Now that we’re seven weeks into the season, the AFC West is separating into their respective classes.

Who is lording over the rest of the division, and who finds themselves in the position of a starving serf? Let’s take a look.

1. Kansas City Chiefs

There should be absolutely no debate about who the top team in the AFC West is through seven weeks of the season.

The Kansas City Chiefs comfortably look like one of the three best teams in all of football, with a young defense that might be the best of the Patrick Mahomes-era and an offense that has transitioned to the post-Tyreek Hill way of life with ease.

The latest display of this was a thumping of the San Francisco 49ers, on the road.

Potentially making that offense even more potent, is the fact that they’ve seemingly decided to lean more on Isiah Pacheco, the young late-round rookie who has so far been the team’s best back. The workload was still pretty evenly divided this week, but if the split continues along its current trajectory, he’ll be the clear lead back in due time.

Right now, it feels like the Chiefs are a freight train that could only be stopped by either the Bills or Eagles. The rest of the AFC West can forget about it.

2. Las Vegas Raiders

Set the records aside for a second, and trust your eyes. The Las Vegas Raiders are the second-best team in the AFC West.

Sure, the Houston Texans game was a little closer than one would like, but that’s also true of the Chargers’ and Broncos’ outings against the Texans. Plus, the Raiders closed that matchup with four-straight touchdown drives, prior to kneeling to close the game, which made the final result more one-sided.

In their last three outings, the Raiders gave the Broncos their only poor defensive performance and their only loss that was decided by more than one possession; they nearly beat the juggernaut Chiefs in Arrowhead, and they had their best offensive performance of the season against a shaky Texans team.

They’re finding their footing, McDaniels’ coaching has worked wonders on the Raiders’ offensive line (in stark contrast to what Denver’s staff has done to the offensive line), and Josh Jacobs has suddenly emerged as a superstar running back.

This team’s legit.

3. Los Angeles Chargers

Following their win over the Denver Broncos, head coach Brandon Staley remarked that it didn’t truly feel like his team was on a three-game win streak, because the manner of the wins was just so unimpressive.

On Sunday, Staley’s words were given extra merit, as the Seattle Seahawks came into the Chargers’ house and thoroughly trounced a bad Bolts brigade.

Justin Herbert continues to have the weight of carrying the team thrust upon him, and he’s not always capable of shouldering that load.

There are some fair critiques to be made of Herbert, as his performance against the Seahawks — particularly during the early portion of the game — left a lot to be desired, but more often than not, he’s the only aspect of the team working.

Solidfying the Chargers’ spot below the Raiders, despite possessing the better record, is the fact that Los Angeles continues to lose important players due to injury.

Keenan Allen returned this week, but almost immediately re-exited the game, and Mike Williams soon joined him. J.C. Jackson exited the game in an air cast, and his season might be over.

4. Denver Broncos

No member of the 2022 AFC West comes even close to being as shipwrecked as the Denver Broncos.

The offense is already the worst of the post-Peyton Manning era, worse than the Tim Tebow offense, and is trending toward being the worst in franchise history.

The coaching staff appears to be completely over their skis. The same could be said for their overpriced, past-expired quarterback, who suddenly can’t make fundamental reads that even high school quarterbacks and Drew Lock were capable of. Unless you believe the staff is telling Wilson to avoid throwing to open receivers and identifying obvious blitzers, those mistakes are tough to pin on the coaching staff.

Fortunately, the defense has arguably been the most stout squad in the entire NFL, but the offense has been so remarkably inept that the defensive dominance hasn’t mattered.

With no appealing interim on the staff, and Wilson cemented in his roster spot through at least the 2023 season, Denver might find themselves in this No. 4 position for years.