Who Will Win The AFC West?

Same as usual, vote for your winner of the AFC West.

I have a feeling this will be one of the closer polls, there doesn't seem to be a standout team.

I have gone for the Chiefs, I think their defence will improve with Eric Berry back, Jamaal Charles and the tight end are back to support the offence and there are also a couple of decent receivers.

Gone Chiefs
Pretty much what bambam said

Really had to think about this one, I think you could make a case for all 4 teams.

Went Chiefs, anyone who denies the Pack a 16-0 reg season must be pretty good.

I'd love to say the Raiders but I don't think it's highly likely, unless Palmer clicks into something resembling a high gear.

Peyton has looked good for the Broncos and their defence has proven sound, so it's between them and the Chiefs. Talent-wise I'd probably say Chiefs edge it, but I think it will be the Broncos by the thinnest of margins.

Chiefs - they are a deceptively talented team in an awful lot of areas.

Cassel is the weak link really, but if he simply "does a job", i.e. doesn't do things that are either amazing or stupid then they should be able to rack up a fair few wins.

Charles is a great back, admittedly coming off major surgery, but he is way ahead of AP on the recovery track simply because it happened sooner and Peyton Hillis is a nice backup for him.

They have some good young players on defence, especially Eric Berry and the division isn't massively challenging - it's in a bit of a flux

I'm going for the San Diego Chargers. Had it not been for OT they would have won the division and made the play offs last year. Tehy have had a good preseason too.

I went for the Chiefs. In Romeo Crennel they have a quality head coach, and drafted well, with the talent coming back from injury as well. If Cassel can almost do what Alex Smith did last season for the 49ers and not turn the ball over, they will go far

Broncos - Manning's presence alone will win them a chunk of games. Was pretty evident last year the difference he can make to a team with the way Indy bombed without him. They've gone from having the worst QB in the division last season to the best this season and you know what they say about it being a QB driven league these days.

Number-25 wrote:Broncos - Manning's presence alone will win them a chunk of games. Was pretty evident last year the difference he can make to a team with the way Indy bombed without him. They've gone from having the worst QB in the division last season to the best this season and you know what they say about it being a QB driven league these days.

Would you say he's still the best? I think there are a number of guys who have overtaken him in recent seasons. His presence is still felt, but I'm not sure if he's the force he once was.

bluestonevedder wrote:

Number-25 wrote:Broncos - Manning's presence alone will win them a chunk of games. Was pretty evident last year the difference he can make to a team with the way Indy bombed without him. They've gone from having the worst QB in the division last season to the best this season and you know what they say about it being a QB driven league these days.

Would you say he's still the best? I think there are a number of guys who have overtaken him in recent seasons. His presence is still felt, but I'm not sure if he's the force he once was.

Yeah that's a good point, Peyton was brilliant, but who knows if he will be the same after his injury. I kind of think a lot of people are overlooking Phillip Rivers this year, I know he had a bad season but the guy has been consistently excellent before last year, I think he will surprise this year

bambamwillis wrote:

bluestonevedder wrote:

Number-25 wrote:Broncos - Manning's presence alone will win them a chunk of games. Was pretty evident last year the difference he can make to a team with the way Indy bombed without him. They've gone from having the worst QB in the division last season to the best this season and you know what they say about it being a QB driven league these days.

Would you say he's still the best? I think there are a number of guys who have overtaken him in recent seasons. His presence is still felt, but I'm not sure if he's the force he once was.

Yeah that's a good point, Peyton was brilliant, but who knows if he will be the same after his injury. I kind of think a lot of people are overlooking Phillip Rivers this year, I know he had a bad season but the guy has been consistently excellent before last year, I think he will surprise this year

Yeh, I just think it's hard for a player to return to their previous form especially after such major surgery. Rivers is a very good quarterback, an dependable. Occassionally though, I think he loses his temperment and throws a few odd balls, but a majority of the time he's excellent. Hopefully last season was just a bit of a bump in the road! It was a very uncharacteristic season for him.

bluestonevedder wrote:

Number-25 wrote:Broncos - Manning's presence alone will win them a chunk of games. Was pretty evident last year the difference he can make to a team with the way Indy bombed without him. They've gone from having the worst QB in the division last season to the best this season and you know what they say about it being a QB driven league these days.

Would you say he's still the best? I think there are a number of guys who have overtaken him in recent seasons. His presence is still felt, but I'm not sure if he's the force he once was.

I don't think Manning has to be back to his old self to get them to the top of the division, thanks to that defense and special teams and running game Tebow managed to do it, and I think purely because I don't see how Manning could possibly end up doing worse than Tebow the Broncos win it. Also in the AFC West I think the only QB who Manning could have fallen behind is Rivers but he's coming off a bad year, losing Jackson and losing yet more RBs (that's Tomlinson, Sproles and Tolbert in 3 years).

So much of what has made Manning great to this point in his career is the mental side of the game - y'know, the intangibles that you hear the "experts" going on about. His injury won't have diminished that side of his game. So far, it seems like his arm strength isn't significantly diminished as a result of the injury and surgery that he had. Of course we won't know for sure until he is in proper competitive action and he's absorbing proper hits but I'd give him the benefit of the doubt that he can be the player he was at Indy until we see otherwise. If that's the case, then he's the best QB in the AFC West. That's not to diminish the talents of Philip Rivers though. It's just that Manning at the top of his game is amongst the best QBs in the league while Rivers at the top of his game is probably a notch below that. IMHO