Both the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs took big steps in their goal of making the post season, getting big conference wins to take a step ahead of a logjam of teams in the AFC playoff race.
For the Broncos, it was big on the scoreboard, as Peyton Manning and company started slow but finished strong in their rout of the Oakland Raiders.
The Chiefs were big in the clutch moments, as they faced adversity all game against the also playoff hunger Buffalo Bills, but in the end came up with enough big plays to steal a victory when they weren’t necessarily the best team at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday.
Also in the division, San Diego is fresh off a bye, and looking to rebound against the still winless Oakland Raiders.
It’s late in the season; time to see which one of these AFC West teams will continue to pile up wins when it matters most.
All that and more in this week’s Around the AFC West.
Standings (with last week’s results)
Denver Broncos…….7-2 (W, 41-17 v. OAK)
Kansas City Chiefs…6-3 (W, 17-13 v. BUF)
San Diego Chargers…5-4 (Bye)
Oakland Raiders……0-9 (L, 17-41 v. DEN)
Denver Broncos
Who’s Getting the Carries in the Backfield?
Of course there isn’t any issue with Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos passing attack, but all of a sudden there is a tricky question of who is going to take over the backfield duties in a crowded competition.
Montee Ball had the first crack at it, as he was the clear cut favorite at the position to start the season. A groin injury would rob him of his chance, as he has only been able to play in four games so far this year, and hasn’t played a single snap since October 5th.
In his absence, Ronnie Hillman took off strong out of the gate, and was having himself a strong season rushing for 378 yards, three rushing touchdowns, while also having 20 receptions for 137 more yards and one receiving score. This stretch of play also included two 100-yard games.
Well, Hillman suffered a foot injury last week, and is expected to miss 1-2 weeks.
No Hillman, no problem as second-year pro CJ Anderson answered the bell and went off for 90 rushing yards, 73 receiving yards and a touchdown after taking over.
So now with Ball returning this week, what exactly should the Broncos do at running back?
Well they get to hold off on a discussion with Hillman until he is healthy again but for the time being it comes down to Anderson or Ball.
It really is anyone’s guess, but if I had to go out on a limb and pick one, I think that the Broncos will go with Anderson as the back to get the first crack at it.
You hate for Ball to lose his spot due to injury, but Anderson has shown more playmaking and explosive ability in his limited time on the field. I also don’t expect the Broncos to be in any sort of hurry to rush Ball back into a heavy workload in his first game back.
Once all three are back and healthy, I think it will be nothing more than going with whoever has the hot hand and it will be interested to see who steps up in an intense competition for playing time.
When you have the 2nd best scoring and passing offense in the league, I guess it is kind of a moot point who is going to be getting the majority of your careers.
A strong running game and threat out of the backfield will make defenses honest though, and make life a little bit easier for Manning.
If that is even possible.
On Tap this Week: at St. Louis Rams (3-6), 1:00 PM (eastern)
Yeah, yeah we all know Peyton Manning is once again doing whatever he wants en route to a NFL leading 29 touchdown passes so far this year.
The biggest strength of the Rams defense is their defensive line led by Robert Quinn. The best recipe for success against Manning is taking away his running game and then hitting him with a ton of pressure, and St. Louis will look to do just that.
The thing is, I really don’t see enough pressure getting there to truly have a large impact on Manning’s day.
The Rams can’t score many points (28th in the league with 18.1 points per game), and their defense is one of the most scored upon in the entire league (27th, 27.9 points allowed per game)
Oh yeah, and they’re starting Shaun Hill at quarterback.
That just doesn’t look like much success to me.
We could have another very lopsided score in this one, something all too regular so far this season for Denver Bronco games.
Get Big Victory in AFC Playoff Picture
The Kansas City Chiefs got a huge win last week against the Buffalo Bills, as they not only downed a AFC foe who was also battling for a playoff spot, but also continued their strong play of late in winning their fourth straight game. They also stole a big game on the road that they were outplayed in, and didn’t really deserve to win.
The thing about the Chiefs is that if you keep them around in the game, they will come back and beat you.
The defense is very good, and it could even be argued that they are one of the best in football as they allow just 16.8 points per game (2nd in the NFL), 320.9 total yards per game (6th) and are tops in the league in passing defense, allowing opponents to gain just over 205 yard per game through the air.
The Chiefs also have playmakers on the offensive side of the ball and Alex Smith is very underrated in terms of being able to get it done late in a ball game and he showed it again last week in scoring the game-winning touchdown on a quarterback scramble. He is a lot more than the “game-manger” tag he is constantly labeled with.
It wasn’t a pretty play, and neither was the win for the Chiefs, but at the end of the day it got the job done.
The Chiefs were a better team than their record for a while, but now it has finally caught back up to the talent on the field.
While this week’s match up is tough, Kansas City still has two games against Oakland remaining to go with games against the Broncos, Steelers and Chargers, all teams they will be battling with for playoff positioning down the stretch.
Even with a loss against Seattle, the Chiefs are still sitting pretty in what is currently a logjam of teams in the AFC.
