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[Broncos6482]

Right on both points. It's awesome to see Chiefs fans cringing every time the subject of the Broncos being Super Bowl Champs comes up. It's awesome to see how a homer like Matt V. wasn't only wrong, but wrong on a level that would embarrass any writer with a shred of a sense of shame.

As for the general sports public at large, I am loving how much this Broncos team is being left for dead. It's almost a foregone conclusion they are going to drop off. Of course, Jeff Legwold from ESPN gives them a fighting chance at 11-5, but those are all independent predictions made by staff writers assigned to each team so they are not a "standings" prediction. The Chiefs guy and Raiders guy both put those teams at 10-6 and I think one or the other will get there.

In fact, I think the Raiders pass the Chiefs this year. The Chiefs have the feel of the 2013 Falcons to me. That team was coming off a long awaited playoff win and a 13-3 record in 2012, and were a Super Bowl favorite going into 2013. They failed to live up to expectations then injuries started mounting up. It's impossible to predict injuries, but I think the Chiefs are simply going to disappoint this year. Meanwhile the Broncos haven't lost as much as people say they have, and 11-5 or 12-4 is still realistic. And the Raiders are a young, hungry team. I don't think in the long run they can be taken seriously with JDR as their coach but they'll have their moments and I think they're going to be good enough to push for a playoff spot (at minimum a winning record) in 2016.

Completely with you on the Chiefs prediction. They've already lost Houston for the early part of the season, and maybe the whole year. Even if he does come back around the the halfway point of the season, how long until he can get back in football shape? How long until he becomes that elite pass rusher he has been. We saw what happened with Von Miller in 2013: after he missed those 6 games to start the season he just wasn't as good when he came back. And he wasn't even coming back from injury.

So now their pass rush is relying on 32 year old Tamba Hali, who hasn't hit double digits in sacks since 2013, and the unproven Dee Ford, who in 2 seasons has managed 5.5 sacks and is in danger of being labeled a bust if he doesn't break out this year.

They also have a severe lack of depth in the secondary. Peters had an outstanding rookie season, but now he'll be thrust into the number 1 corner role with the departure of Sean Smith. The Chiefs will almost certainly spend a high draft pick on a corner again, because right now their number 2 corner projects to be Phillip Gaines, a 3rd year player who blew out his knee early last season. And the retirement of Abdullah left them lacking depth at safety as well.

I expect their defense to take a step back this year. Can their offense overcome? They'll be getting back Charles, but how effective will he be coming off a second major knee injury? Outside of Maclin, they still don't have any receivers that scare anyone, and they don't seem to know how to get the most out of Kelce.

The one area they should be really good is at offensive line, and Andy Reid is a smart enough coach to probably scheme them to a couple of wins they shouldn't get, but he's also likely to cost them a game or two with bafflingly awful clock management. If everything breaks right for the Chiefs (Charles is his old self, Houston comes back quickly and doesn't miss a beat, Ford finally shows he was worth the pick, Peters continues to improve, whatever corner they draft steps in performs at a high level, Reid schemes up the offense to perform better than their talent), the Chiefs will compete for the division. But that seems like asking an awful lot to go correctly. More likely, I think a couple of those things happen, but not all, and the Chiefs finish as a 7 or 8 win team.