Five bold predictions for the AFC West in 2019
By Byron Smith
The AFC West is the division to watch in the 2019-2020 season, making it important to examine the teams within and make predictions for their futures.
(Disclaimer: We will be avoiding predictions concerning the Kansas City Chiefs for the most part in this article. There will be a separate article in the near future covering the Chiefs exclusively)
The AFC West has often been an extremely competitive division, and this year is no different as the division holds Vegas’ own favorite to win the Super Bowl in Kansas City, the reigning MVP in Patrick Mahomes, many analysts’ favorite for postseason glory in the Los Angeles Chargers, a team with plenty of talent in the Denver Broncos, and the Oakland Raiders who will…. do something.
Looking at 2019, the West also yields a lot of questions: What is happening in L.A. with Melvin Gordon? Can Antonio Brown focus on football long enough to actually help the Raiders? Will Mahomes regress? Will he and the Chiefs be an unbeatable offensive power? Is Drew Lock going to get a start?
The 2019-2020 season is likely to be exciting for this division, so it is important to look forward to try and predict what is going to happen. So here are five bold predictions for the AFC West in the 2019-2020 season.
1. The Kansas City Chiefs win the West handily
For a lot of people, this is not a very bold prediction. Vegas has the Chiefs favored to win not just the division (-155, with the Chargers at +195), but as a favorite to win the Super Bowl (6-1 odds, tied with the Patriots). The Chiefs have won the division three times in a row. But if you take a second and watch ESPN or the NFL Network, you would think that the Chargers are the only team in the division.
Why should we expect the Chiefs to do worse then last year and lose to the Chargers? The Chiefs have only added positively to their team this season by bringing in defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo; trading for Frank Clark, Emmanuel Ogbah, and Darron Lee; signing Tyrann Mathieu, Alex Okafor, Morris Claiborne, Carlos Hyde and Blake Bell;, and drafting Juan Thornhill and Mecole Hardman.
Yes, the Chiefs lost Justin Houston, Eric Berry, and Dee Ford, but general manager Brett Veach brought in better replacements for each of these players. Yes, it’s a new defensive scheme, yet players seem to be adapting well in the preseason. This team is set to not only recreate the offensive success they had last year, but to also partner it with a defense that is gong to keep teams from scoring enough points to keep up with them.
But there are other reasons to bet against the Chargers next season.