AFC West standings: Chiefs can gain significant ground on Thursday

The Kansas City Chiefs can gain significant ground on Thursday Night Football with a win on the road over the Oakland Raiders.

When the 2017 NFL season began, the AFC West was supposed to be the toughest division in football. Even through the first couple weeks of the season, the Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos were all undefeated and the Los Angeles Chargers were playing very competitive football despite taking close losses early. Fast forward another few weeks and one team has taken a significant hit over the last quarter of the season.

Teams vying for divisional supremacy in the AFC West are now looking straight up the ladder in the standings at the Chiefs, who have a 1.5 game lead over the Denver Broncos (who have already had their bye week). The Raiders and Chargers are now tied with only two wins apiece and sit 3 full games behind the Chiefs. Thus, the Raiders have a bit more at stake when the Chiefs and Raiders suit up to play each other on Thursday night.

No one could have predicted the Chiefs would already own a lead of more than a single game at this point, but the Broncos and Raiders have both fallen pray to tough schedules early on. When the Chiefs were finally defeated for the first time on Sunday by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Raiders and Broncos both failed to take advantage, losing unexpectedly to the Chargers and New York Giants respectively.

For now, the Chiefs are facing significant injury issues and that might lead to their undoing. However they’re also very deep and should begin to get some players back who have been on injured reserve or just sitting on the bench over the early part of the season’s schedule. Other teams face significant questions as well, including who should be quarterback for the 3-2 Broncos and a Raiders team asking why they’ve lost four straight games.

Here’s a current look at the AFC West standings.