Nobody expected the Las Vegas Raiders to beat the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2 of the 2026 NFL season. And yet, that is exactly what happened on Sunday at SoFi Stadium. The Raiders needed a statement win, and they got one. Now, the Chargers are the laughingstock of the AFC West.
Elsewhere in the division, the Kansas City Chiefs kept pace with the Raiders, winning their second straight primetime game, and the Denver Broncos looked a bit more like themselves this past weekend as well. Make no mistake: the AFC West is still loaded with talent and great teams.
With that in mind, let's recap what occurred around the division in Week 2 while also providing a brief preview of the action that will occur in Week 3. While Las Vegas may not be frontrunners yet, they certainly aren't the joke of the AFC West anymore.
Week 2 AFC West roundup: Raiders have statement win over Chargers, Broncos bounce back, and Chiefs reclaim the mantle
Here are the current standings in the AFC West:
Las Vegas Raiders 2-0
Kansas City Chiefs 2-0
Denver Broncos 1-1
Los Angeles Chargers 0-2
Earning a hard-fought divisional win on the road was pivotal for Klint Kubiak's team, and they got the job done in pretty convincing fashion. Kirk Cousins was dominant through the air, Zeke Masses looked like a No. 1 cornerback, and Rob Leonard had his defense playing at a high level once again.
Ashton Jeanty and the offensive line didn't perform well, but Kubiak's clever coaching and approach allowed the Silver and Black to overcome that. Tre Tucker and Cody White stepped up big at wide receiver, and Nakobe Dean and Jeremy Chinn came through at the end once again. A team effort.
On the Chargers' side of things, they looked downright unprepared and disjointed for the second week in a row, so much so that their fanbase is questioning everything. The defense was leaky in coverage, the offensive line didn't hold up, they were penalized, and the offense was a huge mess.
Justin Herbert didn't look like himself, the offensive line was porous, Quentin Johnston continues to underwhelm, and Joe Alt looked downright unplayable at times. The only bright spots offensively were Omarion Hampton, Rashawn Slater and Jake Slaughter.
Defensively, they weren't all atrocious individually, but giving up 24 points to a Raiders team that still doesn't have Brock Bowers and whose run game was failing on Sunday is a pretty poor effort. New DC Chris O'Leary is finding out that Jesse Minter's shoes are a lot tougher to fill than anyone thought.
Denver did what Denver does, which is lodge a fourth-quarter comeback. They were down 13-3 after the first drive of the second half, but the Broncos scored 17 unanswered points at home to take down the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were a playoff team last season.
Bo Nix still wasn't tremendous, throwing another interception, but he did notch 288 yards and a score through the air while demonstrating, at least mildly, that he can still move. He also got Jaylen Waddle going, which is huge for their offense, especially now with the latest news at running back.
Starter J.K. Dobbins is reportedly banged up again, and although the injury is not supposed to be that serious, Denver was already down its 2025 second-rounder, R.J. Harvey. Jonah Coleman looks like a solid piece for their running back room, but he can't carry the load as a bell cow at this point.
After getting torched last week, the Broncos' defense responded by neutralizing Trevor Lawrence and the Jags in the second half. They cleaned up their missed tackles and leaned on the usual suspects for quarterback pressures and plays through the air. A classic Denver win. Is it sustainable, though?
Kansas City enjoyed a shootout OT win on Sunday Night Football against the Indianapolis Colts. Their offense looked well-balanced, with Kenneth Walker III still dominating and Patrick Mahomes starting to regain his old form in his second game back from injury. This is a scary offense once again.
On defense, the Chiefs looked a bit more human after shutting down the Broncos completely in Week 1. They didn't miss tackles, but they failed to get after the quarterback, which exposed L'Jarius Sneed as the massive weak link that he is. Oh, and I forgot to report that Travis Kelce still has it. Yippee.
Brief preview of the Raiders and the AFC West ahead of Week 3
Las Vegas travels to New Orleans to take on a Saints team that should be 2-0 after losing in a fluky way to the Detroit Lions in Week 1 and forging a comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. This will be a big test for a Raiders team facing a foe that is ahead of them in the rebuild process.
Los Angeles will look to bounce back in Week 3 on the road against the mighty Buffalo Bills, which will be no easy task. I have a feeling that at this time next week, we will be hammering home the same points about how overrated this Chargers team was at the onset of the season.
The Chiefs practically have a bye week this Sunday before their Week 4 home game against the Raiders, as they'll face the Miami Dolphins in Week 3. Miami is arguably the worst team in the NFL, but how badly Kansas City beats them will say a lot about how Las Vegas stacks up against the Chiefs.
Denver will host the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football, which will be an exciting game to watch. Both teams got back on track in Week 2 after uncharacteristic losses on opening weekend, so this contest should say a lot about whether the Broncos are contenders or pretenders this year.
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