1 AFC West Team Destined To Miss The Postseason

The teams of the AFC West spent their offseasons making improvements.

However, the Kansas City Chiefs decided to not only release key players but also trade away their best receiver in Tyreek Hill.

But even with dangerous roster moves by Kansas City, they are still Super Bowl contenders in the eyes of most analysts.

So with the Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, and Denver Broncos making improvements, one would think the Chiefs are the odd man out in the NFL postseason.

While that makes sense, they aren’t the one team that will miss the postseason in a stacked AFC West.

That destiny rests with another team, who’s still missing all the pieces they need for a postseason run in 2022.

Even With Russell Wilson, Denver Won’t Make The Postseason

The Broncos came out swinging during the NFL offseason.

Their first order of business was securing their playoff contender quarterback, Russell Wilson.

However, they give away high value draft capital and some players for Wilson and a fourth-round pick.

Trade details:

The #Broncos are trading two 1st round picks, two 2nd round picks, a 5th round pick, QB Drew Lock, DL Shelby Harris and another player.#Seahawks are trading QB Russell Wilson and a 4th round pick.

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) March 8, 2022

With them giving up so much for one player, they were left without the tools to build around him.

But they are hoping to rely on their defense to make up for the lack of offensive weapons in Denver.

While Wilson made things work in Seattle, his players there were talented and shined during each game.

However, he might not bring that same magic to the receiving corps in Denver.

The team has only one receiver on their roster who’s eclipsed the 1,000 receiving yards mark in a season.

That player, Courtland Sutton, only did that once in his career and back in 2019.

So without a more recent 1,000-yard receiver to be a threat to defenses, Wilson has a tall task ahead of him.

Denver Can’t Rely On Russell To Do Everything On His Own

While the former Super Bowl champion quarterback has a winning pedigree, he can’t do it all by himself.

How is Wilson a bad fit?
He is mobile, outside of this year plays every game, has a winning pedigree, and is only 32 years of age

you rework everything else out once you get him to make him a fit

— Phil Stiefel (@Beardaknowledge) October 26, 2021

He needs, at the very least, a running game to help him in Denver.

However, he has Melvin Gordon, who has been a workhorse for the team the last two seasons.

But even with all the carries he’s gotten in Denver, he’s yet to break 1,000 yards there.

While he could benefit from the team’s new quarterback, it is still going to take more than him and Wilson to get Denver more wins in 2022.

They need their defense to shut down opponents, which it did in the early parts of 2021.

However, they lost linebacker Von Miller when the team sent him to Los Angeles via a mid-season trade in 2021.

The trade would hurt their defense, and help send the Rams to a Super Bowl victory.

Even if the defense shows glimpses of its early 2021 self, they still have a tough schedule.

Eight of their 17 games are against playoff teams, and 11 of those games are against teams that were above .500 in 2021.

With a tough schedule ahead of them, it’s hard for an unproven team to make a tremendous turnaround to make the playoffs in 2022.