While the Kansas City Chiefs have well-documented rivalries within the AFC West, success in the Mahomes era has sparked new rivalries across the entire AFC. Being compared weekly to teams led by Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow comes with the territory when you’ve won three Super Bowls.
Now, in 2025, it's no longer a quiet aspiration to be better than Kansas City, it’s an open objective. The Chiefs must fall, no matter the cost.
As Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season approached, the expectation for Kansas City was simple: Super Bowl or bust. Imagine the shock when KC went to Brazil and not only looked underwhelming, but also lost Xavier Worthy for an undetermined period.
Taking one on the chin from the Chargers hurts not only in the standings but also signals a dormant shift inside the AFC West and beyond. The Chiefs aren't alone anymore, and the rest of the AFC isn’t waiting.
The Wild West
The LA Chargers met the Chiefs head-on in Brazil and looked every bit like the up-and-comer they've been billed as since Justin Herbert arrived. Solid defensive play and a steady offensive approach sent L.A. back home with a win. Herbert put together the most complete game of his career thus far and should now be viewed as a dangerous foe moving forward. Expect sparks to fly when these two meet again in December.
Aside from the aforementioned loss to the Chargers, the rest of the division seemed to be playing with house money in Week 1. The Raiders welcomed the Patriots to town, and the Geno Smith/Pete Carroll era has officially begun. Brock Bowers was the engine of that offense but exited early with a knee injury in the fourth quarter. A one-score win against a still-depleted Patriots team was to be expected.
Now for the division rival that's been gaining steam in the cultural zeitgeist all offseason: the Donkeys of Denver. Bolstered by two Bo Nix turnovers, the Broncos managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, taking down rookie Cam Ward in his first NFL start. The Broncos will win games this season, as they did in Week 1, but world-beaters they are not. It’s still difficult to see a scenario where the Broncos or Raiders present a real threat to Kansas City within the division.
Conference Contenders
Looking around the NFL, it’s easy to spot the teams hungry to topple Mahomes and the Chiefs—not just atop the AFC, but across the league. These are teams that have endured hard-fought regular season and playoff battles with Kansas City and are desperate to finally break through. The Bengals, Bills, and Ravens are all primed and ready, not necessarily driven by the Super Bowl alone, but by the singular mission of unseating the Chiefs.
Year after year, the Bengals try to shed the “Bungles” label, and year after year, they find new ways to confound fans. In a Week 1 cage match against 40-year-old Joe Flacco and the Browns, Cincinnati’s leading receiver had 33 yards, and their leading rusher had 43, in a full 60 minutes of football.
“To the victor go the spoils,” as the saying goes, but that doesn’t mean the victors are immune to criticism. The Bengals' offense will wake up this season—that much is certain. But it’s also true that they won’t always be facing Joe Flacco and the Browns. Color me unimpressed.
Edgar Allen Poe would love the Lamar Jackson-led Ravens. They’re compelling, dramatic, haunting to their opponents, and the way they win (and lose) games is as mysterious as it is straightforward. For 51 minutes on Sunday night, the Ravens dismantled the reigning MVP and the Buffalo Bills.
A punishing rushing attack led by Derrick Henry and a stifling defense gave them a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter, seemingly ready to announce themselves as the new heir apparent in the AFC. But fate—or the football gods—had other plans. A 16-point comeback in prime time has left Baltimore wondering what more they need to do to seal the deal.
The Buffalo Bills created plenty of “Billievers” on Sunday night. With their improbable comeback, the Bills cemented themselves as early favorites to win the unofficial "team most likely to beat Kansas City this year" award. While I’ll need to see sustained success to fully believe in them, I can’t deny how impressive they were with their backs against the wall. It was, in many ways, a Chiefs-like performance, erasing a 15-point deficit in just 8 minutes.
Given the way they won, the Bills are one of the few playoff teams from last year that still look in rhythm. Much like the Bengals, “to the victors go the spoils.” The Bills have earned the benefit of the doubt, at least until something inevitably derails them, like losing to the Saints in Week 4.