We're four days away from the NFL's biggest game of the year, with all eyes set on Super Bowl LII in Minnesota; however, the Kansas City Chiefs just made a splash that's turning heads across the league. The Chiefs have made a trade that will cause a ripple effect, but we'll get to that later.
While the Super Bowl is the king of all bowls, earlier this week the Senior Bowl and Pro Bowl were the talk of the town. The Senior Bowl featured many of college football's top prospects who were coached by members of the Denver Broncos coaching staff, and the Pro Bowl featured the NFL's best of the best, including some players from the AFC West.
Let's dive into what's been going on in the division recently.
Denver Broncos
The Broncos were busy this weekend, preparing for the future of the team, as well as celebrating players on the current roster.
As mentioned previously, the Broncos coaching staff was in charge of the North team this week down in Mobile, Ala., and they had the opportunity to meet some players they could end up drafting in the 2018 NFL Draft. It's no secret the Broncos are in the market for a quarterback, and two of the biggest quarterback prospects last week just so happened to be on their team. Whether the Broncos draft the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner, Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma), fellow signal-caller Josh Allen (Wyoming), or someone else altogether, remains to be seen, but the Senior Bowl gave them plenty of players to evaluate.
Following Saturday's Senior Bowl, Sunday belonged to the pros.
The Pro Bowl in Orlando came down to the wire, as Raiders quarterback Derek Carr found Titans tight end Delanie Walker for the go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes left. The NFC had just enough time to mount a comeback, but Broncos linebacker Von Miller wasn't going to let that happen. In true Miller fashion, the former Super Bowl MVP bulldozed through the right tackle, and strip sacked Rams quarterback Jared Goff to solidify the 24-23 win.
Kansas City Chiefs
Alex Smith had arguably the best season of his career in 2017, throwing for 4,042 yards, 26 touchdowns, all while only throwing five interceptions.
Even so, the Chiefs decided it was time to part ways.
That's right, Smith is on the move, and headed to our nation's capital to play for the Washington Redskins. Tuesday night, the Chiefs shocked the league by trading the former first overall pick to the Redskins in exchange for a third-round pick, and cornerback Kendall Fuller. The trade won't become official until the start of the league year on March 14, but this move will set off a chain of events this offseason.
With Smith heading to the NFC East, Patrick Mahomes II will step in, presumably as the future quarterback of the Chiefs. Mahomes received his first start in the regular season finale against the Denver Broncos, and finished the game with a 62.9 completion percentage, 284 passing yards, one interception, and a "W." The 22 year old from Tyler, Texas, will become Head Coach Andy Reid's newest project, and a face Raider Nation will see on a regular basis for a while.
It was also announced Wednesday the team would be playing in Mexico for an international bout with the Los Angeles Rams.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Bolts were well represented at the Pro Bowl, with linebacker Melvin Ingram, cornerback Casey Hayward, and wide receiver Keenan Allen all participating in last week's festivities. All three had some of their best seasons in the NFL thus far in 2017, and they put their talents on display in Orlando.
By games end on Sunday, Allen totaled two receptions for 18 yards, with Ingram and Hayward combining for six tackles, one for loss, one sack, and one pass defensed. The Chargers have talented players on both sides of the ball, it'll be fun to watch the Raiders compete with these players again next season.
