AFC West 2010 Predictions

All right so I'm going to start of by posting my predicitoins division by division in the coming weeks. And i'm starting with the best division the AFC West! I think the AFC West should see improvment accross the board this year and should be a little more competitive. Here are my predicitions.

San Diego Chargers (11-5)

Even though it looks like the gap is closing between San Diego and the rest of the AFC West teams San Diego has to be the favorite to win the division. However I do believe Denver is not that far behind them and has a great shot to win the division this year I hope San Diego and Denver help me prove this. San Diego has taken a few steps back this offseason. They lost their face of the franchise in LaDanian Tomlinson. The locker room is going to miss his leadership. However they have drafted HB Ryan Mathews to replace LT and he looks to be the real deal. San Diego gave up a lot to move up and get him so he better be or it could be AJ Smith’s head. As much as I hate the man QB Phillip Rivers has also proven he is a top QB in this league and he does have some great targets in Jackson, and Gates. They have had an average defense and they haven’t done much at all to improve the defense which should catch up to them this year. Naturally I am not a chargers fan but putting my homer thoughts aside San Diego is still competitive in the AFC West again this year. The Broncos and Raiders have both had better off seasons this year so the Chargers better get it done soon they may not have a chance to choke in the playoffs again in the coming years.

Denver Broncos (10-6)

I believe my Broncos finally get back to their winning ways and have a chance to take the division back from the Chargers or at least get a wildcard spot in this year’s playoffs. While we lost Brandon Marshall this off season we have drafted his potential replacement Damaryius Thomas with our fist pick. I think even without Thomas we have nice depth at WR with Royal, Gaffney, Stockley, and Lloyd all proven players in the NFL. We have competition at QB and even if Orton is still the starter he can still get the job done. Denver has also continued to improve their defense mainly through free agency this offseason (it was only 2 years ago they were the worst defense in the NFL) If we got a chance this year for the love of god we got to play well consistently through out the season something Denver has failed to do the last 4 seasons.

Oakland Raiders (7-9)

That’s right Oakland almost gets to 500 this year! The main reason I see Oakland improving is because of one person who is no longer there JaMarcus Russell. He very well may have surpassed Ryan Leaf for all time draft bust! Jason Campbell will defiantly improve the team (look at last year’s team performance under QB Bruce Gradkowski verses Russell.) Richard Seymour was a great addition last year they continued to improve their defense in the draft specifically with their first pick Rolando McClain. They now will be able to get the ball to their receivers (they do have some young WR with potential). They also have a great RB depth with McFadden, Bush, and Fargus. The Raiders have the talent they just got to get the management and coaching in line for success. Oakland had the best off season out of all the AFC West teams and they defiantly had their best off season since their super bowl lost. Still see them delivering a loosing season but a big step in the right direction. It almost seems like they locked Al Davis into a closet this off season!

Kansas City Chiefs (6-10)

Kansas City while they have made some improvements nothing really stands out to me. Matt Cassel appears to be an average QB and they just haven’t done much to make a run. They do have some bright spots with RB Shown Green acquired this off season and as a Bronco fan I learned to be afraid of a guy name Jamal Charles in Week 17 of last year. Dwayne Bowe and Chris Chambers are a nice duo at WR. I think they still have some re building to do before they are a competitive team again.

So that's it for the AFC West. My next division i'm going to be looking at is the AFC East I have some thoughts on that division that may suprise you more than my predicitons for the West!