AFC West

[iknowftbll]

Gil Brandt of NFL.com writes the Broncos are among the league's most vulnerable division winners in 2015. He thinks the Chiefs are the biggest threat. His write up:

Panthers, Steelers, Broncos most vulnerable division champs - NFL.com

Personally I was a bit disappointed. He doesn't exactly go out on a limb so much as say the Chiefs have a "good shot." That doesn't sound like very deep analysis to me. I'm all about someone picking the Chiefs or Chargers to unseat the Broncos because I'd like the Broncos to be off the radar as well as it's actually more fun when there is discussion like this in the off season. But this article was a bit void.

 

[Broncosr0k]

A lot of fans and experts are agreeing with this guy's conclusion. Since Manning is old and did not play well last year people are clamoring to make the prediction of his complete production drop off. That coupled with or loss of talent and quiet offseason means we are doomed to take a step back.

In reality, broncos still have the most talent. Many of the players we lost are replaceable and some would struggle in our new schemes. The chiefs will need to get passing TD before I can take them as a serious division contender. Maclin will not fix that.

The chargers have promise but they need to finish putting it all together.

Maybe this will help. Maybe not having the expectation of SB from everyone will take some pressure off.

 

[iknowftbll]

As for the talent loss, I think it is overstated. The loss of Franklin is likely the biggest single loss, but it can be overcome.

Welker was not a huge part of the offense, and JT was essentially a massive WR, not a complete TE. I think the only reason Green was not a more prolific TE was the lack of opportunities. It drove me nuts they did not try to incorporate him into the passing game last year because his being in the formation was more often than not a signal to the enemy of a run play. Throwing to him every once in a while would have been a nice way to keep the enemy guessing. I think Kubiak will be better at that, and intends to incorporate the TE position in a more dynamic manner than simply having a blocking TE for one play, a giant WR for another, as evidenced by the number of versatile TEs on the roster.

It's hard to say how prolific this offense will be in comparison to the previous three years, but it'll still be pretty high scoring. And I think I am joining a few others around here in my excitement about this defense. The Chiefs had the best defense in the division in 2014, but that may not be the case in 2015.

 

[Southieinnc]

I can't see anybody un-seating Denver this year unless Manning goes off the edge. KC might have improved a little. I don't think SD did much. Oakland was in a position to improve drastically and they have probably helped with the draft. What was unfortunate for the Raiders was even with a boat-load of money, they could not get good players to sign.....

 

[iknowftbll]

I can't see anybody un-seating Denver this year unless Manning goes off the edge. KC might have improved a little. I don't think SD did much. Oakland was in a position to improve drastically and they have probably helped with the draft. What was unfortunate for the Raiders was even with a boat-load of money, they could not get good players to sign.....

I don't think the Raiders are going to be a relevant team this year, but they appear to be heading in the right direction. I think they're good enough to swipe wins against both the Chargers and Chiefs this season, while suffering another sweep against the Broncos. 2-4 within the division, 5-11 or 6-10 overall.

So:

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

* Interchangeable. Chargers better on offense, Chiefs significantly better on defense.

 

[cdumler7]

Gil Brandt of NFL.com writes the Broncos are among the league's most vulnerable division winners in 2015. He thinks the Chiefs are the biggest threat. His write up:

Panthers, Steelers, Broncos most vulnerable division champs - NFL.com

Personally I was a bit disappointed. He doesn't exactly go out on a limb so much as say the Chiefs have a "good shot." That doesn't sound like very deep analysis to me. I'm all about someone picking the Chiefs or Chargers to unseat the Broncos because I'd like the Broncos to be off the radar as well as it's actually more fun when there is discussion like this in the off season. But this article was a bit void.

This is where I think these guys just do this to get clicks. OF course the popular thing among analyst is to pick the dark horse and especially to be the guy that predicted when Manning was going to have his huge downfall. The problem is so many only see Manning when they think of the Broncos. They ignore that the team had what 11 Pro Bowl players this past season. Actually Bucky Brooks or whatever his name is said that the Broncos have the 3rd best roster outside of the Quarterback position in the league. That should show the team can still win even if Manning isn't playing at his top level. Throw in then they bring in a coach known for helping produce solid to great OL's everywhere he goes. Considering that was our biggest weakness this past season then it should show the team is working to greatly improve that area.

Next I would say it is not taking the time to look at what other teams have actually done in the division. Such as the Jeremy Maclin signing. It still doesn't fix their biggest issue from a year ago in the OL. They lose their best OL player to the Raiders, do very little to fix the issue, and then bring in a receiver more known for his down the field playmaking ability and I just don't see how they have actually gotten better by the addition of Maclin. Throw in they cut Bowe to do it. Now I do consider Maclin an upgrade over Bowe but I don't think the difference is as great as that of going downhill especially at the Center position. Alex Smith is going to have even less time to throw it this year and then throw in the loss in blocking for the run game. I would put the Chargers over the Chiefs easily to be our biggest threat. They are the only team have to actually beaten the Broncos since Manning came to town. They have the 2nd best quarterback in the division and it isn't even close. They also might have a run game again after the draft. And finally they do have some decent players on defense coming back from injury.

