NFL Standings, Week 1: Chiefs, Chargers, Raiders, tied atop AFC West

The NFL concluded the first week of its 100th season, capped off by a not-so-exciting Denver Broncos v. Oakland Raiders MNF showdown.

Riddled with surprises, high-scoring affairs, and Tom Brady doing what Tom Brady does, Week 1 of the 2019 season was one full of emotion and motion. In comparison to the National Football Conference, the American Football conference had 9 losses to the former’s 6.

With Week 1 in the books, let’s take a closer look at the standings that matter most for us, a look at the Kansas City Chiefs division, the AFC West, along with a better picture of what happened within the conference.

Divisional Picture

Statistically speaking, the NFL’s West divisions have the best group of teams; being that both the NFC West and AFC West have three teams sitting atop the NFL standings with one win a piece. Unfortunately, Week 1 does not provide enough of a sample size to judge teams nor does it have any major impact on the outcome of any team’s season. The Indianapolis Colts lost five straight games to start the 2018 season and ended up advancing to the Divisional Round of the playoffs after an inspiring mid-season run.

The Broncos and Raiders faced off against each other in a late Monday Night Football matchup that showed just how bad the Broncos really are. Led by quarterback Joe Flacco, the Broncos’ offense managed to score just once—with the team kicker outscoring the offense on his own. As mentioned above, a lot can happen in the span of just a few weeks, but the door is closing fast for the Broncos. Flacco does not appear to be “the guy” that Denver needs, putting up average numbers in the bout against the Raiders.

The Raiders, however, have a decent quarterback in Derek Carr, but Monday night’s showing was more so a display of how bad the Broncos are as opposed to how good the Raiders are. As the season blossoms, we will be able to get a grip on just how good (or bad) teams around the league end up being.

Conference Picture

One of the more interesting headlines in the AFC was the Baltimore Ravens’ dominance over the Miami Dolphins. One must take into account, though, that the Dolphins are essentially in ‘tank mode’, which is intentionally losing games to obtain higher draft capital for the following year. With a struggling defense that gave up over 50 points, and an offense that failed to score more than twice, the Fins are doomed for yet another hopeless season unless something magical happens over the next five weeks.

The New England Patriots showed the Pittsburgh Steelers, once a feared opponent, who is boss. Tom Brady did what he does best and threw for 341 yards and 3 touchdowns. A little unsettling for Chiefs fans that Brady is still performing at an elite level (for now), but the Chiefs do not have to face the Patriots until Week 14. Inevitable roster changes are afoot for both teams as the season progresses.

The AFC North and South both finished Week 1 with a combined record of 2-8, with three losses to each division. Things do not look to be going up, either, as each division has lower-tier teams.