Chiefs have potential road to AFC West title

The Kansas City Chiefs trail the Denver Broncos by two games in the AFC West with only three contests remaining. It seems like an overwhelming task to catch them, but it might not be the mountain it first appears to be.

Kansas City is 8-5 and plays the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders the rest of the way, in that order. Meanwhile, Denver is 10-3 and visits the Pittsburgh Steelers before hosting the Cincinnati Bengals and San Diego Chargers. It is likely that should the Chiefs handle business and beat the Ravens, they will be a game back of the Broncos come Week 16.

Kansas City would win any tiebreaker should it win out due to divisional record. The Chiefs would be 5-1 while the Broncos would be 4-2, with the two splitting head-to-head meetings. Kansas City will be huge favorites to win every game down the stretch, but will Denver lose another game beyond Pittsburgh?

The Bengals appear to be the best bet to beat the Broncos, but they are likely going to be without quarterback Andy Dalton, who broke his right thumb on Sunday. A.J. McCarron is probably going to be under center. McCarron has a very talented team around him, but can he do enough against perhaps the best defense in football to topple Denver on Monday Night Football in Week 16?

It is more likely that Denver wins the division and Kansas City ends up a wild card team. Yet, the dream lives on.