Just a couple of years ago, the AFC West was supposed to be one of the most dominant quarterback divisions in football with the Broncos adding Russell Wilson and the Raiders still having Derek Carr at the time. It's funny, in hindsight, to think about just how much has transpired in a short amount of time.
Russell Wilson's unceremonious exit from Denver resulted in the largest dead cap hit in NFL history for an individual player while Derek Carr was cast away by Josh McDaniels and has since retired from pro football.
The AFC West has been continually dominated by Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, who are in the midst of the NFL's latest dynasty run and the Los Angeles Chargers, who have been in the thick of things in the regular season but extremely disappointing in the playoffs. How will the AFC West turn out in 2025? We're going to take a stab at predicting every record for all four AFC West teams in 2025, in what should end up being a very competitive division.
NFL Predictions: Predicting the record for every AFC West team in 2025
Las Vegas Raiders: 7-10
Raiders fans will take major issue with this for a number of reasons. The hiring of Pete Carroll is supposed to raise the floor of this team, and the addition of Geno Smith as the team's quarterback should give this team a shot at competing for the postseason.
And I think the offense for the Raiders will have this team in playoff contention. But ultimately, the defense for the Raiders is so horrendous on paper that there's no way this team is going to be able to last through an 18-week season. They simply don't have the pieces on that side of the ball, and the rebuilding project from GM John Spytek is still a work in progress.
I think the Raiders will win some games they're not expected to this year, but they'll ultimately fall short as the year progresses because of that defense.
Los Angeles Chargers: 10-7
The Los Angeles Chargers were one of the more well-rounded teams in the NFL last season, but they were borderline boring. Justin Herbert threw the fewest passes per game that we've seen from him in the NFL, and he was efficient, finishing with the lowest interception percentage of his NFL career as the Chargers really embraced Jim Harbaugh's style of football.
This team wants to run the ball, be dominant in the trenches, and consistent on defense. The issue for the Chargers last year was that they couldn't stop the run well enough defensively and the offense wet the bed at the worst possible time. Not even Jim Harbaugh could prevent the Chargers from "Chargering".
This is still going to be a really good team but I don't know if the Chargers will be able to meet or exceed the 11 wins they had a season ago. They'll fall somewhere between nine and 11 wins and need the stars to align to make a run in the playoffs.
Denver Broncos: 11-6
The Denver Broncos won 10 games a season ago and they appear poised to improve on that number in 2025. The Broncos were 1-6 in one-score games last year and won nine games by nine or more points. That was with $90 million in dead cap to work around.
This is one of the most interesting teams in the league, full of young talent and coming off of one of the best offseasons for any team in the league. The Broncos already led the NFL in sacks last season along with quarterback pressures, but that defense might be poised to be even better.
Even though the Broncos finished with the third-best record in the AFC West last year, I think they are poised to jump the Kansas City Chiefs for a division title this year, if anyone is capable of doing that.
Kansas City Chiefs: 12-5
For the past couple of seasons, the Chiefs have proven their ability to dominate situational football. They have ranked 15th in the NFL in scoring each of the last two seasons, and it hasn't really mattered. They won the Super Bowl in the 2023 season and won the AFC in 2024. This Chiefs team finds different ways to win each week, but they have leaned heavily on their defensive consistency.
Patrick Mahomes and the offense need to be better this coming season, and part of that has to do with whether or not they can stay healthy. Rashee Rice is a key piece of this offense competing at its fullest potential.
Even though the Chiefs' starters lost just two games last season including the Super Bowl, they flirted with disaster in many matchups. Are they going to be able to stay on that streak of luck going forward?