The Denver Broncos being atop the AFC West isn’t anything new.
At least, not in the franchise’s epic history that includes three Super Bowls.
But the last nine years have been a struggle. The Kansas City Chiefs have won the division a ridiculous nine times in a row, something the Broncos, along with the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders are trying to end this year.
Yes, it’s early, but Week 1 went about as well for the rest of the AFC West (besides the Chiefs) as possible.
A quick peek at the early standing has Denver, L.A. and Vegas tied in first with 1-0 records. Kansas City, who lost to the Chargers last Friday night in Brazil, is dead last at 0-1.
The Broncos escaped the Titans in a sloppy game, 20-12, thanks to an unbelievable defensive performance. The Raiders went East to New England and handled the Patriots 20-13. And the Chargers topped the Chiefs 27-21 in a different hemisphere.
Again, no one is crowning a new division champion after one week, but maybe K.C.’s stranglehold on the division is slowly starting to slip away. They face the defending Super Bowl winner Eagles this weekend and could easily fall to 0-2.
Meanwhile, Denver is Indianapolis to take on the Colts and the Chargers and Raiders face each other in the late game of a doubleheader on Monday Night Football. Barring an unlikely tie, someone will go to 1-1 while the other team improves to 2-0.
The Broncos need to handle their business on the road. Indy was a big winner over Miami in Week 1, but the Dolphins look like a disaster, perhaps one of the worst teams in the NFL. It’s Daniel Jones at QB for the Colts and this Denver defense should be able to make his life miserable.
We’ll be following the AFC West standings all year long, and hopefully Week 2 is a chance for the Broncos to gain yet another game on the hated Chiefs.