NFL Power Rankings: Ranking the AFC West ahead of Monday Night Football

Monday Night Football will finish off Week 12 of the 2024 NFL Season. Let's power-rank the AFC West ahead of that game. The AFC West could feature three teams in the playoffs this season, and after years of this division being pretty dysfunctional outside of the Kansas City Chiefs, the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos could be notable going forward.

The final game in Week 12 features the Los Angeles Chargers facing off against the Baltimore Ravens. Before that game gets underway, let's power-rank this deep division.

NFL Power Rankings: Ranking the AFC West ahead of Monday Night Football

4. Las Vegas Raiders (2-9)

Arguably the worst team in football, the Las Vegas Raiders are 2-9 on the season and are probably looking toward the 2025 NFL Draft to perhaps draft their quarterback of the future. The Raiders lost starting QB Gardner Minshew for the rest of the season with an injury, so it could be Desmond Ridder in line to start the rest of the way for the Raiders.

The Raiders went into this season with no identity and not a single chance to win many games, and here we are. How did Las Vegas beat the Baltimore Ravens?

3. Denver Broncos (7-5)

The Denver Broncos have now won two games in a row since losing to the Kansas City Chiefs on a blocked field goal in Week 10. This is how a good team responds to heartbreak, and this team has one more game before their bye in Week 14. They face the Cleveland Browns and could be 8-5 entering the bye. If the Chargers lose on Monday Night Football, this back and forth between the Broncos and Chargers could get interesting down the stretch, as the two teams still have to play each other.

The Broncos are better than being third in their division, but with LA and KC in front of them, they are kind of third by default, and it's not fair to rank Denver above LA since the Chargers did beat the Broncos a few weeks ago.

2. Los Angeles Chargers (7-3)

The Los Angeles Chargers play on Monday Night Football against the Baltimore Ravens, and their three losses this season have come against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Arizona Cardinals, so LA is not exactly beating the good teams on their schedule.

I would think that the Ravens end up winning this one, but you just never know. The Chargers are still well on their way to a playoff berth even with a loss here in Week 12, but a loss could complicate things in the tight AFC Wild Card race. The Chargers, Ravens, and Broncos all have seven wins approaching Monday Night Football.

1. Kansas City Chiefs (10-1)

The Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Buffalo Bills in Week 11 and needed a walk-off field goal to beat the Carolina Panthers. And in Week 10, they got outplayed by Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos in Arrowhead, so this is not an elite team. They are more like a seven-win team then anything else, but they are 10-1.

The Chiefs find a way to close out some of these games, so credit goes there way for that if nothing else. We'll see if they falter down the stretch, as one more loss could put them in danger of losing the top seed in the AFC since Buffalo has the head-to-head tiebreaker.