Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce Still Own the Disappointing AFC West

No difference exists in the record book when assessing a win by one or 100 points. But the distance between the Kansas City Chiefs and the rest of the AFC West remains as vast as ever.

With Monday's 30-29 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, the Chiefs improved to 4-1 overall and 16-3 against their division rival since Andy Reid took over as the franchise's head coach.

On game days, a fine line exists between the winning and losing sides. Disparity lies in how good teams find ways to win, while certain organizations tend to experience losing in some of the most heartbreaking ways possible.

Case in point, the Raiders dropped to 1-4 with Monday's outcome. Josh McDaniels' squad came up short on a two-point conversion attempt with 4:27 left to play. With the game on the line, wide receiver Davante Adams couldn't get a second foot down to covert a first down as the clock ticked to 51 seconds. During Las Vegas' final offensive play, Adams and fellow wide receiver Hunter Renfrow ran into one another and Derek Carr's prayer of a throw hopelessly fluttered to the turf.

Bad teams don't make the necessary plays when called upon to do so. However, fortune favored the Raiders a little more in 2021.

A season ago, the squad squeaked into the postseason. As ESPN's Jason Fitz noted, Las Vegas won seven games last year on walk-off plays. Whereas this season, the team's four losses were by a total of 14 points.

For the Chiefs, they have two distinct advantages over everyone else. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce are the very best at their respective positions. In an offense-driven league, they're the game's most unstoppable duo and have been for quite some time.

Mahomes is the current standard-bearer for at quarterback. Even as the Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen dominates during what looks to be an MVP-winning season, the Chiefs' signal-caller redefined how the league evaluates the position. The type of throws Mahomes regularly makes border on superhuman.

Because of the four-time Pro Bowler's ability to pull off the improbable on a regular basis, the confidence found in the Chiefs' offense is tangible. They're never truly out of a game, and they're more than capable of overcoming adversity when other teams would crumble.

Kansas City had every reason to pack it in and call it a night against the Raiders. Las Vegas jumped out to 17-0 lead with under 10 minutes to go in the second quarter. Mahomes and Co. responded with a 75-yard touchdown drive only to have one of the worst calls of the season game go against them during the next Raiders' possession.

On 3rd-and-8 from the Raiders' 46-yard line, defensive lineman Chris Jones burst through the middle of the line and caused a strip-stack. Unfortunately, officials inexplicably called roughing the passer after a determination that Jones landed on Carr with his full body weight, even though the defender had already stripped the ball out of the quarterback's hands.

"If we're going to continue to call roughing the passer at that high of a velocity, then we've got to be able to view it in the booth," Jones lobbied after the contest.

A botched call of that magnitude may have sent another team spiraling out of control. Instead, the Chiefs became more determined. During Kansas City's next four drives, the offense scored 24 points. Mahomes completed 17 of his next 23 passes, including three touchdowns to Kelce to go along with the one the tight end scored earlier in the second quarter.

The Chiefs struggled some with protecting the edge early in the contest. Once the offensive line settled and Mahomes got into a rhythm, he was nearly perfect. As NFL Next Gen Stats noted, Kansas City's quarterback became the first this season to earn a perfect passing score when targeting the seams. He also holds the highest EPA over the last two weeks of play on non-pressured dropbacks. per the Ringer's Austin Gayle.

Amazingly, the Raiders failed to cover the most prolific receiving tight end in the game's history each time Kansas City got near the end zone. Kelce's four touchdowns in a single contest are the most by a tight end since the 1985 campaign and the second-most ever, per CBS Sports' Doug Clawson. The 33-year-old target became the first player ever (among stats dating back to 1950) with four touchdown catches and fewer than 30 receiving yards, according to Stathead (h/t Pride of Detroit's Jeremy Reisman).

The connection between Mahomes and Kelce is simply different, and it's so much more than one serving as the other's security blanket. Mahomes can make any throw in any situation. He's absolutely fearless when it comes to uncorking a pass that no other quarterback would would even attempt. Kelce, meanwhile, displays a certain level of strength, body contortion and supple hands to continually work himself open and create after the catch.

Combined, the duo connected to gain 610 yards on scramble plays since the start of the '18 campaign, per Next Gen Stats. Only one other tandem—Russell Wilson and Tyler Lockett, who aren't teammates anymore—even eclipses 400 yards during the same stretch.

Mahomes and Kelce continue to go to work and wear out their opponents. The rest of the AFC West tried to close the gap this offseason yet failed to do so.

Las Vegas' 1-4 start puts the Raiders in a black hole so deep, their fans might not even recognize where they're at. Unless a completely unexpected run occurs over the next 13 weeks, the Raiders season is all but done in regards to any hopes of making the playoffs.

The Denver Broncos might have a slightly better record than the Raiders at 2-3, but the honeymoon for quarterback Russell Wilson ended much sooner than expected. The Broncos offense is a complete mess and the crown jewel of the franchise's offseason doesn't look anything like the player Denver envisioned upon his acquisition. In fact, the Broncos' scoring offense ranks 31st overall. The unit's misadventures in the red zone are the kind of horror story perfect for the Halloween season.

The Los Angeles Chiefs were supposed to be the team to finally challenge the Chiefs' divisional supremacy. Quarterback Justin Herbert is currently playing through hurt ribs. Left tackle Rashawn Slater is out for the season with a ruptured biceps tendon. Defensive end Joey Bosa is dealing with a significant groin injury. Wide receiver Keenan Allen is nursing a hamstring injury as well. Considering the circumstances, a 3-2 start is somewhat impressive, though expectations were much greater this season for those in powder blue.

A real litmus test stands in front of the Chiefs with the Bills next on the docket. The AFC's two best teams meet in a titanic clash for conference superiority, at least during the regular season. How Kansas City responds against elite competition will say far more about where the Chiefs currently stand than anything they'll face in the disappointing AFC West.

Brent Sobleski covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @brentsobleski.