Can anything stop the Broncos’ run of dominance in the AFC West?

A week ago here, we put the Denver Broncos’ current run of AFC West dominance under the microscope.

And if you don’t have time to review all the findings, it’s been a 24-6 intradivision record for the Orange & Blue, including a remarkable 15-0 road mark, since the start of 2011 season, five straight division titles and counting and a chance to become the fifth member of an exclusive post-merger NFL club.

Suffice to say, the Broncos have owned the AFC West for five straight seasons, and the Chiefs, Chargers and Raiders have been coughing up annual rent.

Last season, of course, Denver didn’t just stop with the division title as they added the AFC and Super Bowl 50 titles for good measure – a crowning achievement for one of the NFL’s elite over the last five years.

But are there signs, hints or signals that the Broncos’ current AFC West run has run its course? Of course, Broncos Country has heard the bold preseason proclamations and doom-and-gloom predictions for a half-decade running now, and the division titles just keep piling up.

Still, following are a few of this year’s factors which may prevent the Orange & Blue from adding a sixth-straight skin to their impressive AFC West trophy wall:

Quarterback quandary

To be truthful, the Broncos haven’t had the AFC West’s best QB in each of the five years, but in the two seasons (2011 and 2015) they haven’t, they rode Tebow magic – and took advantage of a decidedly down division – and one of the league’s most dominant defenses in the last 30 years, respectively, to the top.

Will they find a way to compensate again if Mark Sanchez continues on his downward career arc and/or Paxton Lynch proves to be a rookie not ready for prime time?

Chiefs’ confidence

In case you’ve repressed the memories of the 2015 AFC West stretch run, KC closed out the regular season with 10 straight wins and was one more Denver slip-up away from winning the division and sending the Broncos into the wild-card round.

That Chiefs’ run included a 29-13 win in Denver – Kansas City’s first over the Orange & Blue in eight games – and now with franchise nemesis Peyton Manning gone and Jamaal Charles coming back, Andy Reid and Co. have to be confident they can carry over the momentum into 2016.

Raiders’ young talent

Yeah, we’ve heard the hype and smack-spewing out of the Black Hole for years, and the Silver & Black have been woefully unable to walk-the-walk on the field going on 15 years now, but this Raiders’ roster finally looks as if it’s going to pack some actual punch.

Kalil Mack, Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, Bruce Irvin and Karl Joseph have all joined the ranks over the last two seasons, and Jack Del Rio’s bunch might be too young, talented and blissfully ignorant to realize that their time to win isn’t in 2018 but a couple years early.

Old man Rivers

Chargers QB Philip Rivers, that bolo-tie-wearing fogey, will turn 35 before the 2016 regular season ends and is clearly now the elder statesman of AFC West QBs, but he and long-time running mate Antonio Gates just might have one more run up their sleeves.

That run would be a bit on the miraculous side considering the Bolts are coming off their worst season (4-12) in 12 years, but stranger NFL things have most definitely happened than the most experienced and decorated QB in a division somehow, some way piloting his team to the top.