LogFAQs > #968582901

AFC West Prediction

1. Portland Express
2. Denver Broncos
3. Oakland Raiders
4. Kansas City Chiefs

The Express had a busy offseason, but the reigning AFC Champions are still the favorite in not only the AFC West but probably the entire AFC and maybe even NFL. They are elite on both sides of the ball, and they escaped with minor injuries. They do have a first place schedule, but they play the NFC East out-of-conference, who had no teams with winning records last season, and the AFC North in-conference, which isn't a particularly daunting division based on recent seasons. The big question is if choosing Lamar Miller, who had a career year with the club, over the recently oft-injured but still a premier runner in DeMarco Murray at HB will drastically change the dynamics of this offense which has predicated itself on a balanced, mistake-free game that has done wonders for them. They should still be playoff locks, but if Miller is more like his Rams version, then suddenly the division may not be so simple.

The Broncos had a bizarre first-half last season before exhibiting what we thought they would en route to be maybe the best second-half team in the NFL last season. They see quite a few changes entering this one. They replace 2/5 of their OL, see a new #1 WR, and drafted this season's highest-rated rookie. They were in the conference title game just two seasons ago and have rarely finished with a losing record. They leave the preseason with a minor injury to a backup. They seem like one of the better bets to go from a Top 10 pick to into the playoffs. With a third place schedule that has them facing the Bills and Jaguars who could finish with high picks, they could unseat the Express in the division or at least be a favorite for a Wild Card.

The Raiders finally invested in the OL, but they unfortunately have one of the worst offensive skill groups in the league. Still, at least their OL shouldn't be the pushovers they have been after years of managemental neglect there. The team is defined by their defense, and they should still be great there even with the long-term injury to former Defensive Player of the Year MLB Vontaze Burfict. While not as defensively adept as them, you are probably looking at a recent Colts situation here where the defense will win them games, but the offense will be bad enough to prevent them from being a realistic playoff threat until next season if QB DeShaun Gaines improves and HB Chris Carson isn't too terrible with efficiency.

After six seasons of being an above-average QB, in terms of passer rating, while being more of a gun slinger, former #1 overall pick Jimmy Garoppolo is replaced with the more efficient game manager in A.J. McCarron. While he won't help recent first round picks be award threats, McCarron should be far less prone of the single-game stinkers Jimmy G would throw up at inopportune times. They took a gamble by not releasing HB LeGarrette Blount and hoped nobody would attempt sign HBs DeMarco Murray or Matt Forte as their current HB situation would have put them at a disadvantage. Their gamble went bust, but they did get a great consolation prize when LeSean McCoy and his 4.3 career YPC was released. Their OL situation is not great in terms of talent and production, capping both the offensive ceiling and floor of this team. The defense has been the better side of this team the past few seasons, and that should remain even with the unit having more underachievers than you would like. I don't see this as a bad team, but given how even the league was last season, they could still very well pick in the Top 10 at the end. I'm a little intrigued by this team, not as a playoff threat but simply seeing how the new pieces perform. This could be a fun little team.