KANSAS CITY – The Chiefs enter 2022 with the chance to win the AFC West for the seventh straight time, but you wouldn't know that based off what a lot of national folks are saying.

We've seen people pick the Raiders to win the division, as well as the Broncos and Chargers. On a pretty frequent basis, too. Only Vegas has been consistent in regard to naming the Chiefs as the team to beat in the AFCW.

Count NBC Sports' Peter King in on that group. The former and not the latter. King recently put out his 2022 power rankings and sure enough, he has a team other than the Chiefs as the AFC West's top dog.

King has the Chargers at No. 2 and the Chiefs at No. 3 in his rankings. He wrote the following concerning the Chargers:

Two teams that attacked their needs better than any teams in this offseason: Chargers, Eagles. Which is why both are in my top 10.

The Chargers, I thought, needed to do significant surgery coming off a playoff-less season. And GM Tom Telesco did. I thought he won this offseason. He needed to, particularly on defense. Only the Jets and Lions gave up more points than L.A.’s 27 per game last year, and a collapse on defense down the stretch (giving up 110 points to Kansas City, Houston and the Raiders in losing three of the last four) knocked the Chargers out of the playoffs….

And Herbert should be better if the defense is better, because he won’t have to score 30 every week to win…. One other little advantage for the Chargers: They’ve got Jacksonville, Houston, Seattle and Atlanta in games 3-4-7-8. That should mean they’ll be near the top of the best division in football come Thanksgiving.

Next up were the Chiefs. As expected, the departures of Tyreek Hill and Tyrann Mathieu were the foundation of their ranking:

At a loss where to put Kansas City. This has all the feel of a get-right season. Two huge pieces of KC’s puzzle, Tyreek Hill and Tyrann Mathieu, left in trade and free agency, both after GM Brett Veach calculated that, all things considered, the team long-term would be better by moving on from them. That sounds great for future free-agent acquisitions and re-signing his own players, but Veach understands that the offense could take a step back without Hill’s explosiveness and the defense could too without the leadership and guile of Mathieu….

As long as Patrick Mahomes is healthy and dealing, and as long as Reid/Veach have a competitive roster, Kansas City’s going to be a Super Bowl contender. Annually. That’s how I look at this edition of this team….

For Kansas City, this offseason has been as much about 2024 as 2022. It’ll be up to Mahomes to win some games with his golden arm to prove this is not a gap year. I think he can do it, even in the toughest division in football, even if the Chargers, for one year, pass them in the standings. 

King really doesn't know what to do with the Chiefs

He wasn't lying about not knowing where to put the Chiefs, was he? In one sentence he says Patrick Mahomes and this edition of the Chiefs are a Super Bowl contender and then in another says Mahomes has to prove 2022 isn't a gap year.

Sure, the losses of Hill and Mathieu are massive, but the Chiefs have come up with adequate replacements help soften the collective blow. There are a lot more teams across the league who lost more in terms of net result.

And while it can certainly be argued (and probably won) that the Chargers have a better roster on paper, the Chiefs have a major advantage when it comes to coaching. Brandon Staley made more than his fair share of questionable -even bad- decisions in 2021 and it remains to be seen what his true ceiling is as head coach. Yes, the Chargers made many of the additions they needed to make, but it's up to Staley and Co. to make it all work. That remains to be seen if it can be done.

Meanwhile, Andy Reid's ceiling is a Super Bowl title. And, he has two decades of head coaching experience to go with arguably the best quarterback in the game.

Yes, the Chargers had the sexy offseason and like King said, they were one of the big winners of the last couple of months. However, we know that winning the offseason doesn't always equate to winning the regular season.

The Chargers will be a good team in 2022. But it's a stretch to say, at best, they'll be better than the Chiefs, at this point.

You can check out King's full column, here.

Featured image via Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports