Week 11 AFC West Roundup
By Justin Smith
A weekly update on the AFC West, to keep up with the Oakland Raiders and the rest of the division.
It’s Monday night in Mexico City. The first Monday night football game ever played outside of the United States. Denver is on a bye and Kansas City just lost. The Raiders have a golden opportunity to seize back sole possession of the AFC West lead.
And they do just that.
Typical excellent play in winning time from QB Derek Carr — coupled with controversial calls that atypically went in their favor — helped the Raiders beat Houston to move to 8-2 and regain sole possession of first place in the AFC West.
The Chargers had a bye — Rivers threw two picks in his kid’s high school scrimmage — and they aren’t really in the mix for the division title anyway. However, with games left against the Raiders and Chiefs, and other AFC playoff hopeful Texans, they can easily play spoiler.
With the division still playing each other and the Broncos and Chiefs still in the two wild card spots, high drama is about to ensue. The Raiders have positioned themselves well to not only garner their first winning season since 2002, but to contend for the #1 seed in the AFC. It won’t be easy, and they’re still very young, but they’ve put themselves in great position.
The road won’t be easy for any of the top three, but they’re in the best possible position they could be in at the moment.