The Oakland Raiders will play the Denver Broncos for a must-win game in the AFC West on Sunday afternoon. Which team will keep pace with Kansas City?
Week 3 was not the best week for the AFC West. The four rivals went a combined 1-3, with the one win being between divisional foes. While the Kansas City Chiefs improved to 3-0, that came at the Los Angeles Chargers expense, who now start the year at 0-3.
The two other AFC West teams that were undefeated on the year traveled east and lost their first games of the season. Losing first would be the Denver Broncos, as they would lose an early afternoon kickoff in Orchard Park to the competitive Buffalo Bills. Denver looks to be a different team away from home.
On Sunday Night Football, the Oakland Raiders simply did not show up against the Washington Redskins. Washington completely dominated the Raiders in all three phases. It was ugly and the Silver and Black will gladly turn the page heading into Week 4.
Here are the standings in the AFC West through three weeks.
AFC West Standings (through Week 3)
- Kansas City Chiefs (3-0)
- Denver Broncos (2-1)
- Oakland Raiders (2-1)
- Los Angeles Chargers (0-3)
There won’t be any East Coast games this week, as all four teams will be playing later on in the day. The Chargers will try their luck against the 2-1 Philadelphia Eagles in Carson on Sunday afternoon. Maybe the Chargers get that first win of the season? If not, 0-4 is a disastrous start to the recently relocated Chargers football team.
Kansas City gets to host Washington in primetime on Monday Night Football. The Chiefs are the home favorite, as they should be, but they are getting a Washington team that looked terrific against the Raiders on Sunday Night Football last week. Washington could pull off the primetime upset, but look for the Chiefs to improve to 4-0.
Then there is the intra-divisional matchup that has all over our intrigue in the AFC West. On Sunday afternoon, the Broncos will host the Raiders at Mile High for arguably the most important game of the week. Which team will improve to 3-1 and who will stumble to 2-2?
The importance of this game is only amplified depending on what goes on at Arrowhead on Monday night. Nobody wants to be two games back of the first-place Chiefs heading into Week 5. Oakland leans on its offense, while Denver is very much a defensive minded team. What will give on Sunday afternoon?
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A road win for the Raiders means that Oakland has gone 2-1 on the road in its first four games of the season, all against teams that will be .500 or better through the first quarter. To take two of three versus the Tennessee Titans, the Redskins and the Broncos is impressive in a four-week span, all things considered.
Should Denver win, we have to seriously start looking at this team as not just a wild card contender, but maybe a team that can win the AFC West. Yes, they will need the Chiefs to stumble along the way, but that would mean Denver has two of its three wins in divisional player: at Los Angeles and home versus Oakland.
Now the big question is which team is in a worse spot with a loss: Denver or Oakland? For Denver, that would mean dropping a home game to a division rival. The Broncos’ best win would be against the Dallas Cowboys, but are we sure the Cowboys are all that good? A home loss to the Raiders might jeopardize Denver’s chances of getting back into the AFC playoffs in the long run.
Next: Oakland Raiders: 5 players to watch vs. Denver Broncos
As for the Raiders, losing back-to-back games against what would be good opponents can’t sit well with this on-the-rise team. If it’s a bad loss like the one in Washington, this team could lose all momentum. Oakland doesn’t want to stumble back to .500 with its first loss in the division on Sunday.