NFL Preview: AFC West Outlook After Week 2

NFL football is like a living, breathing organism. It’s ever-changing. We see this flux in the way the rules evolve over the years, and of course, when each season throws us for a loop; team win that shouldn’t and teams that shouldn’t lose do.

What do the teams out west look like after Week 2 shakeups?

AFC West

Over in the AFC West, at least one thing is going as planned. The Chiefs are 2-0 and look just as strong as we thought, at least with their passing games. Top betting sites like Betonline have Kansas City as one of the frontrunners for winning the AFC and it looks like they were correct in this assessment.

That said, the Chiefs running game has faltered since the departure of Kareem Hunt. They are sitting way back at No. 26 in the league in rushing yards, turning them into more of a one-dimensional team. At least, they hold the No. 1 rank in passing yards, putting up 405.5 per game to make up for it!

The Raiders are technically sitting in second-place in the West. Nobody expected the Silver and Black to dominate Vic Fangio’s team like they did during Week 1. The 24-16 score doesn’t show how badly the Broncos were manhandled in the first half. Are the Raiders better than we thought or is the hype surrounding the resurgence of the Denver D a bunch of bullocks?  The answer to that is a little of both. The Raiders seem drastically improved. But they also have one of the hardest schedules in the league. This was shown in their Week 2 loss to the Chiefs over in Arrowhead. The 28-10 score is again, not indicative of the Raiders’ defensive play. They dropped 28 points in the second quarter. But they shut the Chiefs potent offense out during the entire second half, and also in the first quarter. So, for two games straight, the Chiefs couldn’t put a decent running game together, so we have to wonder if they will be able to beat the league’s top defenses later in the season.

The Broncos took their second loss in a row when they faced the Monsters of Midway. It was close. The Bears narrowly beat the Broncs. The first three quarters were a defensive showdown. But in the 4th, the Broncos mounted a comeback, scoring 11 points. However, it was two points shy of being enough.

The Chargers were expected to be a playoff team in 2019, but we may have to reconsider. They had to go to OT to beat a Luck-less Colts squad. And then, in their Week 2 visit to the Motor City, they got taken out by the dredges of the NFC North. Philip Rivers’ offense sputtered, finding it difficult to score, despite his 293 passing yards. They couldn’t get move the ball when it counted the most.

Outlook

The Chiefs should have a firm grasp on the AFC West this season, but we could end up with an interesting race for second in the division between the Raiders and Chargers. Heck, the Broncos played well against the Bears, so it may even end-up being a three-legged race. We’ll have to wait and see.

 

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