 

[cdumler7]

I can't see anybody un-seating Denver this year unless Manning goes off the edge. KC might have improved a little. I don't think SD did much. Oakland was in a position to improve drastically and they have probably helped with the draft. What was unfortunate for the Raiders was even with a boat-load of money, they could not get good players to sign.....

The Raiders find themselves in quite pickle. They have an owner who honestly doesn't have a ton of money to blow through. This then makes it difficult to offer the huge guaranteed/signing bonuses that it takes to land the top guys in FA. Throw in then they have been voted by players in the league as the least desirable team to want to go play for meaning they have to overpay just to get a guy to come play for them. Then when you add in the ridiculous taxes in California it just puts every team in that state at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the league.

 

[Southieinnc]

The Raiders find themselves in quite pickle. They have an owner who honestly doesn't have a ton of money to blow through. This then makes it difficult to offer the huge guaranteed/signing bonuses that it takes to land the top guys in FA. Throw in then they have been voted by players in the league as the least desirable team to want to go play for meaning they have to overpay just to get a guy to come play for them. Then when you add in the ridiculous taxes in California it just puts every team in that state at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the league.

Precisely....

 

[iknowftbll]

In an effort to get us through the dog days of summer I am going to start posting links to some of my favorite reads on AFC West blogs. I've said it a few times: I LOVE reading Arrowhead Addict and Arrowhead Pride because of the intense hatred for the Broncos you find there. Plus both of these Chiefs blogs feature an astonishing amount of Broncos related stories. I find that...amusing.

So here's a little gem I enjoyed. The write up itself is so-so. It's the comments that make this one a good read.

Enjoy!

Chiefs gets disrespected by ESPN writers

 

[cdumler7]

I accidentally one day followed this guy on Twitter that wrote this article and he has quickly been one to bring me quite a few laughs as any article disrespecting the Chiefs he seems to make sure to point out. The other day he asked the question of "What makes people actually think the Chargers are going to be better than the Chiefs?" And all I could think was "Well let's see they have the better QB, WR Core, OL (maybe biggest reason right here), comparable at TE, and a running game that could have some major promise with Gordon. Defensively the Chiefs are better of course but San Diego isn't terrible on the defensive side of the ball in they have a pretty darn good secondary if they can stay healthy, are ok at Linebacker, and are average on the DL but all in all have at worst a middle of the pack type defense. Plus throw in I would say coaching staff beyond the Head Coach the Chargers have the better coaching staff. All of this was just what came to mind right in the moment. I'm sure if I dug deeper I could find more to talk about.

As for the article above it fits pretty close to what I said above. For me right now the biggest issue for the Chiefs continues to be the OL. If anything the got even worse from a bad OL last year with losing the one quality guy in Hudson. To me they would have been better served to pay Hudson and not sign Maclin. Maclin is about the worst fit possible for the type of receiver they need. Maclin is a deep stretch the field type guy and that is the weakest spot of Smith. Plus throw in the OL just won't allow Maclin the time to get down field like he needs. So essentially they are eliminating what he is best at and paying him what $11 million to not do it.

I just don't see how the Chiefs have actually gotten better this year.

 

[iknowftbll]

^ I see the Chiefs as a better team than the Chargers due mostly to the often streaky nature of the Chargers offense and their average at best defense. The Chiefs defense is far superior to the Chargers, and while the offense is not, it is more consistent than the "boom or bust" Chargers offense. I think this combination makes for a better overall team, though I'll admit it took me a while to really decide which team I think is better. And of course, I could be wrong.

I do agree with you about Maclin. I've made this point to a few Chiefs fans who shake their heads and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. Maclin's best stregnth is mitigated by Smith's overly conservative play. It's just a fact. Even if the Chiefs call more deep balls, Smith has to execute. He has demonstrated many times that he is unwilling to do so unless he has an obscenely high likelihood of success on the play.

 

[cdumler7]

^ I see the Chiefs as a better team than the Chargers due mostly to the often streaky nature of the Chargers offense and their average at best defense. The Chiefs defense is far superior to the Chargers, and while the offense is not, it is more consistent than the "boom or bust" Chargers offense. I think this combination makes for a better overall team, though I'll admit it took me a while to really decide which team I think is better. And of course, I could be wrong.

I do agree with you about Maclin. I've made this point to a few Chiefs fans who shake their heads and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. Maclin's best stregnth is mitigated by Smith's overly conservative play. It's just a fact. Even if the Chiefs call more deep balls, Smith has to execute. He has demonstrated many times that he is unwilling to do so unless he has an obscenely high likelihood of success on the play.

