Breaking down the Denver Broncos' AFC West dominance

When it comes to the AFC West division and dominance, you may have picked up on the fact that your Denver Broncos currently are cornering the market.

It’s five straight AFC West titles and counting for the Orange & Blue – matching the 1972-76 Oakland Raiders for the longest streak in the division’s history – and it’s one of only 12 runs of five-or-more-straight division championships in the league overall since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

For the record, the 1973-79 Los Angeles Rams and the 2009-15 New England Patriots share the post-merger league mark with seven straight division crowns, and of course the Pats have a chance to snare the record all to themselves this coming season. Only four franchises – the 1973-79 Rams, the 2009-15 Patriots, the 1974-79 Pittsburgh Steelers and the 1973-78 Minnesota Vikings have captured six or more consecutive division crowns since the merger, and the Broncos will have a chance to become the fifth member of that exclusive club this coming season.

But, hey, we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves, and we’ll have more on the Broncos’ chances of winning six straight in the second part of our AFC West series here next week.

For now, though, we’ll take a quick look at some of the key numbers over the 2011-15 regular seasons from the AFC West, where the Peyton Manning-led Broncos have established ownership and the other three teams have been scrambling to scrape up rent:

• Overall record: Broncos 58-22 (.725), Kansas City Chiefs 40-40 (.500), San Diego Chargers 37-43 (.463), Raiders 26-54 (.325)
• Division record: Broncos 24-6 (.800), Chargers 13-17 (.433), Chiefs 13-17 (.433), Raiders 10-20 (.333)
• AFC West-game point differentials: Broncos 796 scored-507 allowed (+289), Chiefs 625-612 (+13), Chargers 636-693 (-57), Raiders 545-790 (-245)
• Playoff berths: Broncos 5 (6-4 record), Chiefs 2 (1-2), Chargers 1 (1-1), Raiders 0
• Home record: Broncos 31-9 (9-6 vs. AFC West), Chargers 21-19 (6-9), Chiefs 21-19 (6-9), Raiders 15-25 (4-11)
• Road record: Broncos 27-13 (15-0 vs. AFC West), Chiefs 19-21 (7-8), Chargers 16-24 (7-8), Raiders 11-29 (6-9)
• Record vs. teams finishing with winning records: Broncos 19-15, Chiefs 10-22, Chargers 9-24, Raiders 6-31
• Record vs. playoff teams: Broncos 14-14, Chargers 9-23, Chiefs 8-23, Raiders 4-28

Immediately jumping out is the Broncos’ success away from home, and in fact their .675 winning percentage is the best regular-season mark in the NFL over that span. Included in that, of course, is the Orange & Blue’s NFL-record 15-game division road win streak with their last AFC West defeat away from home coming way back on Dec. 19, 2010 – a 39-23 loss in Oakland.

The Broncos’ division road record is better than their home record (9-5) over the last five years, and, oddly, each of the division’s other three teams also follow suit.

Having success against the league’s other top teams also has been a key differentiator for Denver as the Broncos own the league’s second-best winning percentage (.559) against teams with winning records from 2011-15 – the Steelers are slightly better at 19-14 (.576) – while their three AFC West compatriots all have dropped more than two-thirds of their matchups against winning teams.

It’s also much the same story against playoff teams, with the Broncos at .500 and the other three at .281 or worse.

Having the division’s best quarterback in Manning for most of that span (2012-14) hasn’t hurt, but that doesn’t account for the 2011 and 2015 seasons, when Tim Tebow‘s three-quarter season of fame and the Broncos’ D did the heavy lifting.

That, though, in essence, has how the AFC West has been won over the last five seasons.