Last year this division only produced one playoff team, but could some key additions change the fortunes of the AFC West?
Oakland Raiders
After three straight abysmal seasons the Raiders, which can only be read in Chris Berman’s voice, may be ready to challenge for…mediocrity. In fact, Oakland has sucked so bad, they haven’t won more than eight games since 2002, and they’ve won five or less games 10 times in the last 12 years!
Years of high draft picks may finally be ready bear fruit for the Silver and Black; they won’t contend for the divisional crown, but new head coach Jack Del Rio has amassed a coaching staff full of former players (Mike Tice, Bernie Parmalee, Ken Norton Jr., Rod Woodson, among others) that will hopefully instill a higher level of professionalism than we’ve seen out of this franchise in the recent past.
On offense the Raiders are, finally, going to feature Latavius Murray (over new additions Roy Helu and Trent Richardson) who showed signs of greatness last year via the run and catching passes out of the backfield. Derek Carr will be expected to take another step forward in his sophomore season after posting an acceptable 21 touchdown/12 interception year as a rookie. Gone is veteran wideout James Jones, but Oakland did bring in 4th overall pick Amari Cooper, who will become an immediate contributor to this offense as he is a route runner well beyond his years and has the speed and size to go to battle with most DBs from day one. He reminds me of a bigger Marvin Harrison. The Raiders also persuaded Michael Crabtree to jump Bay Area teams and help this offense record its first 1,000 yard receiver since ’05 Randy Moss.
On defense, it’s all about 2013 MAC Defensive Player of the year Khalil Mack and what he can do as he terrorizes offensive coordinators from the defensive end or outside linebacker spots. Outside of born again Raider Charles Woodson, The Bay has a relatively inexperienced secondary so Mack, Shredder impersonator Justin Tuck, and the rest of the front four will have to pressure the quarterback a shot at stopping or slowing down the opposition’s passing attack.
Del Rio is a defensive-minded coach. His primary assignment will be to correct a defense that recorded the second fewest sacks in NFL, and finished dead last in turnover differential and points allowed per game in 2014.
San Diego Chargers
While the Raiders are reaching for mediocrity the Chargers have lived for it. Not since the days of LaDainian Tomlinson have the not so super Chargers been an above average club. They’ve always had a talented roster but be it bad luck or bad management, they’ve always been a step behind the big boys— even as the big boys have changed, or at least changed teams. So it comes as no surprise that there was some scuttlebutt that San Diego was shopping their franchise QB, Philip Rivers, who is locked in an eternal war with Tony Romo for “best QB to never win a Super Bowl” honors. All Rivers has done is pump out 30 TD-12 INT-4,000 yards for around a decade, so it’s not terribly shocking that Rivers and the Chargers agreed to a 4-year $83 million pact that should see Rivers finish his career in San Diego.
The Chargers hope that with the quarterback position settled, the rest of the roster can improve. On offense, rookie running back Melvin Gordon has been getting some buzz as a favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year, but as long as he can see the field much more consistently than the last rookie running back savor (Ryan Matthews) the Charger faithful should be thrilled.
However, the Bolts will have to start this season without their future Hall of Fame tight end Antonio Gates, who was recently popped for PEDs and subsequently suspended four games. This is especially troublesome since San Diego has a long history of starting seasons with molasses-like quickness. While he’s faded down the stretch the last two seasons, Rivers has a 34-9 career regular season record in December and January. Getting off to a fast start will be imperative for this group.
Defensively the Chargers are hoping that they can string together full game performances like the ones they had last year against Payton Manning and Tom Brady…only finishing those games with victories. This team struggled mightily at getting to the opposing QB last year, and San Diego did little rectify that this summer. As of this writing, the Chargers have only one player on defense that is 30 or older, stalwart safety Eric Weddle, and are hoping that the young talent takes a collective leap. Still, mediocrity awaits and so does Los Angeles.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs have to of the tried and true ingredients of a Super Bowl contender: a top ten rushing attack and a punishing defense. They also have Alex Smith at quarterback which makes it hard to see them reaching their full potential.
