The Kansas Chiefs are the odds-on favorites to win the AFC West division, according to betting sites. The Chiefs have won the divisional title four years in row. They have a 27-3 record against their division rivals since 2015. Kansas has one of the best offensives in the league, but those same rivals are gearing up to fight fire with fire. The Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos each selected skill position players with their first draft picks. The Chargers got Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert. The Raiders went with wide receiver Henry Ruggs III. And the Broncos scooped up wide receiver, Jerry Jeudy.
Kansas City Chiefs
KC led the league in points in 2018 but lost to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. The Chiefs ranked fifth in scoring in 2019 but averaged 38 points in three playoffs wins. Including their 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV. The best online sportsbooks favor Kansas City to not just win the division but also repeat as Super Bowl champions. Three reasons for that are named Pat Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, and Travis Kelce. Adding a fourth: head coach Andy Reid.
Denver Broncos
“We’re looking to make our offense a little bit more stressful for people to defend,” Broncos coach head coach Vic Fangio said. With that in mind, Denver drafted two new targets for starting QB Drew Lock. In addition to Jeudy, the Broncos selected Lock’s former Missouri teammate tight end Albert Okwuegbunam. Speaking of Lock, Denver has chewed up and spit out a litany of QB since Payton Manning’s retirement. The most recent example is ‘Skinny’ Joe Flacco, who was released with a failed physical designation. However, the Broncos seem to be planning their present and future around Lock.
“I felt that offensively, for us to be able to compete and give Drew a chance to be successful and us to be successful on the offensive side … we had to get some speed and we had to get some talent on that offensive side and some explosiveness on the offensive side,” general manager John Elway said. “That’s why we decided to go that way. We played good defense last year and we’ll continue to play good defense this coming year, but we had to pick things up on the offensive side [with] that explosiveness and speed factor.”
Odds to Win the AFC West
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Kansas City Chiefs | -350 |
| Denver Broncos | +800 |
| Las Vegas Raiders | +800 |
| Los Angeles Chargers | +800 |
Las Vegas Raiders
In spite of the above, the Broncos are no better, odds-wise, than the Raiders or Chargers, per betting sites. The new Las Vegas team is hoping to catch up to Kansas with a few new receivers. Get it, catch up, receivers? Okay, never mind. Other than Ruggs, the Raiders added wide receivers on back-to-back selections in the third round; Kentucky’s Lynn Bowden and South Carolina’s Bryan Edwards. The Raiders’ starting QB will have plenty to work with, whether it is Derek Carr or Marcus Mariota.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Bolts aim to replace Philip Rivers with wither veteran Tyrod Taylor or rookie Justin Herbert. That is sort of a moot point, though, if the Chargers’ path to winning is indeed defense, as this dude claims it will be. The LA team sacrificed their 2020 second- and third-round picks to the Patriots in order to get linebacker Kenneth Murray as 23rd pick in the first round. The Oklahoma product brings the speed that the Charges have lacked to keep up with offenses such as Kansas City’s.
Our Pick: The AFC West is bound to become far more competitive, but the Chiefs remain in a class of their own.
