In spite of their difficult slate of games in 2026, the Los Angeles Chargers have a real chance to carve out a path to an AFC West championship. With a new offensive coordinator in Mike McDaniel, the ceiling for this team (and seventh-year quarterback Justin Herbert) is sky-high.
That path won't be easy though. The Denver Broncos, who won 14 games in 2025 and are returning much of the talent from their stifling defensive attack, will likely be favorites to win the division entering 2026. There's some serious room for regression on offense there, though, and that's something Los Angeles must count on in their bid for a division title.
The Kansas City Chiefs, however, have room to be even more frightening than Denver. They added the reigning Super Bowl MVP this offseason in Kenneth Walker III, and they'll hope for an offensive resurgence under the elite play of Patrick Mahomes. If things come together in Kansas City, they could quickly become the more imminent threat to Los Angeles.
But the fact of the matter is that there's ample room for variance in the Chiefs' offensive outcome this season. They've bet a large portion of their success on largely unproven receivers and will yet again rely on the ascendant play of Mahomes to keep them afloat.
The Chargers, on the whole, should feel very confident about the chances of Kansas City falling short this season.
The Chiefs are betting their chances at an AFC West title on a group of unproven offensive playmakers
Given what they had at their disposal this offseason, the Chiefs have done relatively well for themselves. They made some solid additions on draft night, grabbing the top cornerback in the class in Mansoor Delane and also adding a trio of additional impactful young defenders in Peter Woods, R Mason Thomas, and Jadon Canady. Although they were forced to move on from Trent McDuffie this offseason and re-shape most of their secondary, they should be able to remain consistent on the defensive side of the ball.
Their offense, however is a different story. After years of dominance, Kansas City fell flat in 2025— they were 21st in total points and 20th in total yards across the entirety of their last campaign. Part of this can be blamed on Mahomes' exit at the end of the year with an ACL injury. But even when Mahomes was active, the Chiefs offense was inconsistent at best.
In 2026, the signing of Walker III should be a major addition to their run game. But their receiving corps will largely be in the hands of unproven playmakers. Rashee Rice, who is currently rehabbing a knee injury and just exited his 30-day sentence for a probation violation, has played a combined total of 12 games over the past two seasons. Xavier Worthy saw both his total targets and overall production drop during his sophomore campaign. These will be the two primary playmakers for Kansas City's offense, and neither player has consistently proved their ability to take on that mantle.
Cyrus Allen, whom the Chiefs selected in the fifth round of the Draft, has a chance to carve out a role in the slot given Rice's inconsistencies and the gaps in Kansas City's offensive attack. Beyond that, though, neither Tyquan Thornton nor Jalen Royals have shown much more than gadget-receiver capabilities to this point in their careers.
It's certainly a more well-rounded offense than it was last season, especially if you believe in a resurgence from veteran tight end Travis Kelce.
But is that really what you would want to bet on if you were in pursuit of another Super Bowl? Health from Rice, continued production from Worthy, and scraping together the rest of your production from a fifth-round rookie and two largely unproven receivers?
As much as analysts might project a major resurgence for Kansas City, the Chargers should be jumping for joy that the Chiefs have been forced into taking this risk on offense.
Its potential to backfire is tremendous.
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