AFC West Preview
OK, wrapping up the AFC with the West. This is a two horse race and in a horse race, I will pick a horse team. The Broncos win the division and this is the way it goes down:
Denver- Jay Cutler is not the second coming of Elway, but he’ll be every bit as good as Jake the Snack (the best fantasy QB who sucked in real life you’ll ever see) by the end of the year. Travis Henry will enjoy 4 great weeks as the Broncos RB before he succombs to the same injury curse that bites all RBs. But it doesn’t matter because Mike Shanahan will finally listen to all those reporters who say, “Mike Shannahan can turn my mother into a 1000 yard back” and use Kenny Mayne’s mom in the backfield. And it turns out she’ll go for 1200! The defense will miss Al Wilson who got a little bit of a raw deal. I’d like to see the rules changed so that if a player gets hurt putting it on the line for his team they can treat him right. Maybe they should offer some cap relief for players hurt for more than one season. Champ Bailey, Dre Bly, and Domonique Foxworth should still make a great secondary without Darent Williams who was of course shot in the offseason. The schedule is pretty decent. Expect this team to go 12-4.
San Diego – Quick. Name the two coaches that you could hire to give your team instant respectability, but who will prevent you from ever winning a Super Bowl. That’s right Marty Schottenheimer and Norv Turner. What did LT do to Alex Spanos that he decided to do everything possible to prevent him from getting a ring? Even with Norv coaching though, this team is a lock for 10-6 or 11-5 and a first round exit.
Oakland- No, I didn’t forget the Chiefs. And no, I don’t think Jamarcus Russell will be any good. In fact, I believe that JaMarcus Russell will go down as one of the biggest busts in draft history. This is a sign of just how bad I think the Chiefs will be. More on that in a minute. Michael Bush was a heckuva pick in the fourth round, and the defense is pretty good. People will let their guard down against them. All of this equals 3-13.
KC- With the first pick in the 2008 NFL draft, Kansas City selects Brian Brohm, quarterback, University of Lousiville. Yes, they are that bad. Damon Huard and Brodie Croyle will be ducking and chucking behind a makeshift offensive line. Larry Johnson will hold out and fall victim to the hold out curse plus his 400+ carries last year and get hurt early and often. They have no receivers and the defense is barely serviceable. This team will be lucky if it goes 2-14 and that’s only if Larry Johnson plays 8 games. Hmmm…how do I post this prediction over at our sister site, Arrowhead Addict? 
Now, on to the NFC for the weekend.
-DW
Wow, Dave, I always thought you were a pretty intelligent guy. I guess I did, anyway.
The Chiefs made the playoffs last year, and it was more due to Damon Huard than it was Trent Green. Makeshift offensive line? With all apologies to Steve Hutchinson, Brian Waters might just be the best guard in football. He was much better than Will Shields last year. C Casey Wiegmann is no slouch either.
Defense is barely serviceable? Jared Allen, Tamba Hali, Derrick Johnson, Ty Law, Patrick Surtain, Donnie Edwards, Napoleon Harris, etc… ? We have the fastest set of LBs in the league and will have a top ten defense at worst this year. This could be a special unit under Herm’s tutelage.
No WRs? Eddie Kennison is better than either Randle El or Brandon Lloyd “Banks” (leave the rappin’ to the pros, you Deion wannabe). And Dwayne Bowe has the potential to be the second-best WR of the ‘07 class (only behind Calvin Johnson). Plus, Tony G’s stats are better than those of about half the No. 1 WRs in the league (not to mention Chris Cooley’s)
When Larry Johnson, who’s the best pure rusher in the game I might add, signs we’re all good. All good.
Had to go there, didn’t you
July 16th, 2007 at 10:30 pmOh Adam, I'd have let you look silly all by your self if you hadn't brought up my intelligence.
Now I have to go after you.
First off, it is nice that you can name some of you offensive line and most of your defense. Most of the league can't. But just naming them doesn't make them good. I'll grant you, I'd sure like to have Brian Waters in our open guard slot. But your left tackle, is rated 69 by Scouts Inc, and your right tackle is so bad that Scouts Inc. hasn't bothered to rate him yet. The entire line is over 30 and Waters who was a rock suffered his first injury last year. This is a line you can't count on. It has 3 holes and its best player is no longer a guy you can write in the lineup in ink.
Let's see, the 7 guys you could name on defense started with Jared Allen who was suspended for substance abuse. That's a great start. Then there was Tamba Hali who I will grant is very good. Then there was Derrick Johnson with the completely average 75 tackles. Check out this list: 33, 31, 34. That's a list of the ages of your all-pro CBs and LB. And here's another fun number for Napolean Harris–81. That's the number of tackles he racked up in a full season compared witht he 120-150 many MLBs rack up. This is a defense that has age where it has talent and no talent where is has youth. That's a recipe for a bad season.
As for the great Eddie Kennison, his production dropped 20% last year in a full season and he's 34. I wonder if there is a connection? As for Dwayne Bowe, maybe he will be that good, maybe he won't. Will it be this year? Next year? The year after?
I've already covered the Larry Johnson holdout and the 400 carries. This is a man who is about to hit the Terrell Davis wall. And he's going to hit it hard.
Yes, this is a team with the talent of a 10-6 team. But how many injuries to the 30+ crowd would it take to turn those numbers around? What happens if Michael Bennett turns out to be your best RB for a good chunk of the season? The easy bet is to play the middle, but I'll tell you, if I were a Chiefs fan I'd be shaking in my boots right now.
Not being a Cheifs fan I say they're going to collapse big time this year. Still feeling good?
July 17th, 2007 at 4:18 pmI feel great.
If the Chiefs once again make the playoffs, hey, they've surpassed expectations.
If they tank, who cares. Everyone expects them to anyway (despite us finishing with a top 10 record in the league last year). I have a blog where I can bitch and moan about the team, tickets will be cheaper (hopefully I'll get some passes this season, though) and we'll get a great draft pick.
That being said, I fully expect us to have a pretty good season.
I can name the entire defense, c'mon, now. Our other starters will likely by second-year safeties Bernard Pollard and Jarrad Page. Page picked off Peyton Manning in the endzone during the playoffs last year, and Bernard was one of the hardest hitters and finest special teams performers in the league as a rookie last year. Then we have Jon McGraw for depth, who's no slouch.
At the defensive tackle spot we have T-N-T — rookies Tank Tyler and Turk McBride — along with Alphonso Boone, James Reed and Ron Edwards.
Michael Bennett is a pretty damn good player when's he's healthy, by the way.
D.J. plays weakside LB, missed games due to injuries last year, etc… check this out, from Warpaint Illustrated:
"It’s true. Despite the fact he only played in
13 games last season, Johnson posted more tackles, more sacks, more
forced fumbles and more tackles for loss than almost every other Cover
2 strongside ‘backer in the NFL. Minnesota’s Ben Leber had more forced fumbles and tackles for loss, but clearly isn’t a player with Johnson’s talent."
We're going to have a good year and L.J. won't break down. This guy's durable, he's not Clinton Portis.
July 18th, 2007 at 6:43 pm