Screw these phony rankings. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000...dversity-dont-sleep-on-bengals?module=HP11_cp 21st inst the crazy part, its Den KC and OAK all ranked above us??? HUH how they figure that?? Whatever....
Sweet at least we'll get a good draft pick next year hahaha All jokes aside I think The Chiefs post the biggest threat in the AFC worst. Aside from the QB position their roster is stacked With Berry, Moeaki, Charles, and Cassel coming back from injury, in 2012 all they can do is get better. The Broncos have a killer defense and they were the unsung heroes while Tebow received all the praise, Manning is a question mark, not only on how he'll recover from his surgery but how fast can he learn a new system The Raiders are still in a transitional period but the past 2 years have had our number, although they are the team I am least worried about you can't sleep on them either. The Chargers IMO got better in every position on paper this off season but still have to prove it on the field, Sure our questions remains on pass rush, DB's and O line and some may even add WR to that category. The Eagles proved last year that you can have the most talented roster but that doesn't mean squat unless you can play as a team. Every team that won the SB in the past years were all under the radar teams that nobody thought would get there. Saints were power ranked @ 16 when they won, Packers won when the snuck in with the wild card spot. The Giants last year only had one more win then us and won the whole thing. Every year we get picked by the experts to win the SuperBowl lets see what this year brings when they ranked us to lose the division
I cant agree that this is the AFC Worst. Oak has been building a PROPER team for 2 years now, KC like you said IS a big threat to win some games this year. And regardless if Den started out 1-4, the media will still be pulling for PM to kick *** and win the division. AFC Worst.... hardly.
AFC wost was a joke but for the past 3 years our division has represented the playoffs by default, meaning (snuck in with a .500 or slightly above) while teams in other divisions have been sent home because their 12-4 record (3rd in the division) wasn't enough to get the wild card. After 2003 every AFC team to play in the Superbowl has been Steelers (AFC North) Colts (AFC South) Patriots (AFC East) 9 years and no team from the AFC west
Manning is in the division, and many people, until they see otherwise, are expecting 2009/2010 Peyton. The Raiders are a tough running team, and their defense is respectable. The Chiefs are something of an unknown coming off of a 2011 season where all of their stars, and they have quite a few, were out for the season, and they still got 7 wins. There's literally no reason for anyone to give the Chargers the benefit of the doubt, because we've done absolutely nothing in the past 50 years to earn it. Our last 4 seasons have been 8, 13, 9, and 8 wins, or 9.5 wins per season. Until people see a change in the way this team plays under this coach, or until there's a significant roster change and/or staffing change, I won't expect much either. Wanting something to happen doesn't make it so...
Why is everyone getting their panties in a bunch over an article written by a little known analyst at NFL.com? Three words: EMBRACE THE HATE! Those of you who've been posting here for awhile may remember that phrase.
I see no clear dominant team in the AFC west this year, going to be an interesting season IMO! I'd love to put my Chargers on top but just can't do it.
Not picking on you particularly, but is there EVER even one thread where people don't whine about Norv?
I am not a fan of the Bears but, if they are healthy I can easily see them winning the NFC, solid defense, great running game and now adding 2 receivers to the mix
Still have the shirt, I want the hate to flow to the players, let them see what the NFL now thinks of them
I think the Bears have a solid team, but #5? They still have the same crappy offensive line that will keep Cutler from playing a full season. And Brandon Marshall is hardly a risk-free addition. #5 is way too high. Do they have the potential to be that good? Sure, but so do alot of other teams ranked alot lower than #5.
True, I just remember last year playing us week 11, they were 7-3 Cutler gets hurt and only won 1 more game after that KC, Oakland, Denver, Seattle they could have easily beaten any of those teams and pairing up Cutler and Marshall again is a scary combo
You can do a lot of nitpicking on any ranking scale, but what's important is that there's not much nitpicking to be done about the Bolts getting ranked 21st. Among analysts, until Rivers plays like he did in 2010 instead of 2011, and Mathews plays a full season, there just won't be trust in our backfield. Until our front seven is generating one, there won't be faith in our pass rush, and until our secondary starts making plays (read picks), there won't be faith that they can. The overall image of the Chargers is basically, "Lots of good players, but no playmakers". Hopefully that image gets changed this season.
