AFC West Standings?

[iknowftbll]

Now that all the "meaningful" preseason games are over, does anyone care to take a stab at how the AFC West standings will shake out?

I initially said:

Broncos: 12-4
Chargers: 11-5
Chiefs: 8-8
Raiders: 5-11

I am pretty pleased with the Broncos. We knew what we were getting on offense, the preseason was simply about getting some game time reps with new comers like Sanders and working the run game. The defense is what excites me the most about this team. This defense may be the best ever assembled in a Broncos uniform, and paired with this offense this should be a scary thought for other AFC teams.

I really thought the Chargers defense was going to be better than it is. I realize in the preseason there is little game planning, but the mistakes the Chargers were making on defense were in the fundamentals. They took bad angles on ball carriers and whiffed on a lot of tackles. They did have a good game against the 49ers, though, so it isn't a dismal unit.

The Chiefs I expected to regress a little. After seeing their 1s go 0-16 on drives and getting into the end zone I am left to conclude this unit has issues. Granted, they did not play Jamaal Charles much (at all?) in the preseason, and he makes a huge difference in that offense. Defensively, I am not impressed. They are not horrible, but they are not going to be nearly as dominant as they were in their 9-0 start last year.

The Raiders...well they banked on tired old retreads and it appears that gamble has not paid off. Schaub's lack of performance seems much deeper than the lack of game planning. He doesn't seem to have the fundamentals any more. He appears slow and indecisive, and his arm strength is lacking. Their defense will likely have its moments, but it is not enough to keep them in games. There is not a contest on their slate you can circle as a sure win for the Raiders.

I think my pick for the Broncos is pretty solid, but I am willing to bet I gave our AFC West brethren a bit too much credit back in June when I initially picked the schedule and standings. With a slight revision, I believe the AFC West will be:

Broncos: 12-4
Chargers: 10-6
Chiefs: 7-9
Raiders: 4-12

Let's hear your predictions. Raiders, Chiefs, and Chargers fans thoughts welcome as well.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Now that all the "meaningful" preseason games are over, does anyone care to take a stab at how the AFC West standings will shake out?

I initially said:

Broncos: 12-4
Chargers: 11-5
Chiefs: 8-8
Raiders: 5-11

I am pretty pleased with the Broncos. We knew what we were getting on offense, the preseason was simply about getting some game time reps with new comers like Sanders and working the run game. The defense is what excites me the most about this team. This defense may be the best ever assembled in a Broncos uniform, and paired with this offense this should be a scary thought for other AFC teams.

I really thought the Chargers defense was going to be better than it is. I realize in the preseason there is little game planning, but the mistakes the Chargers were making on defense were in the fundamentals. They took bad angles on ball carriers and whiffed on a lot of tackles. They did have a good game against the 49ers, though, so it isn't a dismal unit.

The Chiefs I expected to regress a little. After seeing their 1s go 0-16 on drives and getting into the end zone I am left to conclude this unit has issues. Granted, they did not play Jamaal Charles much (at all?) in the preseason, and he makes a huge difference in that offense. Defensively, I am not impressed. They are not horrible, but they are not going to be nearly as dominant as they were in their 9-0 start last year.

The Raiders...well they banked on tired old retreads and it appears that gamble has not paid off. Schaub's lack of performance seems much deeper than the lack of game planning. He doesn't seem to have the fundamentals any more. He appears slow and indecisive, and his arm strength is lacking. Their defense will likely have its moments, but it is not enough to keep them in games. There is not a contest on their slate you can circle as a sure win for the Raiders.

I think my pick for the Broncos is pretty solid, but I am willing to bet I gave our AFC West brethren a bit too much credit back in June when I initially picked the schedule and standings. With a slight revision, I believe the AFC West will be:

Broncos: 12-4
Chargers: 10-6
Chiefs: 7-9
Raiders: 4-12

Let's hear your predictions. Raiders, Chiefs, and Chargers fans thoughts welcome as well.

