Week 1 is in the books, and boy does it feel good to type that! Probably feels just as good to read it out loud. With Week 1 now over, we can look around the AFC West, and take stock of where the rest of the division is at. I’ll keep an eye on the rest of the division throughout the season and will write a weekly article with an update. You know, so that you don’t have to worry about what the Raiders, Chargers and Chiefs are doing on Sundays.
The Broncos absolutely dominated the division while Peyton Manning was the quarterback. Will that be the case now that he’s gone and the team belongs to Trevor Siemian?
We know a couple of things: First, that Siemian is capable of handling the offense and handling pressure situations — he displayed that against the Panthers — but we also know that the rest of the division is going to get better, at least one would think so.
San Diego Chargers
After watching each team play, it looks like the Chargers are still on the outside looking in when it comes to contending for the AFC West crown. They have the quarterback in Phillip Rivers but don’t have the head coach.
Mike McCoy got the job because he was able to work miracles with Tim Tebow — work miracles, get it? Since landing in San Diego, he has done nothing but disappoint, going 9-7 in both of his first two years and then 4-12 last season.
The team looked lost again in the season opener. Once leading the Chiefs 24-3, they were outscored 30-6 in the second half and overtime. An epic collapse from the Chargers and one I am sure we will see again this season. The bad news didn’t stop there, however, as McCoy announced what we all thought we saw yesterday: Keenan Allen will miss the rest of the year with a torn ACL.
I believe McCoy will be lucky to make it out of this season.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs, on the other hand, started slow, but, as we all know, it’s about how you finish. As bad as McCoy is as a head coach, Andy Reid is just as good, and he showed it again on Sunday. Trusting his team and his coaching staff’s game plan, the Chiefs never got away from themselves in the comeback.
Kansas City is without their workhorse in Jamal Charles and seemed to miss him Sunday, rushing for just 83 yards between four different ball carriers. When he comes back and gets back into rhythm they will improve but still have a ways to go.
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders have been on the rise for a couple of seasons now according to “NFL experts” across the country, and this is supposed to be the year where they make that jump.
They started with a bang in Week 1 with a thriller in New Orleans. The Raiders needed a late score and then a gutsy two-point conversion call and execution from Derek Carr and the Raiders offense, but in the end they picked up a 35-34 win.
The potential is there for Oakland, and let’s be honest, Broncos Country, wouldn’t that rivalry be nice to have again? If both the Broncos and Raiders are fighting for the AFC West down the stretch, how great would that final game of the season be if it were for the division title?
The Broncos, Raiders and Chiefs are all 1-0 while the Chargers are 0-1. The records show a three way tie atop of the division but my eye test after Week 1 says the Broncos are still the best team after one week of play.
