Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs looks to pass against the Houston Texans during the first … [+] half of the game at NRG Stadium on Dec. 18, 2022. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
With their 30-24 overtime victory against the Houston Texans, the
Kansas City Chiefs have clinched the AFC West title for an astounding
seventh straight year.
“It’s a huge deal. Obviously, you want to win the Super Bowl every
year, but it starts (with) our first goal,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick
Mahomes said, “to win the AFC West.”
The Chiefs’ seventh-consecutive division title ties the 1973-79 Los
Angeles Rams for the second-longest streak of division titles in NFL
history.
But the more appropriate and modern comparison is the New England
Patriots dynasty. New England won 16 of 17 AFC East titles from 2003 to
2019, including 11 straight from 2009 to 2019.
As part of their divisional dominance, the Chiefs and Patriots share
the traits of having a transcendent quarterback (Mahomes and Tom Brady)
and a future Hall of Fame coach (Andy Reid and Bill Belichick).
In addition to those teams’ overall excellence, however, they also benefited from playing in weak divisions.
During the Patriots’ reign from 2003 to 2019, only six times did the
division feature another playoff-bound team with 10 or more wins. And
from 2011 to 2014, no other AFC East teams reached the playoffs or
recorded double-digit wins.
While the Patriots were led by Belichick and Brady, the rest of the
teams in the division churned through different starting quarterbacks
and head coaches. And the same is now happening in the AFC West.
Since Peyton Manning retired from the Denver Broncos following the
2015 season, the franchise has gone though myriad quarterbacks, head
coaches and now even have new owners. The Las Vegas Raiders and Los
Angeles have endured dysfunction from the top down, and each has
recently moved to a new city.
During Kansas City’s six previous AFC West titles, the division
featured neither a 10-win team nor a playoff team (other than the
Chiefs) half of those years, including during the Chiefs’ back-to-back
Super Bowl seasons of 2019 and 2020.
This year the Chargers are the only other possible AFC West team that could reach 10 wins or make the playoffs.
Criticizing the AFC West as a whole is not meant to detract from the Chiefs’ overall brilliance.
The Chiefs continue to dominate — even in a year when the rest of the
division loaded up on big-name acquisitions like Russell Wilson, whose
average annual value (AAV) ranks second in the NFL, and Randy Gregory,
who was signed to a five-year, $70 million contract, on the Broncos;
Davante Adams, who has the second highest AAV among NFL receivers, on the Raiders and J.C. Jackson, who was signed to a five-year, $82.5 million contract, and Khalil Mack on the Chargers.
Though the Chiefs’ current streak started with Alex Smith, who guided
the Chiefs to AFC West titles in 2016 and 2017, Mahomes running Reid’s
offense has been the consistent factor.
Since being drafted in 2017, Mahomes is an amazing 15-0 in road games in the AFC West and he’s 10-0 against the Broncos, who he defeated last week.
A leading candidate for MVP, he extended his NFL lead in passing touchdowns and passing yards with a 36-of-41, 336-yard performance against the Texans.
The face of the NFL, he is at the forefront of the winning culture
Reid has established. And the Chiefs’ run of seven straight divisional
crowns is a testament to their skill and determination.
“We just really emphasize playing our division opponents,” Mahomes said. “That’s something that we work on all offseason.”
But the Chiefs’ divisional dominance is also a reflection of the sorry state of the AFC West.
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