Around the AFC West: Chiefs gain even more ground in Week 7

Let’s tour the AFC West as the Chiefs lay a beat down on the Broncos, Justin Herbert gets his first Chargers win, and the Raiders are embarrassed.

Well, Chiefs Kingdom, I can’t help but think that Sunday’s game was boring and we may see a lot of these type of games in the coming weeks. Am I taking the greatness of this team for granted? Probably, but I’ll continue doing that. These Chiefs are just so good.

Before I get too far down the rabbit hole of praising the team in our weekly divisional tour, let’s look at the rest of the miserable AFC West.

Las Vegas Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders were coming off their bye week after beating the Kansas City Chiefs. The Raiders were hoping to ride the momentum to beat the hot Tampa Bay Buccaneers led by Tom Brady. That would not be the case. Tampa Bay looks like one of the best teams in the league and they certainly put the Raiders in their place.

The Bucs defense caused problems for Derek Carr all day by forcing an interception as well as bringing a lot of pressure. We all know that Carr can’t handle pressure and that was evident on Sunday. With less time, Carr wasn’t able to effectively utilize his deep ball. Couple that with the fact that Josh Jacobs could not get past the Bucs defensive line and the day wasn’t a pleasant one. The Raiders managed to pull the game within 4 in the fourth quarter, but really, Tampa Bay had control of the game the whole time.

I think it was a bit of a wake up call for the Raiders who thought they were the next best thing in the NFL. Well, Raiders, sorry to break it to you. When good teams come to town, you have to play your A-game or you will get beat.

The one highlight for the Raiders continues to be the play of Nelson Agholor.

Agholor looks impressive in his new team. It is a question of whether it is the talent around him (which the Raiders have and the Eagles didn’t) or if he truly is playing better.

The Raiders certainly had their issues when, earlier in the week, Trent Brown’s lack of discipline and respect for COVID rules caused the entire starting offensive line to quarantine and put the game in jeopardy. Luckily, all but Brown were cleared and able to play. It is almost inevitable that the Raiders will face heavy penalties for this latest violation as it is not their first offense.

Next week, the Raiders travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns. The Browns are an interesting team. I can’t quite figure them out. Are the good, fluke-y, or lucky? I don’t know. Either way, they are facing a challenge having just lost Odell Beckham Jr. for the season. I think this will be a good game, but the Raiders will probably walk out with a loss.

Game time is Sunday at 12:00 p.m.