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iknowftbll
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AFC West teams: What makes a successful season?
This is just an updated version of last year's thread (linked above). The rules are simple: for each AFC West teams, what is a realistic expectation that would leave their fans feeling like their team had a successful season? Keep in mind every team says "The Super Bowl is the goal." Of course they are going to say that. The Browns will say that. But we all know the Browns are not a Super Bowl contender. So this thread is for discussing REASONABLE expectations for the AFC West teams.
I'll start.
Broncos: Win the AFC West again and win a playoff game. While most will balk and say "Repeat as SB Champs," and I certainly hope that happens, I do not believe the Broncos need to repeat as champs in order for it to be considered a successful season. Repeating is something that only 2 teams have done in the past 20 seasons. The Broncos being compared to the 85 Bears, 00 Ravens or 02 Buccaneers is a compliment, but those comparisons come with a subtle and backhanded caveat: none of those teams repeated. Why is that significant? IT ISN'T. As I've established: few teams actually repeat. Why are those teams held to a higher standard than other non-repeating SB Champs? Why should the Broncos be? The truth is many have left this Broncos team for dead in this first of the post-Manning Broncos years. But if the team can maintain their death grip on the division, with one of or a combination of Sanchez-Siemian-Lynch at the QB position it'll speak volumes about the quality of the roster Elway has assembled. Now I certainly don't think a single playoff win is the ceiling for this team, but I think it would feel it was a successful season if they pull it off.
Chiefs: Make the playoffs. Even without a win in the playoffs, the Chiefs need to reach the playoffs for this to be considered a successful season. The 2015 Chiefs got their first playoff win since the 1993 Chiefs, a 22 year drought. With that monkey off their back, most Chiefs fans will likely tell you a deep playoff run, or even Super Bowl appearance is the mark of a successful 2016. I'd beg to differ. If the Chiefs simply make the playoffs it'll be a successful campaign. The Chiefs haven't had consecutive playoff seasons since a 6-year run from 1990-1995. In the 20 seasons since that run ended, they've scattered just 6 playoff appearances, with 2 of them coming since they hired Andy Reid. Good teams make the playoffs year in and year out. The next step for the Kansas City Chiefs is not to reach the Super Bowl: It's simply make the playoffs and make for consecutive playoff appearances for the first time in 20 years. Of course, making the playoffs means the Chiefs will have a shot at the Super Bowl, so what I'd consider a successful season is an enabler for what Chiefs fans may consider a successful season. If the Chiefs reach the playoffs and lose their first game, my guess is Chiefs fans will likely not consider it a successful season. But they probably would if they took into consideration the history of their own team.
Raiders: Reach a 9-7 or better record. Playoffs or no playoffs, the if the Raiders finish over .500 for the first time since 2002 it would be a successful season. If you look at last year's thread, this was the same benchmark. Last year I may have set the bar a little too high for them, though because a brief perusal of any Raiders board or blog site and on the heels of a 7-9 finish in 2015 a lot of their fans think their team is a Super Bowl contender. To be fair, I think it's less the 7-9 record and more the young core of this team. The Raiders also rolled out the checkbook and signed a lot of big $$$ FA's this past spring, and that has their fans and a lot of analysts alike excited about this team. Even I picked them to reach the playoffs. But given the recent history of the Raiders, not to mention recent FA spending sprees (Eagles "dream team") being failures, the playoffs really are a bold prediction for the Raiders. Even a non-playoff but over .500 season would have to be considered a success by most fans and analysts.
Chargers: Similar to the Raiders, I believe the Chargers season would be a success if they reach 9-7, even if it doesn't get them into the playoffs. After a 4-12 season the expectations cannot be too high for this team. The thing is, a lot of Chargers fans consider the team a bubble playoff contender. Between the injuries and an obscene number of 1-score losses, fans believe this team wasn't as bad as the 4-12 finish suggests. With Phil Rivers approaching the final seasons of his playing career, the team has drafted some intriguing prospects. These players may not make an immediate enough impact for 2016 to be a playoff run, but they will be coming of age early enough to give the Chargers a very short, maybe 2-season window with Rivers in which the Chargers may be considered contenders. For now just holding it together enough reach a 9-7 finish would have to be a wildly successful season for the Chargers.
So those are my thoughts on what expectations for the AFC West teams may be in 2016. Let's hear yours!
