AFC West Stronger Than Expected E-Mail Thread

Friday’s aren’t always all that busy at work, and we had some time to break down the AFC West between a Chargers, Broncos, and Raiders fan.

Cali4Dre: So I was looking at the Chiefs schedule the rest of the way, here’s what it looks like with my assumptions highlighted (green=win, red=loss, yellow=too close to call).  My apologies to Oakland for not giving them a chance in their two games, and to Denver for calling their home game too close to call  I gave the Chargers the win at home because their loss in week one was on the road, and they still had a chance to win on the final drive of that fluky, stormy game.

I can easily see them winning at least 9 games, and if the split the yellow ones it looks more like an easy 11 win season.  Pretty scary for the Chargers and Broncos, they have to be fairly perfect clean the rest of the way to keep up cause it looks like the Chiefs will be 6-2 going into the second week of Nov…

After Sunday’s game against the Colts, the Chiefs play only two more games against teams that were in the playoffs in 2009

Chiefs’ Remaining 2010 Schedule

Chappy: You have them losing to AZ!?! I guess you’re a Max hall/BYU fan…

I guess of anyone, I wouldn’t mind the Chiefs taking the division, kinda like me rooting for the Rangers to take the AL West this year…

It’s funny at the beginning of the year I chalked up the Chief’s games as wins for Oakland, but now I’d question any game they play as a win.

Comstock: tough day at work, huh?

I think it’s a little premature to say this team will win 10 games, as their 3 wins have come in the MNF “fluke,” pulling out a late win vs. a not very good Cleveland team, and blowing out a grossly overrated Niners team at home.  we’ll find out a lot about how good this team really is with 2 significant road tests in a row.

BUT they should beat Arizona at home…it’s safe to say after 4 weeks that team sucks.

Cali4Dre: Sorry guys, I did mean to put the Arizona game in green… my bad.  So if that’s the case, then they will definitely finish above .500???

Comstock: I can get down with that…they may not turn out to be a playoff team, but the turnaround is definitely well under way.

Chappy: I have my doubts that they will for sure be over .500, because didn’t the Broncos start 6-0 or something like that last year?!? That didn’t turn out so well…

Cali4Dre: With all the parity this year, such as the Colts not looking so dominant and owning the South division spot, there is a definite possibility that two teams will come out of the West this year…

Comstock: You’re a braver man than I, trying to handicap the AFC this early…what a mess!

Thanks for the reminder, Chap.  No, that didn’t turn out well at all.  And I seem to recall it all started to come undone by getting blown out by a traditional conference power on the road.

Cali4Dre: Sad to say but the Chargers and Broncos might look a lot like the Padres and Giants this year… stumbling and bumbling their way towards the finish line more interested in seeing who doesn’t finish first…  Lucky us Commie!

I believe that was two years ago, but I didn’t want to be the one to bring it up… at one point the Broncos were 8-4 and the Chargers 4-8, as usual backs against the wall in SD…

Comstock: You can take solace in the overwhelming advantage you have in the OL talent department, and much as I’m not really sure what’s happening in the AFC this year, I’d feel pretty confident saying the Chargers will overcome the now-patented slow start and take the division by 2 games.

And, the 3-game losing streak to end the season/hand the division to the chargers was 2 years ago…exit Mike Shanahan.  The 6-0 start and collapse was last year.

Chappy: I thought so… I was too lazy to check. I remember everyone jumping on their bandwagon for awhile saying that McDaniels was the greatest head coach from the Bellichick regime.

Cali4Dre: Should be interesting to see how this season turns out, imho it could come down to the wire with 3 teams in the hunt for the division, and two getting in

Chappy: I think I’d still be surprised if two got in, but that would be cool to not be the doormat anymore.

Comstock: I agree 2 will be tough, but the AFC is wacky this year, so who knows?  But for the sake of discussion, let’s think this through…

If your prediction is to come true and 2 teams from the AFC west make the playoffs, then 2 of these combos (1 division winner and 1 wild card) would be left in the cold: pats/jets/fins, ravens/steelers/bengals, colts/texans/titans.

Which divisions get squeezed out?

Cali4Dre: I think it would be the AFC East for sure, and the North would be my next guess.

Chappy: I’d say the East is a front runner for only one playoff team as well. I really think that the Ravens and Steelers are in, so I’d put them last on my list. The Texans never make it over the hump, so I’d put that division 2^nd as a slightly more likely chance to have only one team go…

Comstock: I think Houston finally breaks through this year, but I also agree with the Ravens and Steelers calls.  Sorry, AFC west!

Cali4Dre: I just think there’s a lot of beating up to do inter-division, and I think the Bengals will be just good enough to hold that division back from getting 2 teams.

Chappy: Damn, still the doormat 😦

Comstock: Not quite… I think we’re 4-2 against the NFC West so far, and that includes the Janikowski meltdown vs. AZ 😉