I agree the Chargers struggled with consistency but to me I see two things with that from last year. 1) The OL had so many injuries that consistency was always going to be a struggle. Same thing happened with our OL in how often we were switching it up that it made it difficult for the offense to stay consistent from one week to the next. 2) RB injuries again hurt them where they hardly had the same runner from week to week. If Melvin Gordon can stay healthy and the OL can stay healthy then I see the Chargers offense once again being a top-10 unit.

Defensively I just see the Chargers doing enough to win more games than the Chiefs but you are right it is a close call. I could easily make arguments for both sides. Either way I don't think either of them have enough to catch the Broncos as I see the Broncos being better on offense and defense compared to both of them. The Chiefs defense could be close but that depends on whether Marshall and Trevathan can stay healthy and how they can do at their new roles on the defense as that is really my only concern with our defense.

 

[iknowftbll]

Definitely agree that neither have the ability to catch the Broncos. And while I think the Chiefs, based on the power of their defense and banking on a few standout performances by their offense, can be as good as 12-4 this year, I can also see them struggling to hit 8-8. This could easily be the case if the Chargers turn out to be proved in the areas you've identified as well as the Raiders, who swiped one from the Chiefs last year, being improved to the point they can swipe another win this year. I also think the Raiders will be good enough to beat the Chargers this year. Despite all the changes, I just don't see how any other AFC West team comes close to the Broncos.

Who knows?

 

[randymon]

I`ll say this about the Chiefs.... there still will be 10 in the box to stop Jammal. They haven`t done anything to change that. On the other hand, if Gordon is the real deal ( and I believe he is), the Chargers will def be a pain in Denvers arse yet again. This yr with the uncertainty with Denver/Manning/ Kube system,etc things could get real interesting in Nov/Dec in the West

 

[randymon]

Wow. Tough day for some teams losing some key players for qtr of season. McClain, Richardson and of course big one for SD in Gates. That really hurts for Rivers. Could be death blow if it wasn't for the recent history of SD always battling back at end of yr just when ya think they're toast. They are resilient for sure. Well will see

 

[cdumler7]

Wow. Tough day for some teams losing some key players for qtr of season. McClain, Richardson and of course big one for SD in Gates. That really hurts for Rivers. Could be death blow if it wasn't for the recent history of SD always battling back at end of yr just when ya think they're toast. They are resilient for sure. Well will see

Although last year that didn't seem to happen as they closed out the season terribly. I thought they played much better at the beginning of the year but again that could be because of injuries just catching up to them. As for Gates being gone I honestly don't think that one will be the huge blow that we will hope for. They have a guy in the back up role that I think will do just fine. The other 3 suspensions though I think will be bigger deals to those teams.

I'm just so glad that so far this off season the Broncos haven't had all the controversy that the last couple of years have had. Going to go knock on some wood now of course but I truly hate this time of year as every time I open the Bronco news for the day I am just waiting to see the name at the top of who has done something idiotic.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

I did see that, CD. Anderson was probably the single greatest bright spot from the wasted campaign that was the 2014 season. As I recall, Anderson really emerged in the roadie against the Raiders. It's easy to look at the final score of 41-17 and chalk it up as another routine ass beating over the Raiders. But if you remember that game, the Broncos played like crap in the first half. That is, until within 3 minutes left in the half Manning dumped the ball off to Anderson, who in turn took it 51 yards to the endzone while pretty much running through the entire Raiders defense. That play sparked the Broncos, who incredibly enough got the ball back before the half was over and scored again. Playing like crap and leading 20-10 at the half was in my mind a result of Anderson's play really shocking the team out of its slow funk.

I'm not sure why Gase would feel the need to lob a verbal hand grenade at the Broncos, but it isn't the first time such a thing has happened. That is, a former Broncos man joining the Bears and then in an effort to play to the new audience, hurl insults toward the Broncos. All I can say is, have fun with Cutler, Adam!

In other news, the Broncos lost 3rd round pick Jeff Heuerman to an ACL injury. He was a TE and I believe they were going to use as a fullback at times. We should still be okay at the catching/blocking TE position, but if the system calls for a FB we may not have the right guy available right now.

Anderson being the lone bright spot, is he the starter in 2015, and will he be a workhorse, or will this be a committee effort?

 

[iknowftbll]

Harold, I'd say he'll be more the workhorse, but if you're asking for fantasy reasons buyer beware! The Broncos have some other options and RB by committee is highly probable. I'm guessing Anderson gains 60% of the rushing yards this season.

 

[randymon]

I would say that's a pretty fair assessment. Even at 60%, that could still give him AFC rushing title As good of shot as any. Some of the other big boys in conf have some uphill battles to contend with this yr. so ya never know.