My preseason predictions:
1.Kansas City Chiefs (9-7)
2.Denver Broncos (8-8)
3.Oakland Raiders (7-9)
4.San Diego Chargers (7-9)
Final Standings:
1.Denver Broncos (13-3)
2.San Diego Chargers (7-9)
3.Oakland Raiders (4-12)
4.Kansas City Chiefs (2-14)
Denver Broncos: Well Peyton Manning still has it. I was a naysayer because of his age and the severity of his neck injury, but his play this year proved that you shouldn't doubt a legend no matter how bad the circumstances look on paper. Manning has injected this Broncos team with life. His presence has made everyone around him better. Starting wide receivers Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker had breakout seasons, Free agent pickups Jacob Tamme and Joel Dressen are a highly effective tight end duo, and previously struggling running back Knowshon Moreno came on strong for the first time in his career after starter Willis McGahee (who was playing very well until he got hurt) went down with a season-ending knee injury. Manning has a special effect on a team and the current momentum they have (They haven't lost since Columbus Day weekend against the Patriots) has them in a prime position to contend for a Super Bowl this season. Manning wasn't the only great success for the Broncos this season, their defense emerged as one of the strongest in the league. Von Miller is an absolute beast at linebacker and just his second year in the league, he is already one of the best linebackers in all of football. Wesley Woodyard, Elvis Dumervil, and the great cornerback pair of Champ Bailey and Tracy Porter all had excellent seasons as well. Their defense can stop the run and the pass, which is very rare in the league these days and makes them a very dangerous unit. The Broncos surpassed all expectations and were one of the best teams in the NFL this season.
Kansas City Chiefs: That hunch I had about the Chiefs winning the division this year was wrong. Actually I couldn't have been more wrong. They went in 2-14 and have the number one pick in the draft this year. I will say this though, The Chiefs are no where near as bad as their record makes them out to be. Their downfall was at quarterback. Matt Casell and Brady Quinn were absolutely awful all season and are the main reason this team lost so many games. Dwayne Bowe, Tony Moeaki, and the rest of the receivers and tight ends greatly underachieved because of the quarterback play. Bowe, in particular, is a top-flight receiver who's talent was wasted and production suffered because no one could get him the ball. Their run defense was poor as well, but that doesn't surprise me since the talent they have on defense is in the secondary or linebackers who specialize in pass-rushing. The Chiefs did have some silver linings to their poor year though. Despite a few dud games, running back Jammal Charles is back to his elite status. All his explosiveness is back after missing most of the 2011 season with a torn ACL. The Chiefs young secondary also played at a pretty high level, especially after losing Brandon Carr. Eric Berry is emerging as a great young safety and Brandon Flowers and Javier Arena did a good job for the most part containing opposing receivers this year. The Chiefs aren't a lost cause with a decent amount of talent on the roster and I like new coach Andy Reid's chances of turning this team around. If they can find a quarterback in the offseason, The turnaround could be rapid.
Oakland Raiders:The Raiders proved once again why they are the stupidest franchise in the NFL. New coach Dennis Allen isn't half the coach Hue Jackson was yet Allen still has his job after a 4-12 season just a year after Jackson got fired after one season for posting an 8-8 record. Makes a lot of sense right? The Raiders defense save for defensive tackles Richard Seymour and Tommy Kelly was abysmal all season. They were getting trounced against the run and pass just about every week. I mean the only time anybody talked about the Raiders D (or the Raiders at all) this year was when Doug Martin ran for 250 yards and 4 TD's against them. Running back Darren McFadden had another underwhelming and injury-plagued year. You really have to wonder how much longer the Raiders are going to stick with him. He has upside, but he consistently gets hurt, which takes away from any value he has. About the only highlight for Oakland this year was the play of quarterback Carson Palmer and the emergence of tight end Brandon Myers. The Raiders are the only low-level team that doesn't have to worry about quarterback play as Palmer put up pretty good numbers in an otherwise really poor year for the Raiders. Myers was Palmer's favorite target and save for the last few weeks, was consistently effective and is a tight end to watch in the upcoming years. 2012 was another awful year for the Raiders and with their moronic front office, I don't see that changing any time soon.
San Diego Chargers:Well the Chargers played well in December again. Other than that, It was another rough year for the Chargers. They are a talented team, but they have a lot of issues. The biggest of their issues is the spotty play of quarterback Phillip Rivers. You never what your going to get with Rivers. One week he will look like a future hall-of-famer and the next week, he will look like a benchwarming bum who is playing because the starter is injured. Rivers needs to find some type of consistency if the Chargers want to be successful. Running back Ryan Matthews also struggled. Matthews, who is easily the most overrated running back in the league, just isn't very good and unless some drastic happens, I don't see him succeeding in the NFL. On the plus side for the Chargers, their defense looked great all year. Their run defense was especially effective ranking sixth in the league and they also had a solid pass rush that ranked in the top half of the league in sacks. Another bright spot was wide receiver Danario Alexander. He joined the team mid-year and went onto to have a hell of season. Alexander gives Rivers a legit second option next to Malcolm Floyd and adds some much-needed depth to their receiving corps. The Chargers are stuck in the depths of mediocrity due to the Philip Rivers's inconsistency and their inability to run the ball. We'll have to wait and see how their new coach handles things and if they can overcome these obstacles and make a return to the playoffs in the upcoming years.
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