The KC Chiefs are in last place in the AFC West

The AFC West was already starting out weird enough already in 2021, but the Kansas City Chiefs are making it worse.

Imagine if, before the season, someone would have told you that at the end of September, the Chiefs would be in last place in the AFC West. You likely would have laughed at them or just ignored them like some “fake news” messenger that you learn to simply mute or block on Twitter because they claim to have sources.

Three weeks into the season, however, that same messenger would have been proven correct. The Chiefs are 1-2 and their rivals aren’t helping them by enjoying unexpected winning streaks of their own.

The Chiefs are in the AFC West basement after three weeks.

Everything here is a small sample size, obviously, and no one should start running with any long-term notions about teams being bad or good. But very few people would have ever expected the Las Vegas Raiders to open the season with a 2-0 record against formidable opponents from the AFC North in the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Educated fans might have predicted that the Denver Broncos could be 2-0 after their first couple games due to the light schedule they’re facing. That remains true in Week 3 as they face the New York Jets. Still any team can win on any given Sunday in the league, and the Broncos are taking care of business as Teddy Bridgewater looks impressive under center.

Given the Chargers win on Sunday over the Chiefs at Arrowhead, that means the Chargers are now 2-1 with their lone defeat coming from the Dallas Cowboys (and even that was ruined by an illegal shift call against L.A.). In short, everyone in this division could be 3-0 except for the Chiefs (although they have reasons to believe their fortunes could be different as well).

But such is life in the NFL. A team who wants to blame bad luck or the referees or something else for their record is likely a team sitting on the outside of the postseason looking in. The Chiefs are going to have to get their act together if they want to keep up in a suddenly very competitive AFC West.

As of press time, here are the current AFC West standings: