Chiefs’ reign atop AFC West is over after nine seasons

LAS VEGAS — The Broncos haven’t yet clinched the AFC West, although there is a scenario by which they could seal the division next week.

But the Kansas City Chiefs’ nine-year reign atop the division is over.

The Chiefs’ 20-10 defeat to the Houston Texans on Sunday Night Football was their seventh defeat of the season, ensuring that they will finish at least one game behind the Broncos in the standings and guaranteeing that they can not extend their string of division crowns to double digits.

The Los Angeles Chargers can still overtake Denver. They trail by 2.5 games heading into Monday Night Football, but the Chargers have a Week 3 win over the Broncos in their back pocket.

Los Angeles and Denver face off in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Denver, meanwhile, earned its 11th win of the season with a 24-17 triumph over the Las Vegas Raiders that wasn’t nearly as close as the final margin indicated. The Broncos led 24-7 in the fourth quarter before Las Vegas scored twice in the final moments, including a walk-off field goal to give the Broncos yet another one-score win — their ninth of the season.

The Broncos have now won 10 consecutive games, eight of which have come by seven or fewer points. Their last four wins all came by one score; their last multi-score win came on Oct. 26 against Dallas.

BRONCOS HELPED KNOCK CHIEFS DOWN IN WEEK 11

Denver’s 22-19 triumph over the Chiefs in Week 11 helped push the three-time reigning AFC champions further toward the abyss. That defeat was Kansas City’s fifth-consecutive one-score defeat; they fell to 1-6 in such games with a 31-28 defeat to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.

Despite this, some power rankings and analytics measurements continue listing the Chiefs at or near the top of the league. ESPN’s FPI rankings had the Chiefs atop the NFL heading into Week 14 despite their .500 mark entering this weekend’s play.

The Broncos have eight wins over teams with losing records this season, which, of course, is considered by many pundits to be a strike against their credibility.

One of those wins was over the Chiefs, who now sit at 6-7.

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