On the other side of the ball, KC returns Justin Houston and his league-leading/near NFL record-tying 22 sacks (that’s right, Houston led the NFL in sacks in 2014, NOT J.J. Watt), they get a healthy Tamba Hali back, and All-Pro safety Eric Berry should be ready to go for the season opener. A year ago, Berry was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma; his comeback should provide a significant emotional lift for this group. Andy Reid’s team was second only to Seattle for points allowed per game in ’14. They are the real deal on defense in KC, despite finishing ’14 last in the NFL in interceptions (they drafted DBs in rounds 1 and 3 to clean that up). If the offense can kick it up just a notch you have the makings of a serious contender.
The offense runs on Jamaal Charles, the 28-year-old running back has shown some wear and tear but he is still able to take it the distance in a given moment. Add a more than capable back up in Knile Davis and you have all the makings of a dynamic rushing attack. In the offseason, Reid brought in his former draft pick Jeremy Maclin to help open up this offense from the flanker spot, and if you’ve seen any of the Chiefs this preseason you’ve seen the move is already paying dividends (especially since KC did not throw a single TD to a wide receiver last season). Add Maclin with the emerging tight end Travis Kelce and you can see they aren’t far off. In fact, while Alex Smith averaged a mere 7 yards per pass the Chiefs scored 22.1 ppg last year. You know who else did? The Patriots, who averaged 29.2 ppg and won the Super Bowl with a worse defense. With the additions on offense, it’s well within reason that the Chiefs can punch it in once more per game.
Kansas City can make some noise, but must finish the season strong, which they’ve been unable to do in 2013 and 2014.
Denver Broncos
While the Chiefs might be a dark horse, Denver is still one of the favorites to represent the conference in the Superbowl. With new additions and new leadership, they might have what it takes to finish the job this time.
How will Peyton Manning handle the Broncos offense with run-happy new coach Gary Kubaik lurking in the shadows?
New HC Gary Kubiak spent most of his coaching tenure with the Texans trying to keep Peyton off the field with a clock-eating, zone-blocking ground game and great defense. The quarterback in his system historically hasn’t been allowed to make audibles outside of the hurry up offense but he’s never had an above average signal caller either; Peyton has embodied the term for nearly two decades. If they can get on the same page, these two former foes can do wonders for each other’s careers.
Kubiak must be salivating at the running back stable of CJ Anderson, Ronnie Hillman and Montee Ball. Manning is no doubt thrilled that the Broncos added Pro Bowl guard Evan Mathis, and replaced the departed Julius Thomas with Owen Daniels (good luck with that). And lets not forget they still have Demaryius Thomas — who reached a five-year $70M extension, with $43.5M guaranteed just hours before the deadline for franchise players — and Emmanuel Sanders. Both men are coming off career seasons.
The Broncos will have no trouble putting up points, but on defense they’ll benefit from Kubiak’s influence as well as having pass rusher extraordinaire Von Miller from game one this season. Miller, DeMarcus Ware, the other Brandon Marshall and Aqib Talib highlight a defense that ranked third in overall yardage allowed, second in average yards per game and was in the top 5 in the crucial 3rd down completion percentage, all while playing many more downs due to the breakneck pace of the Bronco offense. The team also drafted pass rusher Shane Ray (who could be a first round steal) and defensive back Chris Harris has recently earned recognition as one of the best corners in the league.
Denver is a staggering 17-1 against the rest of the AFC West since Peyton Manning came to town. Barring significant injury beyond that of Ryan Clady — and a large assumption that Manning will accept the terms of Kubiak’s style of offense — there is no reason why the Denver Broncos, who swept their home schedule last year, won’t be winning this division again.
Justin’s AFC West Winner: Kansas City Chiefs
Kenneth’s AFC West Winner: San Diego Chargers