AFC West Updates

[Velo]

This scares me a little bit. Our DBs last year couldn’t stop a 4.6 speed Kelce to save their playoff hopes yet alone sub 4.4 speed wideouts. I guess time will tell.

I think the AFC West is going to be a battle between the Chiefs and Chargers; who wins maybe depend on tiebreakers. Both may be the elite of the elite in the AFC, with the Bills battling these two teams for the No. 1 seed, maybe the Bengals will be in there too. The Raiders and Broncos will battle for third, a few games back of the Chargers and Chiefs, but still both with winning records and among the better teams of the conference. That's how I see things breaking in the AFC at this time.

[chargeroo]

I think the AFC West is going to be a battle between the Chiefs and Chargers; who wins maybe depend on tiebreakers. Both may be the elite of the elite in the AFC, with the Bills battling these two teams for the No. 1 seed, maybe the Bengals will be in there too. The Raiders and Broncos will battle for third, a few games back of the Chargers and Chiefs, but still both with winning records and among the better teams of the conference. That's how I see things breaking in the AFC at this time.

I expect the Chiefs defense to be a problem this year. I'll have to see it to believe it if the offense is better without Hill. I believe the addition of Wilson to the already strong roster of the Donkeys will make them the team to beat in the AFCW. The raiders still have a weak defense so I expect them to have a lot of trouble with the better offenses they meet up with. I think the Bolts have the best team and will end up on top of the AFCW with Denver just behind them.

[Boltjolt]

I expect the Chiefs defense to be a problem this year. I'll have to see it to believe it if the offense is better without Hill. I believe the addition of Wilson to the already strong roster of the Donkeys will make them the team to beat in the AFCW. The raiders still have a weak defense so I expect them to have a lot of trouble with the better offenses they meet up with. I think the Bolts have the best team and will end up on top of the AFCW with Denver just behind them.

KC offense CAN be as good but Valdes-Scantling hasn't been much to speak of and has a 50% catch rate from Aaron Rodgers.
If DJ can shut down Kelce, that's big making their WRs make plays.

[Lefty2SLO]

KC offense CAN be as good but Valdes-Scantling hasn't been much to speak of and has a 50% catch rate from Aaron Rodgers.
If DJ can shut down Kelce, that's big making their WRs make plays.

Shutting down Kelce and forcing Mahomes to play from the pocket has always been the key to slowing down that offense. Easier said than done however.

Note - I said 'slow down'. That group is too good to outright 'stop', but with our offense slowing them down will probably be sufficient for a win (UNLESS we turn the ball over).

[powderblueboy]

You know what, you’re right. It wasn’t an end zone toss. It landed near the 17 like you said. See the 3:45 mark. What unbelievable stupid bad luck on our part. VJ had the ball in his hands too!

Just don't have time now-a-days.

It was 3rd & 8 from the 36 yard line. If not for the interception, it would have been a 53 yard Kaeding field goal attempt (& miss),
a punt, or a 4rth & 8 play.

My money would have been on Norv sending out Kaeding for the likely miss and Jet ball on the 41 yard line.

He might have punted, remembering the 3rd & 8 against New England in the AFC championship game with 7 minutes left and down by 9.
It was around the same area on the New England side of the field.

Norv would have chosen the most timid option available: punt or blame Kaeding for the miss.

[powderblueboy]

KC offense CAN be as good but Valdes-Scantling hasn't been much to speak of and has a 50% catch rate from Aaron Rodgers.
If DJ can shut down Kelce, that's big making their WRs make plays.

Any top wide receiver on the Chief's will effectively be shut down by Jackson.
They'll try to make hay with their secondary receivers: maybe that will be Mecole Hardman /Smith-Schuster.
And then there is the rookie from division III with good traits, but some people pretend he has elite traits.

Smith-Schuster is not your typical Chief receiver, and quite frankly he is over-rated by (Chief's) fans based on his productive early years.
He didn't get paid much for a reason.

Will Mecole Hardman cause d-coordinators sleepless nights - probably not.

They have no running game to speak of.

The Chief's are the Marc Iavarone of football teams......they are starting on a championship team, but will soon go to the bench for a better player.

[Velo]

KC offense CAN be as good but Valdes-Scantling hasn't been much to speak of and has a 50% catch rate from Aaron Rodgers.
If DJ can shut down Kelce, that's big making their WRs make plays.

You're right. Valdez-Scantling's catch rate was a hair under 50 percent in Green Bay (Davante Adams' was 66 percent by comparison). Now I understand why GB wasn't keen to keep him. I remember his 2020 season, where he had almost 700 yds receiving and scored 6 TDs and led the league with an average of 21 yds per catch. But even then his catch percentage was only 52 percent. So yeah, not a big threat, even with sub 4.4 speed.

[Boltjolt]

Any top wide receiver on the Chief's will effectively be shut down by Jackson.
They'll try to make hay with their secondary receivers: maybe that will be Mecole Hardman /Smith-Schuster.
And then there is the rookie from division III with good traits, but some people pretend he has elite traits.

Smith-Schuster is not your typical Chief receiver, and quite frankly he is over-rated by (Chief's) fans based on his productive early years.
He didn't get paid much for a reason.

Will Mecole Hardman cause d-coordinators sleepless nights - probably not.

They have no running game to speak of.

The Chief's are the Marc Iavarone of football teams......they are starting on a championship team, but will soon go to the bench for a better player.

Smith -Shuster is a good receiver but he dont scare nobody. He had two big years and that second one w/ 97 catches only netted him 8.6 YPC.

[Xenos]

Just don't have time now-a-days.

It was 3rd & 8 from the 36 yard line. If not for the interception, it would have been a 53 yard Kaeding field goal attempt (& miss),
a punt, or a 4rth & 8 play.

My money would have been on Norv sending out Kaeding for the likely miss and Jet ball on the 41 yard line.

He might have punted, remembering the 3rd & 8 against New England in the AFC championship game with 7 minutes left and down by 9.
It was around the same area on the New England side of the field.

Norv would have chosen the most timid option available: punt or blame Kaeding for the miss.

If VJ had held onto the ball, then it would have been a 1st down inside the 20.

[richpjr]

I expect the Chiefs defense to be a problem this year. I'll have to see it to believe it if the offense is better without Hill. I believe the addition of Wilson to the already strong roster of the Donkeys will make them the team to beat in the AFCW. The raiders still have a weak defense so I expect them to have a lot of trouble with the better offenses they meet up with. I think the Bolts have the best team and will end up on top of the AFCW with Denver just behind them.

Denver loses Fangio as their D coordinator and I expect a drop off in their D's performance because of it.

[sonorajim]

Shutting down Kelce and forcing Mahomes to play from the pocket has always been the key to slowing down that offense. Easier said than done however.

Note - I said 'slow down'. That group is too good to outright 'stop', but with our offense slowing them down will probably be sufficient for a win (UNLESS we turn the ball over).

....More than they turn it over, which I strongly doubt. This is not the 2021 Chargers who won @ KC 30 - 24, L @ LA 28-34. 58T- 58T
We played equally well last year.
I believe the Chargers improved more than the Chiefs did. I look forward to the coming season and KC very much.

[FoutsFan]

Denver loses Fangio as their D coordinator and I expect a drop off in their D's performance because of it.

That is the thing that all the talking heads do not speak of. Like Fight Club, the defense will take a step back. All the donkey fanboys act like Fangio stayed on as D coordinator.