I agree with your ordering of the four teams, but I'm not up to predicting specific records.

Your post, however, does make me wonder how likely it is for the division to finish with as good a collective record as it posted last year (i.e., 37-27). My guess, which is consistent with your prediction, is that the division fares a bit worse than it did last year.

 

[cdumler7]

Iknowfootball I like your thoughts. You are a bit nicer to our competition than I would be.


The Chargers look like a pretty decent team and that Rivers is going to have a decent year again but with the schedule I just see them once again finishing 9-7. I think they will be in most games as they will continue with the very predictable and very boring style of run run pass and try to shorten the game. It works as it keeps them in every game for sure but just think they are playing too many good teams this year to think they are going to win 10 of those close games.


The Chiefs I am thinking now 6 wins. I had thought they were going to regress but they just look down right pathetic. And I know you are not supposed to read too much into preseason but offensively they could have the worst OL in the NFL. Alex Smith was running for his life all preseason and that was against vanilla defenses. I don't think that is going to improve. Defensively that secondary looks week now that Flowers is gone. I just don't think they are even going to come close to the production they had last year.


Raiders I agree right around the 4-5 wins. Schaub looks like the Schaub of last season. I think every game in the preseason I have seen probably 2-3 balls that should have been picked when he was in. The run game looks improved with the new OL and MJD running hard but I just see them falling behind early because the defense just looks lost half the time which will then eliminate the run game quickly.


Now for our Broncos I definitely liked what I saw. The offense was efficient on just about every drive they had this preseason. The OL looks much better at pass blocking than last year. It is no longer Peyton has to get rid of the football in 2 seconds type of thing. I also think Sanders has shown just how much more dangerous he can make this offense with his speed and break tackle ability. Teams will have to respect the deep ball a bit more opening up the run game even more. Defensively we still have yet to see all the pieces back on the field or at least at full go and we have still looked very good with the 1st unit on the field. Give this unit a month to all gel together and I can see us being a top-2 to 3 unit on the defensive side of the ball. So I will say 12 wins as well for the Broncos. I think they can do much better even with this tough schedule but I do think they maybe lose a couple of close ones.

 

[Broncos6482]

I'll give the Broncos prediction game by game, then tell you what I think of our division competitors.

Colts - The Broncos open up 2014 much like they did 2013 - blowing out an AFC playoff contender at home. Broncos win 41-20.

Chiefs - Bowe is back for the Chiefs, but it's not enough. The Chiefs patchwork line can't protect Smith, who's harassed all day by Miller, Ware, and company. Broncos win 48-13.

@Seahawks - Denver has a much better showing than they did in the Super Bowl, but Seattle is just too tough at home, and a missed field goal costs the Broncos. Seahawks 24-23.

Cardinals - The Cardinals defense makes life difficult, but Carson Palmer throws a few costly picks and the Broncos win 28-17.

@Jets - All of Rex Ryan's defensive scheming can't make up for the talent disparity between these two teams. Broncos win 34-16.

49ers - I firmly believe the Niners will be better than they've shown in the preseason. I also believe they won't be nearly as good as they have been the past few years. Broncos 30-20.

Chargers - I hate that this game is on a Thursday night. The Chargers gave us fits last year on Thursday and I expect more of the same this year. I just view this as a bad matchup for us. Chargers win 26-24, dropping the Broncos to 5-2.

@Patriots - The extra preparation time for this game works wonders as the Broncos go into New England and knock off the Patriots 31-21.

@Raiders - The Raiders are better than they have been. They still aren't good. Broncos win 37-13.

@Rams - This game was a little scary, but not with Shaun Hill at qb. Although the Rams defense gives the Broncos issues, they can't muster enough of an offensive attack to take advantage. Broncos win 20-9.

Dolphins - Trap game scenario here, but the Broncos are up to the task. It's not always pretty, but the Broncos win 27-17.

@Chiefs - Andy Reid is a good coach, and the Chiefs will win more games this season then they probably should. This won't be one of them. Broncos roll easily 38-17.

