It was weird to see the Kansas City Chiefs not win the AFC West in 2025, as it was the first time they hadn't been at the top of the division since the 2015 season. Unfortunately, the Broncos and Chargers upped their games and became worthy adversaries, and both finished ahead of K.C. in the AFC West standings when the season was officially in the books.
To make matters worse, the Broncos and Chargers don't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. That's why Conor Orr of SI predicted the Chiefs to once again finish in third in the division this season. Orr wrote:
"The AFC West standings will finish in the following order and with the following records:
Chargers: 13–4
Broncos: 11–6
Chiefs: 11–6
Raiders: 7–10"
SI predicts Chiefs will finish third in AFC West for second straight year
On one hand, Orr has the Chiefs finishing with a respectable record of 11-6, which should be enough to get them into the playoffs. But, unfortunately for Chiefs fans, the Chargers finish with two more wins and even though K.C. and Denver finish with the same record, Orr gave the edge to the Broncos for second place.
The Chiefs were fortunate to have an easy run in the AFC West for a number of years and that's simply not the case anymore. The Raiders are even starting to look more threatening but they're at least a few years away from making any real kind of noise.
With the division getting increasingly difficult, the Chiefs will have to find other ways to win games. If they can figure out a way to hang with the surging Broncos and Chargers, there's no reason they can't win the AFC West again in 2026 and continue the dominance they once had in the division. If they stick to their old tricks and fail to adjust, however, then third place might end up being their destiny once again. Chiefs fans certainly don't wan to see that come to fruition.
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