{"id":68112,"date":"2025-07-13T01:06:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T01:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=68112"},"modified":"2025-07-13T01:06:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T01:06:15","slug":"list-suggests-chiefs-could-have-hands-full-with-firepower-in-afc-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=68112","title":{"rendered":"List Suggests Chiefs Could Have Hands Full With \u2018Firepower\u2019 in AFC West"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-1369014244-e1752341723811.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-1369014244-e1752341723811.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-1369014244-e1752341723811.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-1369014244-e1752341723811.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"List Suggests Chiefs Could Have Hands Full With \u2018Firepower\u2019 in AFC West\" width=\"780\" height=\"440\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p>The Chiefs are still the favorites in the AFC West, but the rest of the division projects to be feisty in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Entering the 2025-26 NFL season, several division races project to be contested and exciting. Even the ones that aren\u2019t still have some sort of redeeming quality. Take the AFC West, for example. Despite the Kansas City Chiefs dominating the division for years, every offseason features plenty of chatter regarding when that run will end.<\/p>\n<p>This summer, the West is once again shaping up to be formidable. In his ranking of all eight divisions, Eric Edholm of NFL Media has it cracking the top three. Finishing just behind the NFC North and AFC North, the AFC West offers high drama that should unfold over the next several months.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Chiefs Have \u2018Major Credibility\u2019 Despite Super Bowl LIX Loss<\/h2>\n<p>Edholm is open to the AFC West being ahead of the AFC North, and the Chiefs have a lot to do with it. Focusing on the \u201cfirepower\u201d of the division, Edholm seems to believe the best still resides in Kansas City.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cIf this is something of a \u2018last dance\u2019 season in Kansas City, with franchise icon Travis Kelce\u00a0discussing retirement\u00a0this offseason, then we could see another championship run from Andy Reid,\u00a0Patrick Mahomes and the boys,\u201d Edholm wrote. \u201cThe Chiefs\u2019 humiliating loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX \u2014 after they logged a slew of narrow regular-season victories \u2014 has some questioning their chances, but the track record earns this team major credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to pick anyone other than the Chiefs to win the West. They\u2019ve done it every year dating back to 2016-17, after all. That includes two seasons in which Mahomes was either still in college or sitting on the bench. Since he took over as the starter, Kansas City has kicked it up a notch.<\/p>\n<p>Only once has an AFC West team finished in a tie with the Mahomes-led Chiefs. It happened back in 2018, when the\u00a0Los Angeles Chargers matched their 12-4 record. Reid\u2019s group losing in the aforementioned Super Bowl isn\u2019t changing anyone\u2019s 2025 outlook. The Chiefs are the best bets in the division.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Rest of AFC West Attempting to Catch Kansas City Slipping<\/h2>\n<div>\n<p>With that said, the remaining AFC West foes do seem promising. Edholm is showing the Chargers and the Denver Broncos, who made the playoffs last season, some love.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan the Broncos and Chargers take the proverbial next steps?\u201d Edholm asked. \u201cDenver boasts a top-five defense, which could be even better than last season\u2019s unit, plus Bo Nix\u00a0and an emerging offense. The Chargers can\u2019t be overlooked with Jim Harbaugh back in the saddle and\u00a0Justin Herbert squarely in his prime, but some defensive regression might be felt with the pass rush and in the secondary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The team that may have improved the most is the Las Vegas Raiders. They took a step back from 8-9 in 2023 to 4-13 in 2024, but something like the former record seems realistic for 2025. Having a real quarterback and head coach entrenched might make a massive difference.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cThe Raiders have generated a little buzz this offseason and figure to be far more competitive this fall,\u201d Edholm wrote. \u201cPete Carroll can light a fire under this group, with Geno Smith\u00a0and\u00a0Ashton Jeanty leading a remade offense, but the defense must show major improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Franchises don\u2019t win the division nine times in a row by accident, though. The Chiefs competitors might give them a run for their money, sure. But until proven otherwise, there\u2019s no reason to not choose them to come out on top.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Jordan Foote is a seasoned sports writer who covers the NFL for Heavy.com with an emphasis on the Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers. He has years of experience publishing NFL and MLB content for Sports Illustrated&#8217;s On SI vertical, in addition to a background in NBA coverage for multiple outlets. Foote is a Baker University alumnus, earning his degree in Mass Media. He&#8217;s based in Kansas City. More about Jordan Foote<\/p>\n<h2>More Heavy on Chiefs<\/h2>\n<p>Loading more stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Kansas City Chiefs have dominated the AFC West for years and while that could continue in 2025, the division should be competitive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":68113,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>List Suggests Chiefs Could Have Hands Full With \u2018Firepower\u2019 in AFC West - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=68112\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"List Suggests Chiefs Could Have Hands Full With \u2018Firepower\u2019 in AFC West - 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