AFC West notes: Denver hires Vic Fangio to be their head coach

The Denver Broncos found their head coach on Wednesday, hiring Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, eliminating the only HC vacancy in the AFC West.

There is no longer a head coaching vacancy in the AFC West, as Vic Fangio was hired to be the new man in charge of the Denver Broncos. Fangio replaces Vance Joseph at the helm of the Broncos, and will take over a team that has won only 11 games the last two season, posting back-to-back consecutive losing years for the first time in 40 years.

Fangio is coming off a year that saw him lead the Chicago Bears defense to a 12-4 record, and will now get his first shot at being a head coach. The former defensive coordinator for the Bears has plenty to work with on the defensive side of the ball, as the Broncos have two of the better pass rushers in the division in Bradley Chubb and Von Miller.

Oakland Raiders

The Silver and Black are still looking for somewhere to call home in 2019, and there have been no shortage of possible destinations for the team. The Raiders have been linked to everywhere from San Diego to Europe, though there is no clear front-runner at this point.

Wherever they play, they figure to have a pretty different roster than the one that they ended the year with on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs. New general manager Mike Mayock has over $70 million in cap space, and three first round picks, and still has to figure out what to do with the team’s 33 pending free agents.

Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers will head to New England this weekend to take on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Divisional Round action. Philip Rivers and crew are fresh off a victory on the road against the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card Round, and now set their sights on arguably the best quarterback in NFL history.

Against New England, the Chargers will have Hunter Henry back, as the tight end was activated this week. Henry has missed the entire season due to a knee injury suffered in May, and should add a boost to a Chargers offense that loves to work the tight ends in big spots.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs are one of two AFC West teams still alive in the playoffs this season, and will host the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday. The Colts come into the game off of a win on the road against the Houston Texans, where Andrew Luck looked like the Luck of old, and has a much better cast of characters around him.

Remember, this is Patrick Mahomes first playoff game as the starting quarterback, and he is going up against a Colts team with a veteran signal-caller in Luck. Mahomes put up video game numbers during the regular season, but the playoffs are a different animal, even for a special talent like him.