No matter what anyone thinks about the Kansas City Chiefs following their dismantling by the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, the Chiefs remain the team to beat in the AFC. Patrick Mahomes and company may have won a majority of their games by one score, but they still put together a 15-2 record before the postseason.

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Heading into the 2025 season, there are a plethora of AFC teams that might be able to finally challenge the Chiefs for conference supremacy. The Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans, and Los Angeles Chargers all theoretically have a shot at doing so.

Despite the usual suspects, a new prediction believes that a shocking team will be able to unseat the Chiefs in the AFC West.

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According to NFL columnist Jeffri Chadiha, the Denver Broncos could be the team to snap the Chiefs’ nine-time AFC West streak. Per his bold predictions for the 2025 season:

“The Chiefs have reigned over the division since 2016 and they’ve barely been challenged during most of the years that quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been under center. Most of that success comes down to the Chiefs’ greatness but they’ve also been helped plenty by the ineptitude of the teams sharing the AFC West with them. Kansas City has been led by future Hall of Fame coach Andy Reid during that entire run of dominance. Every other team in the division has had at least four different head coaches within that same stretch. That churn appears to have slowed, though, with Pete Carroll (Raiders), Jim Harbaugh (Chargers) and Sean Payton (Broncos) now working in the AFC West.

“Of those three coaches — all of whom have either reached or won the Super Bowl — Payton is sitting on the most impressive team aside from the Chiefs. The Broncos have an elite defense, and it looks like they landed a franchise quarterback in Bo Nix in last year’s draft. We know Payton can coach up the offense, especially as the Broncos add more playmakers. We’ve also seen how Denver gave Kansas City fits last season in Arrowhead, with a blocked field goal keeping them from securing an impressive upset. Denver is good enough to win this division now. With the other teams also creating more resistance to the Chiefs — who went 5-1 in the AFC West after resting their starters in a Week 18 loss to the Broncos — Denver will earn its first crown since Peyton Manning was their quarterback.”

The Broncos became one of the most shocking playoff teams in 2024. With rookie quarterback Bo Nix under center, many were not giving the team a chance to compete. However, they squeaked into the postseason with a 10-7 record.

Nix is going to be far more in command of the offense, and Sean Payton knows how to coach. That is a winning combo for a team that showcased a young core and dynamic playmaking capabilities.

That’s not to mention the other stars on the team like recently acquired running back J.K. Dobbins, Courtland Sutton, Evan Engram, Dre Greenlaw, Pat Surtain II, and more.

There are solid playmakers on both sides of the ball, and the Broncos are expected to be even more refined. While it will be hard to believe that Denver can take the division, it is not out of the realm of possibility.

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