Bills - This one's a laugher early. Broncos big 45-10.

@Chargers - Revenge for the Broncos 31-20.

@Bengals - Tough matchup, but Denver is the better team and comes out on top, securing home field advantage for the third year in a row. A nailbiter, but the Broncos win 30-23.

@Raiders - Manning plays couple of series, but Brock plays the majority of the game. The Broncos still win 24-14.

The Broncos finish 14-2. That's probably a little optimistic, but I fully believe they are capable of accomplishing it. Plus I want them to avoid the dreaded 13-3 finish, as no playoff good comes from that.

Now on to the division. I think the division as a whole takes a step back this year. Neither the Chiefs or Chargers match their win total from last season.

I think the Chargers will come in second at 8-8. Still not enough defense from them. The Chiefs finish 7-9, only because Andy Reid is a great coach who will get them more wins then they probably should have. But right now their offensive line is a mess, and their defense is extremely reliant on their pass rush, because their secondary is a disaster. The Raiders will be more competitive, but that schedule is just brutal. I see them finishing 6-10.

 

[iknowftbll]

^ 14-2 is a pretty bold prediction, even for this Broncos team. That slate is legit. I hope CD is right about our AFC West rivals, especially the Chargers. I don't mind them being solid teams, but a 6-0 sweep would be nice. There are enough other legitimate opponents (Colts, Pats, Bengals, NFC West) that if the Broncos catch a break with a regression of the other AFC West teams they'd still be a pretty battle-tested team.

 

[cdumler7]

I do think our NFC West games have gotten a little bit easier over the last few weeks. Unfortunately with St. Louis losing Sam Bradford, Arizona missing 3 key guys on defense for the year, and San Francisco still pretty darn banged up it wouldn't surprise me to see us go 3-1 against the NFC West. Seattle obviously is still the tough one and as much as I want revenge for the Super Bowl loss in that game I still think they come out on top at home.


In the AFC West I just see the Chiefs having to get into a shoot out to beat us and they just don't have the weapons to do it. Jamaal Charles would have to have quite the game for them to hang with us. The Chargers definitely offer up the biggest challenge and McCoy knows our team very well and has the perfect offensive system to combat our offense in the sense he knows to run the ball to shorten the game. Thing is for this year we have a better defense to actually contain them and get them off the field. Liuget or however you spell his name is the one guy that if he has a big game I could see the defense hanging with our offense. That guy is a terror up the middle. Oakland I'm just not worried about. Both sides of the ball have looked like a mess at times and I just don't think they have near enough in the secondary to hang with our weapons.


The losses I see right now...Seattle, Cincinnati, and then one trap game. I know I don't like the 13-3 finish idea either but right now that is what I see happening.

 

[Mondo Jay]

Good predictions. I got Denver winning 13 or 14 games.

 

[iknowftbll]

I think the 13-3 curse is hilarious, really. Talk to Chiefs fans about it. They believe in it as well. There have been a few Chiefs teams finish 13-3 only to go 0-1 in the playoffs. Of course, there have been quite a few Chiefs teams that finish with other playoff qualifying records only to go 0-1 in the playoffs. The Broncos have finished 13-3 a total of 5 times and gone 0-1 in three of the subsequent playoff runs (1984, 1997, 2012). In all three cases they were the #1 playoff seed. The 2005 Broncos Broncos finished 13-3 and were the first team to beat the B.B/Brady-led Patriots in the playoffs. Then they let the Steelers come in and push them around. And we all know about last year's Broncos.

The bottom line is a finish of 13-3 against this slate will be impressive. 12-4 or 11-5 would be, even. I think we have a good team and a Super Bowl contender, but I think the Broncos may be playing at home on Wild Card weekend. Looking at the Colts and Pats, they both have favorable schedules.

We'll see. I am ready to get this show on the road. This has been the longest preseason ever.

 

[randymon]

Denver........19-0 SD second with 10 wins