The AFC West saw a change in the division standings among second and third place this week. A Denver Broncos' win and a Los Angeles Chargers' loss puts Denver one game ahead of L.A. entering a huge meeting on Thursday night. If the Broncos beat the Chargers on TNF, you can almost lock Denver into a better Wild Card spot, assuming both teams make the playoffs.
The Chiefs now sit as the team with the best record in the NFL. However, injuries and up-and-down results from the passing game left a bit of caution entering these next couple of games. Kansas City has some key decisions to make on how to handle certain players and their usage with a pair of games in a short stretch.
Finally, the Las Vegas Raiders fell to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night. This pushes the Raiders' losing streak to 10 games. Interestingly, they have two games coming up against teams with losing records. However, some of fans may prefer to keep the losing streak going, in order to "earn" one of the top draft picks.
How do the AFC West teams stack up entering Week 16? Here are where things stand in our latest power rankings around the division.
1. Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs defense had struggled to create many turnovers this season. Thankfully for them, multiple takeaways came their way with the help of Jameis Winston. It was one of the rare games where Kansas City got multiple turnovers in a single game this season. Meanwhile, pressure from the defensive front also got home more often. The Chiefs finished the day with five sacks and six takeaways.
On the other side, questionable coaching decisions and play calling, along with the Patrick Mahomes injury, put a damper on a 14-point win. It truly felt like a game where Kansas City mismanaged things more than they could have, despite the big lead. The team will now have to decide if playing Mahomes on Saturday is worth the risk against the Houston Texans.
2. Denver Broncos
For the first time in a few weeks, we have the Denver Broncos ahead of the Los Angeles Chargers. Denver had a bit of a slow start on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. But, the Broncos utilized their stingy defense to get rolling. In total, Denver had five takeaways. A defensive touchdown on a bit of a weird play from Nik Bonitto was a major difference in the outcome, as he continues his underappreciated season.
Do the Broncos deserve more hype than they seem to be getting? Most of their turnaround is still being recognized as impressive. But perhaps, this team has enough to play spoiler in the wild card round and stun someone on the road.
3. Los Angeles Chargers
Sunday was arguably the worst performance we have seen from the Chargers defense this year. Baker Mayfield hardly missed on any of his throws. Plus, he was able to win very easily when attacking down the field. Tampa Bay's 40 points made this a quick blowout and put Los Angeles in one of their deepest holes all season long. The Chargers became extremely one-dimensional, as a result.
Offensively, Justin Herbert was as erratic as he had been all year. That is not a great sign when Tampa Bay has been shaky as a secondary, but from a grander perspective, Sunday's game cast more doubt about what the Chargers can ultimately be this season. They have not shown up against good teams with winning records. Many of their wins are beginning to look more and more fraudulent.
4. Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders did not just extend their losing streak on Monday. Las Vegas lost their best player for the last four games, as Maxx Crosby is done for the year with an injury. A player that has hardly missed any action, or even snaps, in his career, that puts a rather harsh ending to an already tough season in Las Vegas.
The Raiders were mainly hurt by the rushing attack of Atlanta on Monday night. Bijan Robinson finished with 125 rushing yards and 5.7 yards per carry. Tyler Allgeier also picked up some necessary large chunks to keep drives rolling. With how Kirk Cousins looked, a slightly better run defense from the Raiders could have ended their losing streak against the Falcons.