We are quickly approaching the start of the 2026-27 regular season, which officially begins two weeks from today. Before that, we turn our attention to the AFC West, where the Denver Broncos snapped the Kansas City Chiefs' streak of nine straight divisional titles. Considering three teams in this division will be vying for the Lombardi Trophy, let's take a look at how the AFC West standings will shake out this coming season.
1. Kansas City Chiefs
Despite what I wrote in my preseason power rankings, I believe the Chiefs will finish with the best record in the AFC West. Though the Denver Broncos are a better team, Kansas City has a much more favorable regular season schedule. The Chiefs get to face the Las Vegas Raiders twice, the Miami Dolphins, the New York Jets, the Atlanta Falcons, the Arizona Cardinals, and the Indianapolis Colts. They should beat most, if not all, of those teams, which would give them seven wins. It's fair to assume that KC will lose to some of the better squads in the NFL, like the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks. However, the Chiefs could still get to 11 victories if they split the season series with the Broncos and Chargers while also beating the Bengals and Bills. On top of that, if they can steal a win against either the San Francisco 49ers or the New England Patriots at home in Weeks 15 and 16, then that would put the Chiefs at 12 wins on the campaign, which should be enough to win the division. Understandably, there are some big question marks in Kansas City. After all, we don't know how well the offensive line will perform, and they completely revamped the secondary this off-season. Regardless, the Chiefs still have head coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and defensive coordinator Steve Spanuolo, who have a proven track record of winning in Kansas City. With those guys leading the charge and a relatively easy schedule, the Chiefs should finish the year atop the AFC West.
2. Denver Broncos
The Broncos should still be viewed as a Super Bowl contender, even if they end up finishing second in the division. Denver may have had to part ways with defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers and linebacker Dre Greenlaw, but they're bringing back basically everybody else offensively and defensively, which gives them a leg up in the AFC with one of the three best defenses in the NFL as well as an elite offensive line. More importantly, the acquisition of wide receiver Jaylen Waddle will open up the offense more and allow quarterback Bo Nix to take another step in his development. Denver has a top-flight coach, special teams unit, defense, and offense, which is all you can ask for if you want to be a Super Bowl contender. With that being said, the Broncos have an incredibly difficult stretch of games to open the season. After starting off the year with a standalone road game against Kansas City, Denver has five straight matchups against teams that qualified for the playoffs last year. With games against the Chiefs, Jaguars, Rams, 49ers, Chargers, and Seahawks, it's possible that the Broncos are 0-6 when they hit the road to take on the Arizona Cardinals on October 25th. In reality, though, they will probably win at least one of those contests. From there, things will get much easier with matchups against the Cardinals, Chiefs, Panthers, Raiders, Steelers, Dolphins, Jets, and Raiders once again. As long as they can win two of their last three matchups against the Bills, Patriots, and Chargers, then Denver will almost certainly be a playoff team.
3. Los Angeles Chargers
This feels like a make-or-break year for the Bolts. We are entering Jim Harbaugh's third season with the team, and they have yet to take that next step competitively. LA has still not advanced past the Wild Card round of the NFL Playoffs, which was the looming issue before Harbaugh joined the franchise. The good news is that the offensive line will likely have both starting tackles for most of the regular season, which will make life much better for quarterback Justin Herbert. Not to mention, the addition of Mike McDaniel to the coaching staff should make this offense much more potent. We also can't forget how good this team is on the defensive side of the ball. Since the start of the 2023 season, the Chargers are tied for fifth in the league in fewest points allowed per game (20.4). They will have to figure out how to navigate the departure of former defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, but there is enough talent on that side of the ball that this team should still have one of the better units in the AFC. They'll likely open the season with two straight wins, but then things get dicey with games against the Bills, Seahawks, Broncos, Chiefs, Rams, Texans, and Ravens. Assuming they beat the cupcake teams on their schedule, that would earn them five wins. If they can split their season series with KC and Denver, then they'll have seven victories. After that, they just need at least three wins in their eight scheduled contests against the Bills, Texans, Ravens, Rams, Seahawks, Buccaneers, 49ers, and Patriots, and that should be enough to earn them a postseason berth.
4. Las Vegas Raiders
After a complete top-to-bottom overhaul, there is a belief that the Raiders will be better this season. Though I agree with that notion, Vegas will still be one of the worst teams in the NFL during the 2026-27 campaign. The Raiders likely lose all of their divisional games, which gives them six losses. Plus, they have an insane gauntlet of tough matchups against the Patriots, Bills, Rams, Seahawks, and 49ers. In fairness to the Raiders faithful, they added a plethora of players who should contribute immediately, including center Tyler Linderbaum, linebacker Nakobe Dean, edge rusher Kwity Paye, linebacker Quay Walker, running back Mike Washington, defensive back Jermod McCoy, guard Trey Zuhn III, wide receiver Jalen Nailor, and cornerback Treydan Stukes. Through those additions alone, this team will be much more competitive. Vegas gets to play the Dolphins, Saints, Jets, Cardinals, Browns, and Titans. I would be shocked if they didn't beat at least three of those teams, which would match their win total from the 2025-26 season. After that, it's anybody's game. Weird things can happen in the NFL. Just look at last year, when the Patriots lost to the Raiders, the Packers fell to the Browns, and the Panthers beat the Rams. There has to be at least one upset victory somewhere on Vegas' schedule. Expectations should be fairly low in Sin City. A successful season would feature five wins and an impressive showing by rookie Fernando Mendoza whenever he takes over the starting quarterback job. Even if both of those things happen, the Raiders would still finish at the bottom of the AFC West.
