When the AFC West was founded as part of the American Football League as the Western Division in 1960, it included the Dallas Texans, the Denver Broncos, the Los Angeles Chargers and the Oakland Raiders.
The Texans later moved to Kansas City and renamed themselves the Chiefs in 1963. The Chargers left Los Angeles for San Diego in 1961 and later returned to L.A. in 2017. The Raiders left Oakland for L.A. in 1982 and returned to Oakland in 1995 before relocating to Las Vegas in 2020. The Broncos have remained in Denver since 1960.
All four teams remained in the division when the AFL and NFL merged in 1970. Other teams have come and gone since then, but the original four have remained in the AFC West since the division’s founding.
The AFC West has been incredibly competitive, with all four teams owning exactly 15 division titles each.
Three members have won three Super Bowl titles each: The Raiders (XI in 1976, XV in 1980 and XVIII in 1983), Broncos (XXXII in 1997, XXXIII in 1998 and 50 in 2015) and Chiefs (IV in 1969, LIV in 2019 and LVII in 2022). The Chargers, meanwhile, are still seeking their first NFL title.
The Chargers did win an AFL title in 1963, as did the Raiders (1967), and the Chiefs won three times (1962, 1966 and 1969). That league had just 10 teams at its peak, though, so an AFL title obviously doesn’t stack up to a Super Bowl win.
While the Broncos and Raiders try to prevent the Chiefs from pulling ahead with a fourth Super Bowl, the Chargers will still be seeking their first title in 2023.
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