Making a case for and against each team to win the AFC West in 2022

The Case For The Chiefs To Win The AFC West in 2022

I don’t think it will take much of an argument to convince you why the Kansas City Chiefs have a case for winning the AFC West in 2022. The team has won six straight division titles, dating back to the Alex Smith days, which feel like a lifetime ago. Andy Reid is a mainstay in the playoffs and Patrick Mahomes has appeared in every AFC Title game since becoming the full-time starter in 2018. As long as Mahomes and Reid are still in town, the Chiefs should always be one of the favorites, not only for the division but the entire AFC in general. They have earned that with their level of dominance.

It is not just a two-man show, though. General manager Brett Veach produced one of the best draft classes in recent memory. After stealing Creed Humphrey and Nick Bolton in the 2021 NFL Draft, Veach somehow one-upped that performance in 2022. He added one of the best cornerbacks (Trent McDuffie), one of the best pass rushers (George Karlaftis), one of the best wide receivers (Skyy Moore), and one of the best linebackers (Leo Chenal). Sure, he had a big leg up on the competition with his added supply of draft picks, but this should not take away from what he accomplished. Rookies don’t always develop quickly enough to be impact players in year one, but considering how perfect the circumstances are for each of them, I wouldn’t be surprised if they all play crucial snaps in the postseason.

Veach also dipped into the free agent pool to bring in a few guys that should have key roles on the team in 2022. Wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling bring a chain mover and a burner, respectively, into the fold for Patrick Mahomes. MVS never quite turned his physical prowess into production while in Green Bay, so maybe Andy Reid can unlock that with the Chiefs. JuJu, on the other hand, has one elite season of production. He will be looking to find that again after signing a short one-year deal in Kansas City. Hard-hitting safety, Justin Reid, is expected to be the leader of the positional group this year after coming over from the Houston Texans. He must replace the Honey Badger, which is no small task, but Reid is ready for the challenge. Assuming the rest of the roster continues to develop, these free agent and draft acquisitions could be enough to propel the team to another Super Bowl appearance.

The Case Against The Chiefs Winning The AFC West in 2022

As you can probably guess, it is tough to make a case against a team with such a proven track record of success. However, if you look closely, there are a few reasons to be concerned when it comes to the Chiefs and their likelihood to win the AFC West in 2022. To be clear, the Chiefs would far and away be the most surprising team to miss the playoffs in the NFL. With how loaded their division is, though, it wouldn’t necessarily be as surprising to see them finish worse than first.

Tyreek Hill is no longer roaming the gridiron in Kansas City, and 2022 will mark the first time in Mahomes’ career that he’s without the speedster on the outside. As mentioned, the team added a slew of receiving talent this offseason, but “The Cheetah” is not someone that you replace easily. At times when the offense would be stalled, all it would take is one game-breaking play from Reek to correct course. Mahomes is talented enough to make up for this loss, but Chiefs fans are lying to themselves if they believe it’ll be a seamless transfer. Maybe one of the new additions like Marquez Valdes-Scantling, or even Mecole Hardman, can become a big play threat, but there’s very little chance that anyone on the roster can match what Hill brought to the wide receiver room. But that comes with the territory when you trade away a top five player at their position.

It must also be mentioned that the Chiefs stumbled out of the gates, by their standards, in 2021. Most of the criticism could be chalked up to “boredom”, but that’s a lazy cop-out. While it is true that their issues were exaggerated, it doesn’t mean that issues weren’t present. The team still averaged 29.4 points per game, but anyone with eyes could see that it wasn’t nearly as efficient as usual. Several uncharacteristic three-and-outs occurred throughout the season for Kansas City, typically as a result of momentum-killing drops or mistimed plays. We’ll see what this season has in store for the Chiefs, but considering the fact they lost one of their most important players on the roster means that their margin for error is now lower than it was beforehand. Chiefs fans have every reason to be confident heading into the 2022 season, but there may be some growing pains for the first month as the new guys are integrated into the fold.