AFC West Roundup

[iknowftbll]

My picks for the AFC West in week 1:

Kansas City Chiefs @ New England Patriots: Patriots 34, Chiefs 17. I am usually hesitant to predict blowouts, especially involving other AFC West teams. As a Broncos fan I can see how this opens me up to criticism for bias. With that said, I've even seen Chiefs fans discussing how they just hope they don't get embarrassed in this one, so I'm not alone. Opening against the Pats in their house as they usher in the defense of their 5th Super Bowl is a tough out. And because the Pats more than any other team always seem to be not just prepared for their opponent but prepared to make every game a statement, I can see this one really getting away from the Chiefs. The good news for the Chiefs is this: It's just one game and does not have to define the season, even if they get run over as bad or worse than I think they will. And of course, this is the NFL and anything can happen. I don't think the Chiefs win this one. I don't even think they'll look competent in it to be honest. But what if they somehow pull off the upset? What a start to their season that would be!

Oakland Raiders @ Tennessee Titans: Titans 31, Raiders 27. Both of these teams are playing with something they've not had in years: High expectations. With the Raiders a popular pick to face the Patriots in the conference title game and the Titans a trendy pick to win the AFC South, this game is actually one of the better Sunday afternoon tilts. That Raiders defense needed some serious upgrades this off season and they didn't get them. They have the makings of a bottom-third of the league unit once again, and that's problematic if this team expects to live up to expectations. They're facing a very physical and capable Titans offense. That offense will do will to control the clock, finish drives with scores and limit the opportunities the Raiders have on offense. The Titans are solid (not great) on defense but Carr will destroy their secondary so the less they're exposed the better. While it will be a disappointing start to the Raiders season, it'll raise valid questions about their defense.

Los Angeles Chargers @ Denver Broncos: Broncos 24, Chargers 17. The second of the MNF double header, this game is a tough out for the Chargers. Both teams have overhauled the coaching staffs but the Broncos at least maintain some continuity on defense. The offense will have it's hands full against the Chargers front 7 but they should be able to get something going against the Chargers secondary. The line is still very much unproven but it does appear to be improved and far more physical than last year's unit. This should lead to better production at QB and RB. The Chargers do have a better offense by a long shot and they get the advantage of facing the Broncos a little short of their standard compliment of pass rushers. The bad news is for the Chargers their offensive line isn't exactly a wall, and even with the Broncos missing some pieces they may be able to break through and harass Rivers all night long. The Broncos won't be able to run away with this one, but they should be able to hold on for a close win.

 

[iknowftbll]

Missed by a mile on that Chiefs game. They looked good last night.

 

[MileHigh64]

Missed by a mile on that Chiefs game. They looked good last night.

You'll be redeemed as long as your other two game predictions come true!

 

[iknowftbll]

You'll be redeemed as long as your other two game predictions come true!

I'd love to see the Titans overpower the Raiders on Sunday but ultimately the only outcome I am really vested in is the Broncos over the Chargers! You never really know what to expect in week 1, especially with the Broncos and Chargers both sporting new HCs.

Meanwhile that Raiders @ Titans game is easily the best game of the early Sunday slate.

 

[58crash]

Missed by a mile on that Chiefs game. They looked good last night.

Reid is a darn fine Coach he is deserves a couple SB wins .. When he went to the Chiefs I was pissed . I knew he was going to give us fits . You better bring you A game . A whole off season he is going to pull some funny stuff ..

How did you like the fake punt fair catch ..

That is sneaky stuff Dan Reeves use to pull I loved that stuff .. Elway catching a TD pass ..yeah good times ..

We need to pull the flea fickler and go deep ..


Also our WR's need to tell Trevor Throw the ball up if it is close I will catch it or...knock the ball down or tackle(This is called smart ball and this team needs to find an Edge ) the DB all together . I am not talking blatant things just WR's keeping the Football for the Team and getting the QB feeling like he can go deep and trust his WR ..

You guys say crap about Trevor but his WR's need to School him up some and then live up to what they tell him .

Hell DC You know a few of these guys tell them about Some of these things we did in the past those are alrigh not cheating just playing smart ..

 

[58crash]

Use Charles on that Flea Flicker my god will the DB sale out to tackle him ..

 

[58crash]

I would he is a night mare ..one chance ..you think he is already way gone

 

[randymon]

I'd love to see the Titans overpower the Raiders on Sunday but ultimately the only outcome I am really vested in is the Broncos over the Chargers! You never really know what to expect in week 1, especially with the Broncos and Chargers both sporting new HCs.

Meanwhile that Raiders @ Titans game is easily the best game of the early Sunday slate.

Unfortunately for me living in Northern California. Without Sunday ticket , I'm at mercy of Raiders and 49ers grabbing up two spots out of the three morning/afternoon games unless one or both happen to have a primetime game ( which until recently,has been far and few between cause they've both sucked for long time ) for a shot at Denver game in those time slots. At least Raiders/Titans game should be good especially with Titan win and Lynch getting hammered, hopefully. The Carolina vs SF could very well be as exciting as watching grass grow. I'm picking SF to " upset " though. Imagine I'll get the Gb/Sea game in morning along with Raiders game. Haven't cked yet. Good thing though, Without Sunday ticket I'll still get Broncos for around 7 games this year due to Oakland and Prime time games with Denver. Might still work Directv mid-season for half season deal if Denver is playing well. Not spending any money yet .

 

[iknowftbll]

It's only one game per team but if week 1 is any indicator, the AFC West is going to be BRUTAL in 2017! The Chiefs and Raiders both took the show on the road and beat their opponents while the Broncos and Chargers played one that came down to the final kick attempt.

Looking ahead to week 2 the division for the most part faces more favorable matchups. All 4 teams will be playing at home. My picks:

Broncos vs Cowboys: Broncos 31, Cowboys 23. Believe it or not I'd consider the Broncos the AFC West team most likely to lose in week 2 by virtue of their opponent. But the run defense appears to be much improved over last year and the pass defense hasn't let up. They will face a much stronger ground attack this week against the Cowboys. The NFZ will be challenged too as Dak Prescott will look to spread the ball to Bryant, Beasley, and Witten. With that said, you can make an intelligent argument this is the best defense Prescott has seen to this point in his short NFL career. On offense I think the Broncos will be able to build off of what we saw last night. The key here is avoiding the near meltdown they had in the 4th quarter. The types of problems they encountered are correctable and while they won't run over the Cowboys defense I think they'll have a better game now that they've had a chance to shake off the cobwebs of the off season. This game being in Denver really sets the Broncos up with a nice advantage and may be the difference maker.

Raiders vs Jets: Raiders 42, Jets 14. I've been skeptical of that Raiders defense but will give them a lot of credit for going into Nashville and keeping the lid on the Titans offense. They contained the pass and looked good against the run and despite the Titans answering a Raiders scoring drive to open the game with a scoring drive of their own, I never got the sense the Titans were in it to win it in that one. The Raiders definitely were and return home with a win to their credit. Now they get to face off against arguably the worst team in the league and this has "blowout" written all over it. The Raiders are going to be clicking on offense enough as it is, but they won't be facing as stout a defense this week as they did last week. As for that Raiders defense, they get a chance to run rough shod over a team that probably won't give them any issues. I am still skeptical of their defense, but this week the Jets are going to make them look good.

Chiefs vs Eagles: Chiefs 27, Eagles 17. We always hear if you give Andy Reid extra time to prepare he'll not let you down. This is the 2nd time the Chiefs will face the Eagles since Reid was hired and they come into this game with a "mini-bye" on the heals of their TNF opener. I expect they will be well prepared and the home crowd will be going nuts in this one. With that said, it would be classic Andy Reid and Kansas City Chiefs overall to go into Foxboro and win big against a team nobody thought they'd beat only to come home the next week and trip over their own shoe laces. And the Eagles are a decent enough team to pull it off if the Chiefs don't show up to play. My hunch is the Chiefs do show up and even sans Eric Berry, who is lost for the season, the defense will make this a long and difficult day for Wentz and the offense.

Chargers vs Dolphins: Chargers 28, Dolphins 20. The Dolphins have extra time to prepare for this game because their week 1 game was rescheduled. That whole situation is a mess and a huge mental obstacle for the Dolphins. They'll still be playing with "week 1" rust while the Chargers have had a chance to shake it off. I don't think their defense has the tools to stop Rivers and that offense, nor do I think their offense is good enough to keep up with the Chargers. The Chargers were well on their way to getting embarrassed against the Broncos and then got a reprieve. With the game suddenly very close they still found a way to lose it. That's a bad taste teams have to get out of their mouth fast or it can send an entire season down the wrong track. Look for them to right the ship in their home opener. And speaking of their home, it will be interesting to see how the NFL looks in that small stadium.

Looking forward to week 2! Go Broncos!

 

[randymon]

It's only one game per team but if week 1 is any indicator, the AFC West is going to be BRUTAL in 2017! The Chiefs and Raiders both took the show on the road and beat their opponents while the Broncos and Chargers played one that came down to the final kick attempt.

Looking ahead to week 2 the division for the most part faces more favorable matchups. All 4 teams will be playing at home. My picks:

Broncos vs Cowboys: Broncos 31, Cowboys 23. Believe it or not I'd consider the Broncos the AFC West team most likely to lose in week 2 by virtue of their opponent. But the run defense appears to be much improved over last year and the pass defense hasn't let up. They will face a much stronger ground attack this week against the Cowboys. The NFZ will be challenged too as Dak Prescott will look to spread the ball to Bryant, Beasley, and Witten. With that said, you can make an intelligent argument this is the best defense Prescott has seen to this point in his short NFL career. On offense I think the Broncos will be able to build off of what we saw last night. The key here is avoiding the near meltdown they had in the 4th quarter. The types of problems they encountered are correctable and while they won't run over the Cowboys defense I think they'll have a better game now that they've had a chance to shake off the cobwebs of the off season. This game being in Denver really sets the Broncos up with a nice advantage and may be the difference maker.

Raiders vs Jets: Raiders 42, Jets 14. I've been skeptical of that Raiders defense but will give them a lot of credit for going into Nashville and keeping the lid on the Titans offense. They contained the pass and looked good against the run and despite the Titans answering a Raiders scoring drive to open the game with a scoring drive of their own, I never got the sense the Titans were in it to win it in that one. The Raiders definitely were and return home with a win to their credit. Now they get to face off against arguably the worst team in the league and this has "blowout" written all over it. The Raiders are going to be clicking on offense enough as it is, but they won't be facing as stout a defense this week as they did last week. As for that Raiders defense, they get a chance to run rough shod over a team that probably won't give them any issues. I am still skeptical of their defense, but this week the Jets are going to make them look good.

Chiefs vs Eagles: Chiefs 27, Eagles 17. We always hear if you give Andy Reid extra time to prepare he'll not let you down. This is the 2nd time the Chiefs will face the Eagles since Reid was hired and they come into this game with a "mini-bye" on the heals of their TNF opener. I expect they will be well prepared and the home crowd will be going nuts in this one. With that said, it would be classic Andy Reid and Kansas City Chiefs overall to go into Foxboro and win big against a team nobody thought they'd beat only to come home the next week and trip over their own shoe laces. And the Eagles are a decent enough team to pull it off if the Chiefs don't show up to play. My hunch is the Chiefs do show up and even sans Eric Berry, who is lost for the season, the defense will make this a long and difficult day for Wentz and the offense.

Chargers vs Dolphins: Chargers 28, Dolphins 20. The Dolphins have extra time to prepare for this game because their week 1 game was rescheduled. That whole situation is a mess and a huge mental obstacle for the Dolphins. They'll still be playing with "week 1" rust while the Chargers have had a chance to shake it off. I don't think their defense has the tools to stop Rivers and that offense, nor do I think their offense is good enough to keep up with the Chargers. The Chargers were well on their way to getting embarrassed against the Broncos and then got a reprieve. With the game suddenly very close they still found a way to lose it. That's a bad taste teams have to get out of their mouth fast or it can send an entire season down the wrong track. Look for them to right the ship in their home opener. And speaking of their home, it will be interesting to see how the NFL looks in that small stadium.

Looking forward to week 2! Go Broncos!

Hope you get first one right at least.

 

[iknowftbll]

Hope you get first one right at least.

