Way back over the summer I began predicting how I thought the 2019-2020 NFL season would pan out. I literally went through week by week how each matchup would go. It was pretty tedious. It was pretty fun too!

Check out my predictions from a few months back here.

Now that the season is practically over, I thought I would be fun to see how accurate or in-accurate I was. You never know how a season will go year in and year out! I know I was way off on several teams. This should be interesting. I will use these posts I have written to hopefully be more accurate next season.

This post I will be talking about the AFC West Division.

Final AFC West Standings	Real Record	My Pre-Season Prediction (Predicted Div. Placement)
1. Kansas City Chiefs	12-4	10-6 (2)
2. Denver Broncos	7-9	7-9 (3)
3. Oakland Raiders	7-9	5-11 (4)
4. Los Angeles Chargers	5-11	12-4 (1)

1. Kansas City Chiefs

Real Finish: 12-4, Division Champions.
My Prediction: 10-6, Second in Division

Well I expected the Chiefs to have a strong season, but I thought it would be harder this season for them since there was a giant target on their back from their great success the previous year. I thought that added pressure could make them a Wildcard type of team.

But I was dead wrong clearly. The Chiefs handled the pressure of being an elite team with ease. They had a potential moment of vulnerability early in the season when Superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes dealt with an injury that people initially thought was possibly a bit serious. But the young star healed up very well and came back to help lead his team to a tremendous Super Bowl Championship in 2020!

Congrats to the Chiefs and their Championship. They have a killer roster with the majority of their players in their prime. They surely will be Championship favorites next season and likely for the next decade.

2. Denver Broncos

Real Finish: 7-9, Second in Division.
My Prediction: 7-9, Third in Division.

I practically predicted the Broncos season perfectly. They had a very positive season! If I am a Broncos fan I would be super optimistic for the future of this team.

The season for the Broncos started out rough, but it was pretty clear the team was slightly underachieving. So the team decided to put in their fresh and shiny rookie Quarterback prospect, Drew Lock. I will be honest, I thought Drew Lock looked like an awkward undersized kid. I didn't really look at any of his highlights, so that was ignorance and laziness on my behalf.

I think there is a chance the Broncos found a really good QB in Drew Lock. Once the Broncos put Drew Lock in as their starter, the Broncos began to look borderline scary on offense. Lock seems pretty prepared and intelligent with some solid athleticism. I don't wanna jump the gun quite yet, but Lock very much has Aaron Rodgers-esque type of feet and pocket awareness in my opinion.

I will not be surprised to see the Broncos in the playoff hunt quite sooner rather than later. Perhaps there is a divisional Quarterback/team rivalry being born out west!

3. Oakland Raiders

Real Finish: 7-9, Third in Division.
My Prediction: 5-11 Fourth in Division.

It was quite a mixed bag for the Raiders in the 2019-2020 season.

While they performed better than I predicted they were going to by two games, I still wonder how much potential there is for this team.

I feel as though head coach Jon Gruden is pretty overrated and I feel like that team is a bit of a hype machine. Between Gruden and his massive contract, Mike Mayock, the team's culture, their recent season being on hard knocks, all in all I think this team is simply a headline for the most part at this point.

Perhaps that's a bit too harsh. There is a bit of potential in Oakland. I like their Marcus Mariota signing. As a Titans fan, I would be happy to see Marcus find some success. But overall it's good to have some juice in the quarterback room for the Raiders. Derek Carr is very much on very thin ice when it comes to being QB1. Mariota is a solid player and he just saw what happens in the NFL when you don't produce. Both Mariota and Carr will be motivated, and that is one thing the Raiders did well. QB competition. As long as Gruden and company can evaluate well, the winner of that competition will likely have earned it!

This is a mysterious squad. But overall until further notice this squad might be 7-9 again.

But this is a hard team to read...

4. Los Angeles Chargers

Real Finish: 5-11, Fourth in Division.
My Prediction: 12-4 Division Champions.

The Chargers definitely surprised me this last season. They had an awesome year the previous season, but the Chargers just couldn't find any type of momentum and stack wins.

As soon as I learned of Melvin Gordon's holdout and everything, I knew the Chargers would be vulnerable. I believe in running-backs. Perhaps that is old and stubborn of me but look what happened to the Chargers. They lose a very good running back for a few games and teams can really take advantage of it.

Having a high level running back is a sweet sweet asset. The Chargers learned that the hard way this season.

I am intrigued to see Tyrod Taylor get another shot at starting in the NFL. This team still has talent. They will likely at least be better than five wins next season, but they need a better running back option with Tyrod Taylor. I personally don't know how good and consistent Ekeler is as the main every-down back.

What do you think of my AFC West predictions? How do you see this division playing out next year?