A 5-2 record in the conference will give you that kind of confidence.
On Tap this Week: vs. Seattle Seahawks (6-3), 1:00 PM
This is a really tough matchup for the Chiefs, but at least the game is at Arrowhead Stadium.
Seattle’s offense will put KC’s defense to the test early and often. The one thing the Chiefs have struggled to do is stop the run, and Marshawn Lynch is coming in red hot off of a career 140-yard/four-touchdown game from just the week before. Seattle is also the best rushing team in the league, averaging over 170 yards rushing per game and has rushed for a league-high 14 rushing touchdowns.
Their defense will be just as tough of a match up for the Chiefs, as Seattle will look to put a heavy focus on shutting down Jamaal Charles. Charles was contained for much of last week before a key long 4th-and-1touchdown run, and the 4th best defense against the run (79.8 yards per game) will be no easy task to get yards against. The Seahawks defense has yet to allow a rushing touchdown so far this season.
It will be a very low scoring affair between two of the better defensive teams in all of football. I really think it is going to come down to who has the ball last in this one, and I am taking Russell Wilson and the Seahawks to come up with a close win.
San Diego Chargers
How Can the Chargers Turn it Around after Bye?
The San Diego Chargers were on top of the football world after jumping out to a 5-1 start, but in recent weeks many things have gone wrong and the team has dropped their last three games played.
Fresh off a bye week, San Diego is looking to turn things around. So what exactly has been the problem recent?
Quarterback Phillip Rivers has cooled off the past few weeks (averaging 198.3 passing yards per game to go with 5 touchdowns and 6 interceptions over the three game losing streak), and the offense hasn’t gotten much help from the running game at all to make matters worse.
Getting running back Ryan Mathews could be a huge boost to a running game that has dropped to 30th in the league in rushing (averaging a mere 81.8 yards on the ground per game) and last in the league in yards per carry (just 3.1 yards per attempt).
It would be the first time Mathews will have a chance to be in the lineup since suffering a knee injury back in Week 2.
Mathews is just a year removed from a big season in 2013 (1,255 yards, 6 rushing touchdowns, 4.4 YPC) and will take a lot of pressure off of Branden Oliver, who seems to be more of a chance of pace type of back as opposed to someone you want as your workhorse. A threat of a rushing attack will also open things up more for the passing game.
The focus needs to be just getting balance back into the offense. Getting an every down runner back will make a huge difference, as Mathews physical rushing style will allow them to pound it right at the defense along with setting up what should be a good amount of open play-action looks.
The defense is good enough to keep them in games (although that has been struggling as of late too); the offense just needs to get back on track. This offense has enough weapons on it to put up points in a hurry, they just need to make sure they aren’t allowing opposing defenses to turn them one-dimensional.
A running game could be just what the doctor ordered for the Chargers to get out of their current slump.
On Tap this Week: vs. Oakland Raiders (0-9), 4:05 PM
The good thing for the Chargers is that they have a winless Raiders team on the schedule to try to get their season back on track, although Oakland did play them tough just four games ago that ended in a Charger’s 31-28 win.
I don’t see rookie quarterback Derek Carr having a very successful day in this one, as the talented secondary of the Chargers will be throwing a lot of different looks and disguises at him that he won’t be used to yet in his young career.
The Raiders have been even worse than the Chargers is running the football (Oakland is dead last in the NFL with just 62.1 rushing yards per game), which makes putting up points on the board for them extremely difficult.
San Diego’s defense will be too much for Oakland, and I see Mathews having a productive day in his return as the Chargers bounce back with a big win this weekend to stay in the AFC playoff race.
Oakland Raiders
Another Offense Facing Hardships
Like the Chargers, the Raider’s offense has been downright dreadful at certain points this season. They have shown a few flashes here and there, but for the most part the team has really struggled to move the ball down the field.
They haven’t been able to score (30th in the league, 16.2 points per game), pick up yards (last in the NFL in averaged yards gained with 281.2 per game), or run the football (last in rushing, just 62.1 yards per game), which has lead to almost a full calendar year without a win.
The passing game, while promising with rookie Derek Carr leading the reins, still is only 24th in the league, with 219.1 yards per game.
When it comes down to it, the offense just hasn’t been able to show up at all to this point in the year, and it really comes down to a lack of game-changing playmakers.
James Jones is a legit weapon, but no one else on that offense scares anyone and their running game has turned to nothing behind the likes of Darren McFadden (3.5 yards per carry) and Maurice Jones-Drew (2.2).
While their most recent draft class has put some solid talent in key positions, the Raiders still have a long way to go before they are feared again in the NFL.
At least it looks like they have their quarterback.
Even if there are still some growing pains to go through along the way.
On Tap this Week: at San Diego Chargers (5-3), 4:05 PM
We already touched on this game right above, so I won’t spend too much time on it here.
The Raiders are winless for a reason, and I think they are badly overmatched by a hungry Chargers team looking to get back into the playoff race.
It is a divisional game, which could throw us for a loop, but I don’t think there is enough in the cupboard for the Raiders to pull the upset.
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