Who will win the AFC West?
By: Jake Rajala
The Denver Broncos have a lot of swagger and confidence after starting 8-2 this season, which includes a recent victory over their division foe, the Las Vegas Raiders. With that said, I’m going to lay out a few reasons they are division favorites in the Wild AFC West.
- Pass rush
Thankfully, I started the Denver Broncos defense this week. They scored me a fine 15 points. They didn’t have reigning DPOY winner Patrick Surtain, but their pass rush still dominated. They registered six sacks. They have several more sacks than any other defense. They are led by Nik Bonitto, who has one of the best get offs by an edge rusher.
- Kansas City Chiefs
The Broncos have the Chiefs number. The Broncos are 2-1 over the past few games against KC. If you can have a winning record and bragging rights over any team, anybody would pick to have those advantages over the Chiefs. However, the Chiefs are 10th in sacks allowed this season. They may be able to hold their ground against the Broncos pass rush enough for Mahomes to put up a few touchdowns. Thankfully, the Broncos have shown to win in shootouts, as well.
- RB tandem
The wiz Sean Payton has his famous 1-2 punch at the RB this season with JK Dobbins and RJ Harvey. Dobbins and Harvey can both go inside and outside. Dobbins is a bit more elusive and powerful than Harvey. It should be expected that Dobbins has the slight edge as Harvey is a rookie. It’s been well documented that Payton’s offense shines with more than one lead back. He had Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram sharing the load. Before those two, he had Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush.
The Broncos are the most underrated AFC Super Bowl Contender. The Buffalo Bills are seen as the heavyweights in the AFC. The Chiefs and Indianpolis Colts are also regarded as SB contenders. Even the Ravens are given more attention than the Broncos. I am here to tell you that the Broncos are here to say and they have the perfect blend on experience and youth. This could very well be the year for DEN to win it all. The Broncos won their last Super Bowl with an elite pass rush. It would be poetic if they won another Lombardi with a fierce pass rush.
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