Apr 25, 2025; Henderson, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll at a news conference introducing Ashton Jeanty as the first round draft pick in the 2025 NFL Draft at Intermountain Health Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images Candice Ward-Imagn Images

Insiders Gives His Take on the Raiders Division

Originally posted on Las Vegas Raiders on SI
By Michael Canelo | Last updated Jun 8, 2025 7:00 AM ET

The Las Vegas Raiders are looking to get back to their winning ways in 2025. The Raiders have not been consistent winners for a long time, but they will look to change that next season under new head coach Pete Carroll. The Raiders' first goal is the win the AFC West and get back to the playoffs. Carroll made it clear that he is trying to win right away and not wait around to get things moving.

Winning the AFC West for the Raiders will be a tall task but they have set themselves up to do it next season. In the AFC West, you have the Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, and the Los Angeles Chargers, who all made the playoffs last season.

The team that has run away with the division for the last nine years is the Chiefs. They will look to take it for the tenth straight season, but the Raiders will look to stop that.

The AFC West features four coaches who could all potentially be Hall of Famers when their careers are over. All four teams always have good quarterbacks, and that will be a big part of winning the division next season. The AFC West is one of the best divisions, if not the best one, in the National Football League. And it will be a battle till the end to win it in 2025.

Sports Illustrated's NFL Insider Albert Breer gave his thoughts about the AFC West.

I guess I’d have to go with the AFC West. The reason why is in each division, there’s an established powerhouse—the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions. In each division, there are two other solid playoff teams (Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers) with established programs and top-10 GM/head coach infrastructures. Also, the two teams at the bottom (Las Vegas Raiders and Chicago Bears) have promise as they go through regime changes.

So what’s the tiebreaker? It’s that one division has the Chiefs, and the other doesn’t. I love what the Lions have done, and I don’t think any sizable regression is coming. That said, Kansas City’s been to three consecutive Super Bowls and has Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. That’s hard to ignore.

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This article first appeared on Las Vegas Raiders on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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