Raiders, Broncos favored over Chiefs to win AFC West

The Kansas City Chiefs have been given the third-best odds out of four to win the AFC West in 2017, which means Vegas doesn’t believe.

Las Vegas doesn’t believe. The Kansas City Chiefs finished last season as the AFC West champions and the second overall best team in the AFC. They swept the entire division, winning every road and home game against their rivals, and they also return the bulk of that roster for another year. Continuity is hard to find these days, but the Chiefs have built a consistent winner.

So why are the Chiefs having such a tough time getting any respect these days? They swapped the ghost of Jamaal Charles for Kareem Hunt and Dontari Poe for Bennie Logan. Other than that, fans will largely see the same team suit up for a run at repeating in the division, but Las Vegas oddsmakers clearly have been swayed by the sexier moves of the offseason.

A few draft picks later and suddenly there are no offensive line concerns in Denver or Los Angeles (er what used to be San Diego). Somehow we’ve forgotten the Raiders not only have one of the worst overall defenses in the NFL but they even allowed Brock Osweiler’s Houston Texans to score 27 on them in the wild card round of the playoffs. For all of the griping about not having Derek Carr, the reality is that they’d need their quarterback to whip up a quick 30 to even win that game.

The offseason is fun for the drama of acquisitions, the mystery of the draft and the hope in what could happen, but let’s be honest: it hardly ever equals winning in the regular season. Despite all of this, here’s Vegas’s official odds.

Official odds to win the AFC West in 2017:

Oakland Raiders 3/2

Denver Broncos 11/5

Kansas City Chiefs 5/2

Los Angeles Chargers 6/1