AFC West Preview

The BEST Division Preview on the web that no one reads. Let me say this again: NO meaningful NFL Football is played west of Texas. The AFC West and The NFC West get to battle each other out in cross divisional games this season. That sets up a battle of the worst of the worst because these two divisions stink compared to the rest of the league. In fact when I titled the NFC West the worst division in football I might have jumped the gun considering that I hadn't really investigated the AFC West nearly as much.   This entire divisional preview is all contingent one man's ego, A.J. Smith. If you don't know who he is then keep reading. (even if you do know who he is keep reading) The Oakland Raiders – 8 – 9 Wins That's not a misprint.  I have the OAKLAND RAIDERS winning this division in 2010. I might be as delusional as Al Davis but the upgrade from Purple Dranker Russell to Captian Check-down Campbell brings some respectability to this team's offense which already had a good ground game. If the Defense can get off the field a little more than it did last year then this team could be going to the playoffs. Schedule:  Overall is Favorable. I mean for Pete's sake. They get to play the NFC West and the AFC West. It doesn't get any better than that in the NFL. A couple of tough games with Pittsburgh and Miami but by the time they play the Colts in Week 16 their starters will be riding pine and rocking headsets. Fantasy Grades – Michael Bush= C     Hayward-Bey= F   Campbell=D+   DEF= C     San Diego Super-Chargers – 8 – 9 Wins This team could be at 11 – 12 wins if A.J. Smith didn't have an ego larger than Qualcomm Stadium itself. (Good thing it is not a dome or AJ Smith's head wouldn't fit inside) I mean the guy has 2 of his top 4 offensive players sitting out because he is so power hungry that he won't pay them a reasonable wage in the current NFL economy. They are down to their 5th string left tackle; only the most important position on the O-line, and this guy is going to give up their season in a measuring contest. Schedule: Overall is unfavorable (unless they get V Jack and MM back soon). They have to play the Patriots and the Bengals in their placement games and have to travel to Indy while the Colts still have something to play for.   Fantasy Grades – Rivers(w/o V.Jack)=B+   Ryan Matthews=B+  Gates=A   DEF= B-     Kansas City Chiefs – 6 – 7 Wins I like the idea that Scott Pioli is using here. 1. Bring in a youngish head coach with a generally bad attitude 2. Bring in established coordinators on each side of the ball (e.g. Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel) 3. Bring in a QB who is very handsome and unheralded out of college (Cassel). 4. Do everything else like they did it in New England back in the early 00s. Maybe next year we will see the fruit of the copy cat system. Maybe they can sign Troy Brown and Doug Flutie as well. Schedule: Overall is neutral. It is not hard considering they get to play Cleveland, Buffalo, St. Louis and Seattle. But the Chiefs aren't very talented, so I can't quite say their schedule is easy although to most NFL teams it would be very, very easy. Fantasy Grades – Jamaal Charles= A-   Dwayne Bowe= B+   Cassel= C    DEF= D     Denver Broncos - Wins 5 – 6 I am not buying into the idea that you can ship out your quarterback one year and your best receiver the next year in return for a case of Mountain Dew and improve a football team. It just doesn't flow logically that a coach would get rid of his best players instead of get along with his best players. Bill Parcells got a long with Lawrence Taylor. Bill Belichick gets along with Randy Moss. Josh McDaniels trades off anyone who is a great talent. This is a disastrous formula for a young coach in this league.  (He also ships off assistant coaches who are very talented as well…Napoleon Complex anyone?) Schedule: Overall is unfavorable. A four week stretch from week 3 to 6 that goes: Indy, Tennessee, Baltimore, NY Jets. That stretch could lead to the Tebow nut jobs getting their wish and his first chance to start after in week 10 after the bye. Fantasy Grades – NoSean Moreano= B-   Kyle Orton= C+   Royal= C+   DEF = C       If you read this far please check one of the boxes below this post.     As Always, I love you guys.   The Chairman