Except the Chargers, despite their deficiencies, were a missed OT figgie or a fumbled snap from the playoffs. This was with a subpar Rivers, a hobbled Gates, a decimated o-line and with our best front seven player (Phillips) hobbled for most of the year by an injury. To think that Rivers is suddenly going to throw 20 INTs every year because he did it once is extremely pessimistic. The preponderance of the evidence suggests that last year was an anomaly. Seriously, if you don't have any trust in Rivers, you should just stop watching football. I can understand a low ranking, but how in the hell can you justify ranking the Raiders above us? We beat them soundly in their house in the last game of the year, and we've definitely had a better offseason than they have.
They beat the crap out of us in our house in the middle of the season, and Palmer will get a full offseason with them is likely the logic. They also didn't have a 6 game losing streak. Chicago was a broken finger from the playoffs, doesn't matter. The point is that we won 8 games last year. We sucked our way out of the first KC and first Denver games, and we were blown out by NE, DET, and CHI. Have we added a lot of good pieces this offseason? Absolutely. Have we lost a Pro-Bowl LG and a Pro-Bowl WR in FA, sure have. You can justify putting the Chargers anywhere from 21st in the league all the way up to 15th based on record, the deciding factor is whether they think we're going to be better or worse than we were last season. Apparently they think everyone else in the AFC West is trending up and we're trending down. Also, I never said that I don't have trust in Rivers. That said, if he throws 20 picks again this season, whether because our line isn't as good as we're hoping, or because our receivers aren't as good as we'd hoped, it still reflects on Rivers, even if it isn't his fault. As far as Mathews, until he proves otherwise, a lot of people are looking at him as being injury and fumble prone. That doesn't mean that it's reality, but it certainly is a common perception. Power Ratings are all about perception, because there's a limited amount of time each week to watch each team. Even the most professional of them isn't going to watch all 256 regular season games.
Boredom hits the "professional" analysts at this time of year as well. I'll need far more grains of salt to take this very seriously.
For another perspective .... Vegas book places odds on Chargers' schedule Last month, the NFL announced the Chargers' regular-season schedule. On Wednesday, a Las Vegas sportsbook offered its early impressions. Cantor Gaming released weekly handicaps for every NFL game through Week 16, and the Chargers are considered the favorite in 10 of them, most in the AFC West. Their Sept. 10 season opener in Oakland is a pick 'em. This isn't September or October, of course. It's May. To analyze a schedule now is to overanalyze, considering how the complexion of every matchup will change in the coming months. But at first glance, according to the Vegas book, the most difficult spots on the Chargers' schedule will be Week 5 (at Saints, four-point underdogs), Week 11 (at Broncos, 3.5 points), Week 14 (at Steelers, 3.5 points), and Week 16 (at Jets, 2.5 points). San Diego is considered the favorite in its other games, aside from Week 1 (the pick 'em) and Week 17 (spread not listed) against the Raiders, Elsewhere in the division, the Broncos are favorites in seven games with three pick 'ems, according to Cantor. The Chiefs are favorites in six with two pick 'ems. The Raiders: four with one. The Chiefs aren't favored to win a game until Week 8 when they host the Raiders (+4), but they're favorites in five of six games between Weeks 11 and 16. The lines are available in Las Vegas at the M Resort, Hard Rock, Tropicana, Cosmopolitan, Venetian, Palazzo, and Palms. Full Cantor odds for the Chargers: --Week 1: Chargers (pick) at Oakland Raiders --Week 2: Titans at Chargers (-6) --Week 3: Falcons at Chargers (-3.5) --Week 4: Chargers (-1) at Chiefs --Week 5: Chargers (+4) at Saints --Week 6: Broncos at Chargers (-2.5) --Week 7: BYE --Week 8: Chargers (-3.5) at Browns --Week 9: Chiefs at Chargers (-5.5) --Week 10: Chargers (-3) at Buccaneers --Week 11: Chargers (+3.5) at Broncos --Week 12: Ravens at Chargers (-1) --Week 13: Bengals at Chargers (-5.5) --Week 14: Chargers (+3.5) at Steelers --Week 15: Panthers at Chargers (-5.5) --Week 16: Chargers (+2.5) at Jets --Week 17: Raiders at Chargers (not listed) Link
The Chargers miss the playoffs a couple years in a row and the Donkeys get Peyton and suddenly everyone thinks these are the late 90s/early 00s Chargers again. I've even read some 4-12 predictions. They've gone from one extreme to the other: first we're Super Bowl locks every year, now we're the Cleveland Browns. Whatever
