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Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
Aug 11, 2025 5:06 PM EDT
The Kansas City Chiefs have dominated the AFC West for the past nine seasons, winning the division every year—eight of those with Patrick Mahomes as the starter.
It’s the second-longest active streak in NFL history, trailing only the New England Patriots’ run with Tom Brady, when they captured the AFC East 11 straight years.
That said, this season may be the toughest of the past nine. The Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers are both coming off postseason appearances, and the Las Vegas Raiders made major offseason changes—headlined by hiring Pete Carroll as head coach and adding quarterback Geno Smith.
Still, according to Mahomes, the division has always been competitive, and this year is no different.
“It’s never easy — our division has always been tough,” Mahomes said during an interview on the ‘Up & Adams Show.‘ “We’ve just done a good job of being able to win it. But we always feel like our division is tough, and that’s where we start. Obviously, there are a lot of young, really good quarterbacks. We’ve got Geno Smith in the picture now, another great quarterback, and then the coaches we’re going up against — some legendary, Hall of Fame coaches.
“But we believe we have the best coach, and we believe if we take care of business and handle things the right way, we can find a way to win the division. I believe if we win our division, we’ll be in position to get that home playoff game, play the playoffs at Arrowhead, and find a way to get to San Francisco for the Super Bowl.”
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The Broncos, led by quarterback Bo Nix entering his second season and head coach Sean Payton, finished third in the division last year. Justin Herbert and the Chargers took second place.
Both teams were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, while the Chiefs returned to the Super Bowl, ultimately falling to the Philadelphia Eagles in dominant fashion.
This year, Kansas City will open the regular season in Brazil with a Friday night Week 1 matchup against the Chargers. Since 2015, the Chiefs have posted a 51-8 record against their three AFC West rivals.
About the Author
Cole Sullivan