NFL Offseason: Minority Report (AFC West)
Ahhh.. Feels good to be back. After a little break I’m finally here to finish off with the second half of the league. And honestly these last four divisions are the most intriguing ones this season. The Easts and Wests of both conferences are where most of NFL Sunday Ticket will be getting used, unless of course Aaron Rodgers is on. If I were to grade divisions as a whole in terms of how they improved in the offseason I’d put these four on the top of the grading curve. The AFC West, although part of this group, is really only in that top four because of Peyton Manning. Without Manning this is probably the least watchable division in football, until they make the new division break ups and put the Jets and Jaguars in a division by themselves. Enough Jet hating, I’ll have time for that later when I get to their division. Lets get right into it. We only have a 100 days or so till football is back, so we gotta get a move on.
San Diego Chargers:
What can be said about the Chargers. The Chargers went from being the team in the hunt every year that fell just short, to being simply short. They finally did the right thing and got rid of Norv Turner and while a new coach can usually account for 1-2 more wins, they can’t really help that horrendous O-line. Phillip Rivers is a really good QB but due to his side arm mechanic, he needs a really good O-line in order to have any chance at a successful season. On the roster side of things, the Chargers went out and got no one. The Chargers have become kind of like the one dude in the Hangover movies that disappears each movie. You know about them in the beginning of the season, it’s only surprising about how they fall off; not the fact that they fall off. And you’ll forget they’re even a part of the NFL till the end of the season, when through absurd circumstances they’re back in the picture. This isn’t a good thing for you Chargers fans out there. I thought they should’ve made a play for Felix Jones and Anquan Boldin. Instead they decided to do nothing. So maybe the better definition is the Chargers are like Groundhogs Day the movie, and I bet they end doing the same thing as prior seasons, which is to barely make or miss the Wild Card,
Oakland Raiders:
Did I already claim a division as my least competitve? Cause if not I want to pick this division now. So Oakland bets the bank on Carson Palmer and loses valuable picks in the process, only to trade him for 7th round pick and trade away more valuable picks for Matt Flynn; who would’ve eventually had to been cut by the Seahawks. And if you watched the draft the Raiders, maybe for nostalgia, looked like they got the second oldest guy in California to sit in on their draft. They got deeper at RB, the one position they didn’t need to, and got very thin at WR. The only thing I like about the Raiders this season is they’re on the Cowboy’s schedule late in the season. Is it just me or doesn’t it feel like Joe Flacco will end up being a Raider in like 3 years, leaving Oakland eating up the largest portion of his contract. I mean it just makes sense, the most overrated QB with the second highest contract in the league. This has Raider Nation written all over it.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs are much improved. They used the off season and the draft very wisely. They will be one of the most improved teams in the league. But let’s put that judgment in perspective. They were also one of the worst teams in the league last year. this is like saying Lindsay Lohan is the most improved young star cause she hasn’t been in jail this year. Its just not good enough. But it is a step in the right direction. Right now they’re the darling pick of the media but I still stand by the fact that Alex smith is really only good at letting you win in spite of his short comings. He won’t lose games for you. But he’s definitely not winning them either. If I’m Dwayne Bowe I demand a trade before he turns me into Crabtree prior to Kapernik. For coaching, I think Andy Reid is a good coach, but I do think he gets a bit too much credit for honestly how good McNabb and Westbrook were. He’ll boost the offense a bit and probably have you in more games than before, but he’ll also lose you a game or two that should’ve been wins purely on bad clock management. If I’m the Chiefs I’ll be happy with being on the fringe of the wildcard and do like every other bottom half team and attempt to get manziell. They’re only a year away if they stay the course. And Lindsay lohan will have a hit movie this time next year too (we still need the female equivalent of the Robert Downey Jr. comeback In Hollywood)
Denver Broncos
The Broncos are already in the playoffs. Purely by showing up. While every team has room for improvement, I’m not sure what more the Broncos could’ve done last year. Rahim Moore made a 100 million dollar mistake. Well at least that’s what its going to cost the Ravens since they way over paid Joe Flacco and forgot that he might’ve won his Super Bowl thanks in small part to a lucky floating pass, and an inexperience QB not being able to make one more throw in a Super Bowl. So I think Denver shouldn’t worry too much. Oh, did I mention they got Wes Welker. In what is one of the rare moments that both teams were better for the move, the Patriots and the Broncos are both better because of the Wes Welker situation. Peyton Manning is only going to play better this season. In my books we’ll hopefully get one last battle from him and Brady. And It’ll be quite the show, leaving the winner to lose to my Cowboys in the Super Bowl. (hopefully shooting stars really work)
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