Heading into Week 6 of the 2024 NFL season, there has been a rollercoaster of events within the AFC West. To start, the Los Angeles Chargers defeated the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1 to begin their season with a 1-0 record. The defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, began their dominant run during the same week.
After five weeks, no team can say they have beaten Patrick Mahomes and his crew.
The AFC West looks to be pretty competitive this season and there should be tight matchups throughout. The NFC North and NFC East join the AFC West as the only divisions in football where each team has at least two wins.
As of today, the Raiders are seeded as the last-place team in their division.
AFC West Power Rankings heading into Week 6
1. Kansas City Chiefs
Obviously, the defending champions who are also undefeated come in as the best team in the division. They are likely the best team in the NFL’s entirety. Despite dealing with an abundance of injuries, Kansas City continues to triumph through the storm. It truly is hard to ever doubt Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
What is shocking about the Chiefs is that they are not in the top-five for any major statistic. This shows their keen ability to stay balanced and scheme up wins.
Kansas City has demonstrated their ability to defeat high-powered offenses such as the Baltimore Ravens, however, they’ve yet to dominate any team. Perhaps a loss will come against a division rival later in the season; their lowest scoring game so far came against the Chargers in Week 4.
2. Los Angeles Chargers
Who would have thought that adding Jim Harbaugh and losing two star wide receivers could be a positive? To begin the season, the Chargers started out hot by defeating the Raiders and dominating the Panthers in back-to-back weeks. They are currently the number one ranked defense via points surrendered per game.
Coming off the early bye, they’ll look to capitalize on their extra rest against the Broncos in Week 6.
Los Angeles currently has two wins with an offense that ranks bottom-five in points scored per game. After their contest against Denver, their schedule gets increasingly more difficult.
3. Denver Broncos
After eight losses in a row, the Broncos finally defeated the Raiders of Las Vegas to end their losing streak.
Denver’s defense has allowed the second-least points per contest, behind only the Chargers. Their largest question has been on the offensive side of the ball with rookie quarterback Bo Nix. Although Nix has three touchdowns to his name, he’s responsible for four interceptions.
Had the Broncos not utterly destroyed the Raiders in Week 5, they’d be in the conversation for worst offense league-wide. As is, Denver is currently averaging the 10th-least points per contest.
4. Las Vegas Raiders, the last-place team in the AFC West
Davante Adams drama, offensive coordinator struggles, multiple injuries, and a quarterback teeter-totter – what has gone right for the Raiders this year? Besides first-round pick Brock Bowers, not much. Losses will continue to pile unless the team can make some drastic changes.
A large part of why the Raiders are struggling so much is the turnovers. Currently, Las Vegas has the highest turnover ratio at negative seven and is showing no sign of progression.
Defensively, the Raiders were projected to be in the upper echelon, but that has not been the case.
*Top Photo: Andy Cross/ The Denver Post
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