AFC West Odds Have KC Chiefs Way Out In Front

• The Kansas City Chiefs are favorites to win the AFC West with -350 odds.
• The Los Angeles Chargers have +450 odds to win the division, putting them in second place.
• The Las Vegas Raiders and the Denver Broncos bring up the rear, with +1200 and +1400 odds respectively.

KANSAS CITY – The Kansas City Chiefs are fresh off of back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, and each of them coincided with a dominant regular season.

The Chiefs are the favorites to win the AFC West in 2021’s NFL season, and the reasons for this are obvious – they’re the same team as they have been, and there’s not a good reason to bet against them.

Kansas City Chiefs, -350 Odds

The Chiefs seem like a potentially safe bet at -350, and they’ve run away with this division in recent years.

The only thing that could conceivably stop them would be an injury to Patrick Mahomes, but one wonders if they wouldn’t be able to survive several games without him playing.

Their -350 odds at most sportsbooks are a bit punishing, but not that bad considering that they’re pretty likely to win it.

-350 odds imply a 77% chance of the event occurring, and if a given NFL betting fan believes that the Chiefs have a higher than a 77% chance to win the AFC West, those odds represent a good bet.

Los Angeles Chargers, +450 Odds

The Chargers are perhaps the most realistic challengers to the Chiefs, as they have a young, up-and-coming QB in the form of Justin Herbert.

Herbert was elite in his rookie season, and going into year two, will be looking to continue his strong performance.

He has playmakers on offense in the form of Keenan Allen and Austin Ekeler, and the Chargers might be a sneakily good team going into 2021.

The problem for the Chargers is simply that the Chiefs are likely a better team straight up, and until that changes, they’re likely relegated to the status of an also-ran.

Las Vegas Raiders, +1200 Odds

The Las Vegas Raiders were the only team to beat the Chiefs in the regular season when Patrick Mahomes played.

They also played the Chiefs competitively in their other matchup, which the Chiefs ended up winning. However, the Raiders’ excellent performances against the Chiefs seemed to be outliers, as the team finished 8-8.

Notably, the Raiders lost six of their eight home games in the 2020 season – one wonders if that might change with fans in the stands in 2022.

Denver Broncos, +1400 Odds

The Denver Broncos are a mess, and a lot of that is due to the QB situation. Drew Lock is a vaguely capable player in theory, but his inconsistency leaves a lot to be desired on a game-to-game basis.

Take it from Broncos coach Vic Fangio:

Vic Fangio on how confident he is in Drew Lock:

"I feel confident he will improve."

— v̸̳̽͗̄͗͋̈̈́ş̸͚̟̆̊͑͌̌.̷͉̙͉̞̈̔̅͛ (@denVSeverybody) March 4, 2021

Newly hired Broncos GM George Paton hinted that Lock might not even be the starting QB for the Broncos in 2021.

“We’re always going to try to bring in competition at every position, and quarterback as well,” said Paton. “But I like the track that Drew’s on.”

The Broncos won five games in the 2020 season, and while one of their losses was with Kendall Hinton playing QB, there’s still not much of a path forward for this team to challenge for the division.