AFC West Week 13 Rankings: The AFC West crown will remain in Kansas City

Since the last time we did one of these, the Chiefs have only solidified their stranglehold on the division. For another year, the division will run through Kansas City.

The Chargers are still in the thick of the playoff hunt but they’ll need a bit of help from other teams to take down those in front of them.

As for the Raiders and Broncos, they’re all but done fighting for a postseason berth, but they’ll still have plenty of motivation to earn bragging rights over their fellow division members.

Here’s where the AFC West stands following week 12’s slate of games.

1.) Kansas City Chiefs (9-2, 3-0 AFC West)

The Chiefs handedly beat the Rams 26-10 who were playing without Matthew Stafford after he sustained a second concussion in week 11. Former third-stringer Bryce Perkins did all he could, but that’s a rough situation for anyone to get thrown into. Mahomes only needed to toss one touchdown to Travis Kelce and rookie Isiah Pacheco ran for another to get them a comfortable victory over the reigning Super Bowl champs.

The Chiefs will travel to the Bengals this week for a rematch of the 2022 AFC Championship Game.

2.) Los Angeles Chargers (6-5, 2-2 AFC West)

The Chargers escaped the Cardinals 25-24 thanks to an excellent play called by Joe Lombardi on the team’s two-point conversion with 12 seconds remaining in regulation. Justin Herbert threw for a trio of touchdowns, including Keenan Allen’s first score of the season.

The defense stood tough in the fourth quarter in order to give Herbert one final shot at winning the game by holding Kyler Murray and the Arizona offense to three consecutive three-and-outs.

The Bolts will head to Las Vegas this week to finish their series with the Raiders.

3.) Las Vegas Raiders (4-7, 2-2 AFC West)

The Raiders stunned the Seahawks in their own stadium on Sunday thanks to a walk-off 86-yard touchdown run by Josh Jacobs in overtime. The former Bama runner posted 303 yards from scrimmage which is now the new single-game record for the franchise.

The Raiders will get a shot to even the series against the Chargers this week at home.

4.) Denver Broncos (3-8, 0-3 AFC West)

The Broncos offense scored just 10 points as they fell to the lowly Panthers 23-10. Russell Wilson completed 19 of 35 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown. He has just eight scores through 12 weeks as his season from hell continues for the Denver faithful. To add insult to injury, he lost to Sam Darnold who was starting his first game of the season.

Denver travels to Baltimore to gave the Ravens this week.