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Last week the Kansas City Chiefs clinched a playoff berth and this week they’ve clinched the AFC West division.
With a 33-27 win over the Miami Dolphins in Week 14, Kansas City has officially won the AFC West division. They have a 12-1 record for the first time in franchise history. The win also marks the fifth consecutive season that the Chiefs have won the AFC West division, which is the most consecutive division wins in franchise history. It breaks the record set last season with four-straight division titles. Prior to this run, the team had never won the AFC West in consecutive seasons.
They’re now the third AFC West team to ever win the division in five consecutive seasons, following the 1972-1976 Raiders and the 2011-2015 Broncos. Next year they become the only franchise in the history of the AFC West to have won the division in six consecutive seasons.
Their tremendous run on the AFC West started back in 2016 with Alex Smith quarterbacking the team. It has been extended thanks to the phenomenal play of Patrick Mahomes and the incredible consistency of Chiefs HC Andy Reid. There’s not enough to be said about Reid, who really seems to have this division figured out. He’s now won 11 division titles in his career. The 31-4 record the Chiefs have over division opponents since 2015 is the best divisional record of any team in any 6-year span since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger according to NFL Research.
While a playoff berth and the AFC West division are settled, Kansas City still has plenty to play for in these final weeks. The No. 1 seed is on the line with the Pittsburgh Steelers losing to the Washington Football Team in Week 14. The Chiefs are currently tied with the Steelers for the AFC’s top record and they’ll need to continue to keep pace if they want to be declared the top team in the conference and receive the only first-round bye week.
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