AFC West

The AFC West is the old AFC East in the prediction game  – it’s  the easiest pick in football.

Kansas City –  Red has been on the KC bandwagon for a while now, but is thinking about getting off at maybe the next stop – or the stop after that.  As he used to say about the AFC East it was spineless and weak to continue picking the Patriots year after year, but it only made sense to do that.  The AFC West is now exactly like that.  It is spineless and weak to pick the Chiefs year after year, but Red will probably do just that until proven wrong.  But if Andy Reid goes, Red probably goes with him.  Until then, pick the Chiefs and don’t look back.  With road losses to Niners, Bills and Stealers and a home loss to the Saints the Chiefs are 13-4   How’s that for specificity?

Los Angeles (Chargers) – A dismal 2023 season was capped off by a 63-21 drubbing at the hands of the Raiders who had already fired their head coach and general manager.  But things are looking up at SoFi.  Justin Hebert snaps back and is in the conversation for some kind of award.  He shines under the guidance of new Head Coach Jim Harbaugh.  But the real key for Harbaugh is breathing some life into the Chargers’ listless running game.  A damn good offensive line finally has a quality back in Gus Edwards (13 TDs last season for the Ravens).  He looks primed to break 1000 yards and score when inside the 10 yard line.  Harbaugh and the front office look for an improved defense under new DC Jesse Minter.  Chargers have a real shot at the post-season with the 5^th easiest schedule in the league. Chargers storm into contention at  10-7.

Las Vegas-  You know it would be nice if the Raiders found a place to stay.  I hear that Honolulu is nice just about year round.  Antonio Pierce is the new head coach who performed admirably in an interim role last season.  Gardner Minshew has been named the starting quarterback before the season.  That’s a new role and he has typically been the backup who gets a fair number of starts after No. 1 guy goes down.  That was the story last season in Indy when he posted a 7-6 record in 13 games after Anthony Richardson was lost.  His overall 15-23 record as a starter is unimpressive, but his 60 TDs to 25 INTs is not horrible.  It is at about this point that Red is losing interest in writing about the Raiders.  A quick wrap is in order. Raiders are just under .500 at 8-9 and Minshew is gone by mid-season.

Denver –  Talk about a team in the wilderness for a good long while.  The term “laughingstock” is bandied about when discussing the Broncos recent efforts. Not much is likely to change this year.  The Broncos will have the benefit of being the underdogs in just about every game this season.  The curiously named Bo Nix is the latest rookie QB sensation poised to lead the Broncos to the promised land.  RB Javonte Williams needs to improve on a nice rookie season to take some pressure off of Nix.  But the real problem is up front on defense.  The defensive front got its lunch money stolen early and often last season.  The secondary is good but without a run defense or a quality edge rushing attack it probably will not matter.  No hope in Mile High.  Broncos are 6-11 if they get lucky.