Raiders, Chiefs look for leg up in tight AFC West race

All four teams in the AFC West are projected to win between 9.0 and 9.9 games according to Football Outsiders, which runs 50,000 simulations of the rest of the season each week.

It’s not entirely surprising considering just a half-game separates the teams in the standings through Week 9, but does serve as a stark reminder of just how close the divisional race is at this point.

That makes every game vital, but truly magnifies the importance of divisional matchups like Sunday night’s prime-time affair between the Raiders and Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium.

Not that the rivalry needs any extra juice.

“Certainly any time you play your division you know it’s a big game and then the rivalry between the Raiders and the Chiefs is historical,” Raiders interim coach Rich Bisaccia said. “So, again we are excited that we get a chance to play at home and get a chance to play on ‘Sunday Night Football.’ Guys were really enthused out there (on the practice field). So, we’ll see what happens.”

What happens could be a major factor in whether one or both of these teams make the postseason this year, particularly with the Chargers set to play their next two games at home.

Head-to-head and intra-division tiebreakers are almost certain to come into play, and that’s just in the AFC West.

As defensive coordinator Gus Bradley pointed out, the entire conference is a logjam.

“It’s the whole AFC, right?” he said. “You never know what’s going to happen week in and week out. It’s extremely competitive. We talked to our guys about this month of November being big. We’ve got to play our best football right now.”

Just how important could an early November game be in the grand scheme of things? The Pro Football Focus playoff calculator brings it some perspective.

The Raiders would have a 75 percent chance of making the playoffs should they beat the Chiefs this week. With a loss, that number falls to 43 percent.

“We always talk about the importance of divisional games, but we don’t want to downplay the significance of the other games as well,” offensive coordinator Greg Olson said. “But anytime you play a divisional opponent, the number one way to get in the playoffs is to win your division.”

The Chiefs are not only an arch-rival of the Raiders, but a dominant force in the division.

Kansas City has won five consecutive AFC West titles and are in the mix for a sixth straight should they be able to right the ship this season.

It’s the kind of success the Raiders are hoping to establish for themselves. The key, according to Bradley, is to build a consistent team that doesn’t only get fired up for big games.

“You want to build a team that owns the AFC West, year in and year out,” he said. “So any time you have a divisional opponent it’s even that much more important. But I think we try to treat every game as a championship opportunity. You try to keep them in that mindset to avoid the highs and the lows. This is just another opportunity.”

Bradley’s defense has started to find that consistency, just as he hoped. He has said he thinks his system starts to click with his players about midway through his first season, and he has started to see that.

Now he wants to see them perform on the big stage. He thinks they’re ready.

“We’ve mentioned many times to our defense; we’ll compete anywhere, anytime,” he said. “This week it just happens to be in Vegas, now let’s go. And it just happens to be Sunday night.

“This will be a good test for us. A great test. We need this test to see where we are and where we need to improve.”

That is true for the defense because of how well coached and explosive the Chiefs are on offense.

“It’s a week that is straining mentally on coaches just because of the skill set they have,” Bradley said.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.