Chiefs Clinch First AFC West Title Since 2003

With a convincing 34-14 victory over the struggling Tennessee Titans earlier today, the Kansas City Chiefs  (10-5) capture the franchise's first division title since 2003, back when Trent Green, Priest Holmes and Dante Hall were household names for Kansas City's then-head coach Dick Vermeil.

The Chiefs' division rival San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders both suffered defeats to top off a near-perfect day for Kansas City.

Kansas City's run game, tops in the league, has been the key factor in most of their games this season, but not this week against Tennessee. Quarterback Matt Cassel led KC's offense with a 300 yards passing performance, including a 75-yard TD pass to Pro Bowl-bound receiver Dwayne Bowe, and two more TD tosses to running back Jamaal Charles.

In his sixth professional season, Cassel has set career highs in passing touchdowns (27) and QB rating (98.8) with just five interceptions. Cassel's top target, receiver Dwayne Bowe, has set several career highs this season as well, including yards (1,094) and TD catches (15). In fact, his 15 touchdown receptions leads the league, three above top-tier receivers Greg Jennings and Calvin Johnson.

Now, as for Kansas City's running game, the duo of the young speedster Jamaal Charles and veteran Thomas Jones has led the league's top running game to 2,360 rushing yards, nearly 100 more than KC's division rival Oakland. It's expected that they are the No. 1 running team in terms of yards, because they are also the leader in rushing attempts with 487, and are last in pass attempts with only 403.

The fact that Cassel is tied for sixth in the league with 27 touchdown tosses is really say something when you realize that he has attempted 417 passes compared to Peyton Manning's 638 and Drew Brees' 571.

Coach Haley sure has the correct ingredient to win in the playoffs once you add on a top 10 defense in terms of both yardage and scoring. Cassel leads a very efficient offensive attack through the air and has two dependable backs who can run out the clock in the second half, if they hold a comfortable lead. If Kansas City can capture the third seed in the AFC playoffs this coming weekend (by beating Oakland at home), I expect Kansas City to make a solid run in the playoffs. They are surely capable of doing so, especially if they get a matchup with New York, because I think they have the ability to put up decent numbers against Rex Ryan's run defense.

Don't overlook the Chiefs in the playoffs just because they are coming out of the West. That's the biggest mistake a team could make.

Photo Credit
Eric Berry: AP Photo/Ed Zurga
Dwayne Bowe: AP Photo/Ed Zurga