The Kansas City Chiefs win the AFC West with a (bizarre) win over the Houston Texans on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022, wasn’t easy or pretty. But a strange win is better than a weird loss.
The Kansas City Chiefs win the AFC West for the seventh straight year.
Although the Chiefs hold much larger ambitions, winning the division is a steppingstone to greatness that the Chiefs do not take for granted.
Kansas City Chiefs Win AFC West – Tie Up All Time Division Record
With the 2022 division title going to the Chiefs, something startling fell into place: All four AFC West teams — the Chiefs, Chargers, Broncos, and Raiders — are all tied now with 15 division championships apiece going back to 1960.
Fox Sports tweeted this graphic back in August:
Kansas City Chiefs Win AFC West with Road Victory
Chiefs’ fans were hoping for a total domination over the Texans to get the needed win to claim the division. However, the game turned out to be surprisingly close due to turnovers (committed by running backs and receivers–not Mahomes) along with some questionable calls by the referees.
Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes looked stellar with an (almost) 88 percent completion percentage. Convert a few drops into catches and Mahomes could have hit 90 percent. Regardless–Mahomes still set a new record for completion percentage all-time with 40+ passes thrown.
Here are his passing stats for this game along with the rushing totals. You can see that every Chiefs rusher averaged over five yards per carry in this victory.
This game will be quickly forgotten – but the Chiefs winning 7 straight division titles will be remembered for a long time.
Kansas City Chiefs Win AFC West – Tie Rams NFL Record
Winning your division in the NFL is never easy. Doing it seven straight seasons is rare. The Chiefs are only the second team to win 7 straight division titles–tying the Rams streak (1973-79). If the boys in red and gold can win four more (2023-26), they will tie the Patriots for the longest streak in NFL history–11 straight seasons.
Also worth noting, at the time of this post–the Chiefs seven straight division titles is the longest active streak across the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB. (SOURCE)
Again, the four teams in the AFC West are now all tied in total division titles at 15 apiece.
Here are the division champions before the AFL/NFL merger:
This graphic shows every winner of the AFC West since the AFL joined the NFL in 1970:
Enjoy the Moment
Chiefs Fans should enjoy this era of the franchise. Before the 2016 season, the Chiefs had eight division titles in their 56-year history–including a brutal twenty-year stretch that included only four postseason appearances–all as Wildcards.
Everyone agrees that the Coach/Quarterback combo of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes is the reason why the Chiefs dominate the AFC West. With this dynamic duo–the Chiefs are fully capable of breaking the Patriots NFL record of 11 straight division titles.
Let’s hope a couple more Super Bowl championships are included.
