AFC West Gains Ground On First Place Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs had a chance to really take control of the AFC West Sunday but an overtime loss to the Oakland Raiders has made it anyone’s race.

What a difference a divisional loss makes. Instead of moving to 6-2 and sending the Raiders to 4-5, the Chiefs have fallen to 5-3 and the Raiders move within half a game at 5-4.

The San Diego Chargers also gained a game on the Chiefs defeating by defeating the Houston Texans.

We’ll break down where the AFC West race stands after the jump.

Even following today’s tough loss, the Chiefs are still in first place. Let’s take a look at the standings.

Kansas City Chiefs      5-3

Oakland Raiders         5-4

San Diego Chargers   4-5

Denver Broncos         2-6

While the division race has tightened a bit, the Chiefs have a chance to get back on track next week.

Both the Raiders and Chargers are off next week while the Chiefs will travel to Denver to take on the Broncos.If the Chiefs can take care of business in Denver, the Standings will look like this:

Kansas City Chiefs      6-3

Oakland Raiders         5-4

San Diego Chargers   4-5

Denver Broncos         2-7

Looks a little better, right? Unfortunately I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t show you what the standings would look like if KC loses next week.

Kansas City Chiefs      5-4

Oakland Raiders         5-4

San Diego Chargers   4-5

Denver Broncos         3-6

There is no question that next week’s game is a must win for the Chiefs. The need to keep the rest of the division at an arms length.