AFC West: Chiefs and Raiders -- A Changing of The Guard?

We just might be seeing a return to the days of old in the AFC west. The days when the battle between arch rivals made headlines and grabbed TV shares. Days when verbal shots and insults, some friendly and some not so friendly, filled the air in living rooms, sports bars and around water coolers.

The Kansas City Chiefs taking the crown in the west this year is the first step towards that new landscape.

The epic battles between the Chiefs and the Raiders during the 60’s and 70’s were not just joy and sorrow for people in the Midwest and on the west coast, those battles made the cover of magazines and newspapers nationwide and provided for some awesome NFL films productions. Those were the days!

Now, watching this season come to a close I can just begin to sense those old feelings again. The Chiefs are building a team that will become a juggernaut over the next several years, an offense that can explode and a defense that can crush and stifle any team on any given Sunday. The Raiders seem to be headed down the same road. I can tell you, as a Chiefs fan, I do not worry about the Chargers or the Broncos next year. But I am looking over my shoulder at what is going on in Oakland.

The Raiders will finish the season with a record of either 7-9 or 8-8, but when you look at their season up close, they could easily be 10-5 and playing this week against the Chiefs in a huge game.

The Raiders have a potent offense. Jacoby Ford is scary to watch. Every time he touches the ball he can take it to the house. Darren McFadden should become the primary back next year and if the QB situation settles out, the Raiders will be a force to be reckoned with.

The Raiders defense allows too many points per game. That is something that will have to be addressed this off-season.

The Chiefs can only improve this off-season. A decent draft and a few acquisitions in the free agent market and look out.

The Broncos are in disarray and it will be a few years before they can turn things around, depending of course on how the coaching situation works itself out, but it looks like Denver will be entering a re-building process.

I think San Deigo is on the downhill side of their domination over the past several years. Obviously they can continue to compete over the next few years, but I don’t think that they can overcome what is going on in Kansas City and Oakland.

What was that saying? It is deja vu all over again. It is good for the AFC and it is good for the NFL. It is also good for Kansas City. Nothing drives you like having your most hated nemesis right on your heels.

Whatever the outcome over the next few years in the AFC west, it is going to be fun to watch. And, a new Chiefs-Raiders rivalry? How can it get better than that?