2. Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos won 10 games last season with $90 million in dead cap thanks to a number of really bad moves, most notably the Russell Wilson trade.
The Broncos have played really well for Sean Payton and ended their playoff drought, which was the second-longest in the NFL behind the New York Jets. This is a team that had a great offseason on paper, adding Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, Evan Engram, and JK Dobbins to a team that was already in the top 10 of the NFL in scoring offense and scoring defense.
The Broncos also led the NFL in sacks last season, and have the Defensive Player of the Year in Pat Surtain II.
With the improvements they've made, the Broncos have one of the highest ceilings of any team in the AFC West and might be best positioned to dethrone the Chiefs in the near future.
1. Kansas City Chiefs
I'm not so sure the separation between the Chiefs and the other teams in this division is as big as it's been in recent years. The Chiefs were obviously great this past season, only losing two regular season games with one of them being when they benched most of their players in preparation for the playoffs.
Kansas City has been on a dynasty-like run, but it feels like that particular window is closing. That doesn't mean the Chiefs won't still be title contenders going forward, but the gap between the Chiefs and every other team in the division is closing.
This team's biggest strength is the way it plays in situational football. Their biggest weakness, on paper, appears to be the offensive line. How much will that affect them in one-score games going forward?