I picked all 4 AFC West teams to win. The first one is the only one I hope I get right!

 

[58crash]

I thought winning the Divsion the raiders and kc would have the harder Scheduled at this point we are getting the harder team ? Is this going to change ???????????????

 

[iknowftbll]

I thought winning the Divsion the raiders and kc would have the harder Scheduled at this point we are getting the harder team ? Is this going to change ???????????????

We just have the hardest game this week. It'll balance out by the end of the season.

 

[Draft Crazy]

I thought winning the Divsion the raiders and kc would have the harder Scheduled at this point we are getting the harder team ? Is this going to change ???????????????

They do (on paper) it's a set formula based off records last year and rotate divisions you play.

I mean the Chiefs did play the SB champs on the road last week.

 

[CEH]

Make sure you play Kareem hunt and not Akeem hunt for KC

 

[cdumler7]

They do (on paper) it's a set formula based off records last year and rotate divisions you play.

I mean the Chiefs did play the SB champs on the road last week.

Honestly if I were looking at schedules I would say Broncos have the easiest schedule in the division. Only 2 games are different compared to our division rivals and we get the Colts and the Bengals. Well right now they might be 2 of the 3 worst teams in football. Maybe Andrew Luck is back by the time we play the Colts but even then they do not look like better than a 6-10 team. The Bengals just look like a mess so have to see how the change at OC helps but OL wise they are terrible and they do not look to be in sync yet at all.

The rest of the division the Chiefs get Houston and the Steelers
Raiders get the Titans and Ravens
Chargers get the Jaguars and Browns.

Broncos also get the top-2 teams of the NFC East last year in the Giants and Cowboys at home and of course the Patriots coming to Mile High as well.

 

[iknowftbll]

Honestly if I were looking at schedules I would say Broncos have the easiest schedule in the division. Only 2 games are different compared to our division rivals and we get the Colts and the Bengals. Well right now they might be 2 of the 3 worst teams in football. Maybe Andrew Luck is back by the time we play the Colts but even then they do not look like better than a 6-10 team. The Bengals just look like a mess so have to see how the change at OC helps but OL wise they are terrible and they do not look to be in sync yet at all.

The rest of the division the Chiefs get Houston and the Steelers
Raiders get the Titans and Ravens
Chargers get the Jaguars and Browns.

Broncos also get the top-2 teams of the NFC East last year in the Giants and Cowboys at home and of course the Patriots coming to Mile High as well.

This is true. The looks tough based off last year's records but we all know that changes year to year. We drew our toughest games at home: Patriots, Cowboys, Giants (again, based off last year's results) so our toughest road games are Raiders and Chiefs. Because those are division rivals, it almost levels the playing field: Anything can happen in a rivalry game.

Then we get to the Colts and Bengals, two teams that appear to be in a free fall. Even if Luck is back in the lineup late in the season I think the Broncos have the tools on offense to exploit what looks like a bottom tier defense. I'll add the Redskins as a team I think the Broncos can handle late in the season. They always start slow, so I'm not basing this off their week 1 loss. Just they seem to lack the organizational focus down to the coaches and players to put together a 9+ win season. I think this is a 6-10 team the Broncos will be able to beat late in the season.

 

[iknowftbll]

The Chargers "improve" to 0-2. This team was a trendy pick for the playoffs and hasn't had the injury issues as extensively as the past couple seasons and yet there they are at 0-2. Anytime I pick one of the Broncos rival AFC West teams to win I am ALWAYS happy to be wrong!

 

[iknowftbll]

I was close on the Raiders game. Raiders 42-14 was my pick and 42-20 was the actual. The AFC West has three 2-0 teams and an 0-2 team. All three 2-0 teams have a 42 point game to their credit just 2 weeks into the season. AFC West = BRUTAL!

 

[Clayton]

I was close on the Raiders game. Raiders 42-14 was my pick and 42-20 was the actual. The AFC West has three 2-0 teams and an 0-2 team. All three 2-0 teams have a 42 point game to their credit just 2 weeks into the season. AFC West = BRUTAL!

AFC West in soccer terms looks like a group of death. I see 3 Super Bowl contenders. Chiefs and Raiders look like better versions of last years' teams and Denver with an offense is a total game changer.