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The addition of Alex Smith and Andy Reid is going to make the Kansas City Chiefs at least competitive. They have better talent than the Oakland Raiders and will continue to play tough at home. A 7-9 record isn't beyond the realm of possibility with this football team.
In fact, out of all of the AFC West teams, it is the Chiefs I worry about the most 2-3 years from now. Phillip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers are getting old and the Raiders are a fairly long way away from getting their act back together. Once Peyton Manning retires, its going to get a whole lot interesting in the AFC West for us Bronco fans.
20. Kansas City Chiefs (2012 Record: 2-14)
The Chiefs have quality ownership, but the franchise has fallen upon hard times - something us Bronco fans understand. They made all of the right moves this year to start crawling their way back out of the bottomless pit. They hired a proven winning coach in Andy Reid (John fox anyone?) after dealing with the debacle of Todd Haley (Josh McDaniels anyone?) and are now rebuilding in the the aftermath.
The thing that should make us Bronco fans snicker at our AFC West counterparts is they chose once of the weakest drafts in recent memory to hit rock bottom. No Von Miller for you! No Andrew Luck for you! I'm not saying Eric Fisher is a bust, but you can get quality Pro Bowl offensive tackles at #12 in the first round (Ryan Clady anyone?).
All bashing aside, their below average draft class isn't going to equate another Top 10 draft pick. The Chiefs hit a home run by snatching up Alex Smith and under Reid's tutelage he should be the perfect for for the style of offense that will be run in Kansas City. I think it's enough to lift the Chiefs into competition for second best in the AFC West, but nowhere near a playoff berth. Steady she goes though, look for the Chiefs to be the Broncos main challenger int he post-Manning era.