The AFC West is one of the more interesting divisions in the entire NFL. Aside from the recent consistency on Kansas City's part—winning the last nine division titles—no member had ever won more than four in a row. With that level of parity, any of the teams have had a chance any given year.
The unfortunate thing about that history is that we aren't living there anymore. None of the other teams in the division has won in nine years, and consequently, none of them really know how to win very well. We've seen a handful of "Cinderella runs" to unseat the Chiefs as the top dog in the West, and none have panned out; why should we have any belief in this Broncos team?
The most notable attempt to take down Kansas City came early on in this dynasty window. In 2018, the Chiefs had won the division back-to-back, but faced a challenge from the Chargers. Finishing the season with the same 12-6 record, it was decided on record against divisional opponents, which the Chiefs had a one-game edge over L.A. One game against a divisional opponent was the difference between the No. 1 seed in the conference with home-field advantage and the No. 5 seed traveling for a Wild Card matchup.
The Broncos' hot start makes them intriguing in the AFC West race, but how serious are they to challenge the Chiefs?
As for the Broncos, this success has unequivocally tied to the drafting of Bo Nix from Oregon to lead the Denver offense. Denver finished below .500 each of the four seasons before Sean Payton was able to get his guy. In his single season to date, Nix led the Broncos to a 10-7 finish. Never in contention within the division, but a bright spot for what has been a sad decade in Denver since their Super Bowl run in 2015.
Now, here we are in 2025, and we have a Broncos team that sits atop the division for the first time in a long while. The NFL is a "what have you done for me lately?" kind of league, and 10 years might as well be 100 with any regard to team culture or success. With Brandon McManus' departure in 2023, there isn't a single remaining member from that Super Bowl team on the current iteration of the Broncos. This team doesn't know how to win, and largely hasn't been tasked with winning in a meaningful way for some time.
While they have captured lightning in a bottle through seven weeks, you have to wonder if the carriage will eventually turn into a pumpkin as the slog of a full season takes its toll. Having beat the Eagles and the Chargers in the early going, Denver has proven they don't back down from a challenge. That mentality was on display even more so in their dramatic win over the Giants on Sunday. Entering the 4th quarter down 19-0 and scoring all 33 points in that final window to win 33-32 is something we really don't have an analogy for. While impressive, it was not at all the same showing we got from this team just a few weeks ago when they dismantled the Eagles in Philly.
Moving forward, the Broncos will only receive more challenges, with two matchups remaining against Kansas City and Oakland, as well as tilts against the Cowboys, Commanders, Packers, and Jaguars it is hard to see a reality in which the Broncos are fighting a divisional matchup tiebreaker like the Chargers did in 2018. Denver benefits from low expectations, in large part due to their inexperience, but it is that same inexperience that provides little confidence in their ability to take down Kansas City.