC West to finish the 2012 season with a winning record. They were 13-3. The Chargers, Raiders, and Chiefs combined won 13 games. A lot has changed in the division since the end of last season.

Through eight weeks:

Kansas City Chiefs    8-0
Denver Broncos         7-1
San Diego Chargers  4-3
Oakland Raiders        3-4

The Chiefs and Broncos might be the two best teams in the league. They definitely have the best records. The Chargers and quarterback Philip Rivers are playing like the Chargers and Rivers of 2006. Two of their three losses were depressingly close, for the Chargers, from wins. One of the wins was over the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are the only team to take down the Broncos. The Raiders may have the lone losing record in the division but they are far from the bumbling Raiders of recent years. They may have found a quarterback in Terrelle Pryor. His running has certainly put a lot of stress on opposing defenses. This is a tough division. It's a division that has destroyed the NFC East. The AFC West is matched against the NFC East this year. 16 games total between the two divisions. Through ten, the AFC West is 9-1. The lone loss is the Raiders loss to the Redskins. Perhaps the apparent mediocrity of the NFC East is due to the strength of the AFC West.

The Chiefs certainly came into this season as a mystery. Despite a two-win season in 2012, they had a very talented team. Hiring Andy Reid as head coach brought in a coach that knows how to win. Adding quarterback Alex Smith brought a steady hand to the offense. I doubt that even the most optimistic would have predicted that the Chiefs would be undefeated through eight games but some improvement from 2012 was expected. There really wasn't a lot of room to do worse. The Chargers improvement has quite a bit to do with River's return to form. A lot can change in one offseason. The AFC West has shown that.