This is just an updated version of last year's thread (linked above). The rules are simple: for each AFC West teams, what is a realistic expectation that would leave their fans feeling like their team had a successful season? Keep in mind every team says "The Super Bowl is the goal." Of course they are going to say that. The Browns will say that. But we all know the Browns are not a Super Bowl contender. So this thread is for discussing REASONABLE expectations for the AFC West teams.
I'll start.
Broncos: Win the AFC West again and win a playoff game. While most will balk and say "Repeat as SB Champs," and I certainly hope that happens, I do not believe the Broncos need to repeat as champs in order for it to be considered a successful season. Repeating is something that only 2 teams have done in the past 20 seasons. The Broncos being compared to the 85 Bears, 00 Ravens or 02 Buccaneers is a compliment, but those comparisons come with a subtle and backhanded caveat: none of those teams repeated. Why is that significant? IT ISN'T. As I've established: few teams actually repeat. Why are those teams held to a higher standard than other non-repeating SB Champs? Why should the Broncos be? The truth is many have left this Broncos team for dead in this first of the post-Manning Broncos years. But if the team can maintain their death grip on the division, with one of or a combination of Sanchez-Siemian-Lynch at the QB position it'll speak volumes about the quality of the roster Elway has assembled. Now I certainly don't think a single playoff win is the ceiling for this team, but I think it would feel it was a successful season if they pull it off.
Chiefs: Make the playoffs. Even without a win in the playoffs, the Chiefs need to reach the playoffs for this to be considered a successful season. The 2015 Chiefs got their first playoff win since the 1993 Chiefs, a 22 year drought. With that monkey off their back, most Chiefs fans will likely tell you a deep playoff run, or even Super Bowl appearance is the mark of a successful 2016. I'd beg to differ. If the Chiefs simply make the playoffs it'll be a successful campaign. The Chiefs haven't had consecutive playoff seasons since a 6-year run from 1990-1995. In the 20 seasons since that run ended, they've scattered just 6 playoff appearances, with 2 of them coming since they hired Andy Reid. Good teams make the playoffs year in and year out. The next step for the Kansas City Chiefs is not to reach the Super Bowl: It's simply make the playoffs and make for consecutive playoff appearances for the first time in 20 years. Of course, making the playoffs means the Chiefs will have a shot at the Super Bowl, so what I'd consider a successful season is an enabler for what Chiefs fans may consider a successful season. If the Chiefs reach the playoffs and lose their first game, my guess is Chiefs fans will likely not consider it a successful season. But they probably would if they took into consideration the history of their own team.
Raiders: Reach a 9-7 or better record. Playoffs or no playoffs, the if the Raiders finish over .500 for the first time since 2002 it would be a successful season. If you look at last year's thread, this was the same benchmark. Last year I may have set the bar a little too high for them, though because a brief perusal of any Raiders board or blog site and on the heels of a 7-9 finish in 2015 a lot of their fans think their team is a Super Bowl contender. To be fair, I think it's less the 7-9 record and more the young core of this team. The Raiders also rolled out the checkbook and signed a lot of big $$$ FA's this past spring, and that has their fans and a lot of analysts alike excited about this team. Even I picked them to reach the playoffs. But given the recent history of the Raiders, not to mention recent FA spending sprees (Eagles "dream team") being failures, the playoffs really are a bold prediction for the Raiders. Even a non-playoff but over .500 season would have to be considered a success by most fans and analysts.
Chargers: Similar to the Raiders, I believe the Chargers season would be a success if they reach 9-7, even if it doesn't get them into the playoffs. After a 4-12 season the expectations cannot be too high for this team. The thing is, a lot of Chargers fans consider the team a bubble playoff contender. Between the injuries and an obscene number of 1-score losses, fans believe this team wasn't as bad as the 4-12 finish suggests. With Phil Rivers approaching the final seasons of his playing career, the team has drafted some intriguing prospects. These players may not make an immediate enough impact for 2016 to be a playoff run, but they will be coming of age early enough to give the Chargers a very short, maybe 2-season window with Rivers in which the Chargers may be considered contenders. For now just holding it together enough reach a 9-7 finish would have to be a wildly successful season for the Chargers.
So those are my thoughts on what expectations for the AFC West teams may be in 2016. Let's hear yours!