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NFL Pro Football 2008 AFC West Preview
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Fearless Rick's 2008 NFL Preview - AFC WEST
Rick Gagliano | 8/8/2008
AFC WEST - Predicted order of finish and (predicted record)
Who knows? With both of their star offensive players at full strength, the Chargers might have made it to the Super Bowl.
This year looks like a cakewalk into the playoffs because the Chargers will almost certainly win 5 or 6 games in the division. The draft included another stud running back, Jacob Hester, from LSU, and help at the corners with Antoine Cason from Arizona State (their top pick) and Boston College's DeJuan Tribble.
The schedule has NFC South foes and ends fairly softly, with Atlanta and Oakland at home, road games at Kansas City and Tampa Bay and a home finale with Denver.
Their defense will produce a couple of wins - more than can be said of Oakland or Denver - but the offense will cost them a few, too.
The big deal was the pick of Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, who, together in a backfield with JaMarcus Russell (who needs to be named the starter at QB) and Justin Fargas, will be exciting to watch but prone to error.
The defense was horrible in 2007 and probably will be bad again. The Raiders just can't seem to stop whatever the opposition throws or runs at it. Any improvement here could produce a couple of surprise wins. It would be nice to say that the Raiders play the dregs of the league, but they are the dregs themselves. By the time they host New England on December 14, they'll be already written off.
Denver drafted players at 9 different positions, taking two players each from Arizona, Arizona State and Virginia Tech. This is a team in a rebuilding mode, even though they will insist they are playoff contenders... until about week 8 or 9.
Defensively, the Broncos are small and quick, which won't work in a conference filled with hard-hitting, bulky monsters. Six wins may be a stretch for this team. They'll struggle even against teams in their own division. Games against the NFC South may produce 3, or maybe 4 losses.
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San Diego Chargers (11-5) - The Chargers are clearly the class of this mediocre division. In 2007, San Diego was one of the top teams in terms of offensive-defensive differential, scoring 25.8 while allowing 17.8, on average. Their solid schemes helped the Chargers to an 11-5 record, the AFC West title and two playoff wins before eventually being derailed by the Patriots in the AFC Championship, when both Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson were sidelined with injuries.
Kansas City Chiefs (6-10) - The Chiefs stand in contrast to the two teams below them in the AFC West. They have a credible defense, but almost no offense. Scoring 14.1 points per game produced a 4-12 record in 2007. The Chiefs may improve slightly in 2008, but what they really need is a new quarterback, offensive coordinator and maybe a head coaching change. Their fans are great, but deserve better.
Oakland Raiders (6-10) - The Raiders are a complete mystery to almost everyone outside the NFL. Inside the league, other teams know that they are horribly mismanaged, slow to develop talent, but capable of upsetting mid-tier teams. Their coastal location also brings travel woes into play, so often, playing the Raiders and dealing with their obtuse and hostile fans can cause difficulties.
Denver Broncos (6-10) - Jay Cutler threw for nearly 3500 yards and 20 TDs in 2007, but the defense was a real sore spot for head coach Mike Shanahan. The porous unit allowed 25.6 points per outing, the 2nd worst in the conference.
