The Denver Broncos won the AFC West by three games in 2025.
A wildly successful regular season saw the Broncos go 14-3 and take the division crown for the first time since 2015.
The Los Angeles Chargers went 11-6, Kansas City Chiefs 6-11 and Las Vegas Raiders 3-14.
Denver also advanced to the AFC Championship and was probably a healthy Bo Nix ankle away from going to the Super Bowl. Sean Payton’s squad will return an elite defense in 2026, along with Nix, most of the wide receivers and a strong offensive line.
Sure, there’s some work to do in free agency, but a title window feels like it’s just opening for the Broncos.
That’s why the oddsmakers giving them the 12th best chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy next year is puzzling. And when more odds dropped, specifically to win the AFC West, it became even more disrespectful.
The Chiefs are not favored to win the AFC West for the first time in EIGHT years 🤯 pic.twitter.com/3GRRHqTR0q
— br_betting (@br_betting) February 9, 2026
As you can see, the Chargers are the favorites to take the division.
In fact, one popular book has L.A. at +170 to win the AFC West, Kansas City at +175 and Denver at +215. The Las Vegas Raiders are unsurprisingly bringing up the rear at +2500.
It’s pretty baffling the Broncos have the third best odds to win the division. They don’t have a ton of tough decisions to make in free agency when it comes to their own roster. Denver is also finally rid of the Russell Wilson dead cap hit and will have cash to spend to improve the team.
Essentially, the oddsmakers are saying what happened in 2025 was a fluke and they don’t see it playing out that way again. The prediction is Justin Herbert will take the next step with the Chargers and the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes will be back after a down season.
That’s fine. The Broncos were fueled by being underdogs all last year. And if that’s the card they have to continue to play in 2026, then so be it.
