Since 2015, the Broncos, Chargers, and Raiders have tried and failed to dethrone the Kansas City Chiefs. Will 2024 be the year the AFC West has a new division champion? How will the back-to-back Super Bowl champion handle the increasingly large target on its back?
Some new eras may be on the horizon in the AFC West. Will Jim Harbaugh rekindle his success at the NFL level in Los Angeles? Is Antonio Pierce the real deal as a head coach or was he only good for his stretch as interim head coach? Who will be the starting quarterback in Denver?
Get back up to speed with the AFC East, AFC North, and AFC South previews. All schedule predictions were made with PlayoffPredictors.
Denver Broncos (2023-24: 8-9, missed playoffs)
Since Peyton Manning’s retirement, the Denver Broncos are 52-79, have not made the playoffs, and have had 13 different quarterbacks start a game. Denver also has not had a winning season since the 2016-17 season. Denver has failed to keep pace with the rest of the AFC West, and 2024 is looking no different The top question Denver has to answer is who its starting quarterback of the future will be.
Will it be Zach Wilson? He finds himself in Denver after a tenure with the New York Jets filled with missed expectations and little development as a player. What he does have over his competition is that he is the only one of the three quarterbacks on the Broncos roster who has started for the majority of his NFL team’s season.
He’s up against Jarrett Stidham, who threw for 248 yards per game in his two starts to end last season. Stidham was originally drafted as the backup and potential successor to Tom Brady in New England, but has since played with Las Vegas and Denver. The wild card of the quarterback room is Bo Nix. The rookie out of Oregon was mostly projected to go in the second round. Instead, Denver made him the sixth quarterback taken in the first twelve picks of the 2024 NFL Draft.
This year will be about figuring things out for the Broncos. Denver causing some chaos in the early part of the season is not out of the question, but any success won’t be sustainable. Patrick Surtain II will still play lights out at defensive back and Alex Singleton was top three in the league in tackles, but Denver does not have a lot going for it.
Kansas City Chiefs (2023-24: 11-6, Super Bowl Champions)
The dynasty is secured. After winning one Super Bowl in 53 seasons, Kansas City has won three in five seasons. To the dismay of the rest of the league, the Chiefs got stronger over the offseason. Whether Rashee Rice’s legal troubles catch up to him or not, Patrick Mahomes has insurance at wide receiver: Marquise Brown.
What helped Kansas City along was its defense. Steve Spagnuolo’s unit allowed 17.3 points per game (PPG), second-best in the league. During the playoffs, Kansas City held Miami (29.2 PPG), Baltimore (28.4 PPG), and San Francisco (28.9 PPG) to 7, 10, and 22 points, respectively. Chris Jones and George Karlaftis both racked up 10.5 sacks last year.
Travis Kelce reaffirmed himself as a playoff warrior, too. After a two-month stretch in which he averaged 50.1 receiving yards per game and caught one touchdown, he posted a 32-355-3 stat line during the playoffs. Kelce enters his twelfth season in Kansas City with three Super Bowl rings and is looking to make it four.
The Chiefs went 11-6 last year even with all of the concerns about team depth. Safe to say this team is still in position to compete for the AFC championship in the regular season. In all likelihood, the Chiefs will be the 2024 AFC West champions. The road to three straight championships will not be easy, but this team is one of the best in the league.
Las Vegas Raiders (2023-24: 8-9, missed playoffs)
The Raiders might be one of the biggest success stories to not make the playoffs in recent memory. After a 3-5 start, head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler were fired. Since the firings, Las Vegas went 5-4 to finish to season (although offense wasn’t exactly its forte).
Antonio Pierce earned the right to have the “interim” tag removed from his title. He has rallied this Raiders locker room and put together team efforts and defensive masterpieces. Davante’s inferno was quelled and Las Vegas went from circus to cohesive unit.
As is the problem in Denver, the Raiders need a quarterback. Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew will compete for the top spot. While both can easily slot in as a stopgap, that can only get a team so far. Regardless of who wins the starting job, they can’t go wrong with a skill position core of Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, Zamir White, and Brock Bowers.
Unfortunately for Raiders fans, this team will find out down the line it just doesn’t have what it takes to be a sustainable competitor. There’s thriving as a unit, and then there’s thriving as a unit with top talent throughout. Though the Raiders may surprise early on, the lack of true star power will be this team’s undoing. Las Vegas is good, but not good enough.
Los Angeles Chargers (2023-24: 5-12, missed playoffs)
What Los Angeles has needed for a long time is a quality head coach. The Brandon Staley-era Chargers will go down as one of the biggest wastes of talent in recent memory. A 63-21 loss to Las Vegas in prime time was the breaking point. Head coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco both received pink slips. To fill the vacancy at head coach, Los Angeles went no nonsense. After ten years, Jim Harbaugh is back in the NFL.
Harbaugh inherits a Chargers roster that is spotty overall but has upside. There is no true number-one receiver as of now. Joshua Palmer, DJ Chark Jr., Quentin Johnston, and rookie Ladd McConkey will battle to be Justin Herbert’s top target. Former Baltimore Ravens J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards figure as a one-two punch pending Dobbins’ health. The offensive line headlined by Rashawn Slater got a shot in the arm in the person of Joe Alt.
The defense returns several top talents such as Khalil Mack (17 sacks, 4th in the NFL last year), Asante Samuel Jr. (13 passes defended, 87.4 allowed passer rating), Joey Bosa (6.5 sacks in nine games), and Derwin James (86 solo tackles, 10th in the NFL last year). Harbaugh’s job, though, is to get the defense to work as a group. Last year, the Chargers allowed the fifth-most yards per game (362.9), the third-most passing yards per game (249.8), and the ninth-most points per game (23.4).
There will also be growing pains in Inglewood. A slow start will bring questions, but Los Angeles will get it together and pick up key wins down the stretch. The Chargers again enter Week 18 in need of a win against the Raiders in Las Vegas. It will be a game worthy of closing out AFC West division play in the 2024-25 season.
Next time: The NFC East is ready for another year without in-betweens.
***
Check out our podcasts!
Click here for more football content.
Follow us on social media!