Former Patriots star puts Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs on notice, says Broncos “could easily win this division”

Patrick Mahomes has ruled the AFC West since the day he started for the Chiefs in Week 1 of 2018. However, every kingdom eventually crumbles, and with the Chiefs looking out of sorts at times in 2024, paired with the worst Super Bowl loss of Mahomes' career, the storm could be on the horizon for the team.

Once a team starts to have trouble in their division, their Super Bowl window often ends. Speaking on Tuesday's edition of "Pro Football Talk," NFL analyst and former Patriots star Devin McCourty claimed the Denver Broncos "easily" could win the AFC West.

"I think Denver," McCourty said. "Starting to come from under the Russell Wilson contract implications and what that did to [them], you still have a rookie quarterback, you have Bo Nix on a rookie salary."

"I thought the year Denver had surprised a lot of people, but if they can continue to build through the draft and have these players, I think they can honestly be a team that we're looking and we're saying, 'Man, they could easily win this division this year because of what they've been able to do.'"

The Broncos almost beat the Chiefs in their building in 2024 and uncorked a 38-0 Week 18 annihilation of the team in a win-and-in game, albeit against Chiefs backups. To the Broncos' credit, Andy Reid was on the sideline coaching the game, and the final score was one of the worst in Reid's entire career.

Charting how the Denver Broncos could usurp Patrick Mahomes in 2025

Super Bowl LIX: Kansas City Chiefs v Philadelphia Eagles - Source: Getty

Put simply, a complete Patrick Mahomes implosion seems unlikely. If the Chiefs are going to decline further from a Super Bowl appearance, it likely could be in a similar fashion to how the Philadelphia Eagles succumbed down the stretch in 2023, finishing at 11-6 and second in their division after a 10-1 start.

The Denver Broncos, not long after losing Peyton Manning, also had a similar slowdown in 2017, starting 6-2 before finishing 9-7. Aaron Rodgers' last season in Green Bay also went a similar way, starting 3-1 before finishing 8-9.

In other words, the Broncos would need to win games at a high clip from start to finish, while Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs likely would run out of gas in the latter part of the season. That said, history shows that a respectable season is still likely in store even if the Chiefs lose the division.

Will the Bo Nix and Sean Payton era put the clamps on the Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes era in the AFC West?

If any of the above quotes are used, credit "Pro Football Talk," and H/T Sportskeeda.