2007 AFC West

The AFC West has three solid teams and then the Oakland Raiders. The Chargers and the Raiders both enter the 2007 season with new head coaches. San Diego is hoping a change won’t cause a drop off from last year’s brilliant 14-2 season and the Raiders are hoping that their necessary coaching change will spearhead a turnaround. Find out how Jeff Alexander sees the AFC West playing out in this predictions article.

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1st Place – San Diego Chargers – I know the management doesn’t want to hear it, but dismantling the best coaching staff in all of football is going to cost this team some wins and likely force a step backwards when they were on the brink of making a Super Bowl. Norv Turner inherits this team with the cupboard stocked full of the finest talent in the league, but it will take a little time for the players to get used to new systems and tactics. Still, the Chargers will win the West because they have that much talent.

2nd Place – Denver Broncos – The Denver Broncos are another team in this division not lacking talent. Bringing in Dre Bly to bolster a top notch secondary and picking up Travis Henry to replace Tatum Bell were just a couple of this team’s solid moves. With Cutler getting a full season to perform after gaining some nice experience last season, the Broncos will see positive results. I’m chalking this team up for double digit wins, but they’ll fall just shy of the Chargers.

3rd Place – Kansas City Chiefs – They have bought into Herman Edwards’ system — the antithesis to the one installed by Vermeil, and it produced a playoff berth. Some defensive additions will bolster a unit Edwards has tried hard to create, but an ultra conservative run offense with a depleted offensive line is not going to produce enough points to get the Chiefs ahead of the Broncos in the standings.

4th Place – Oakland Raiders – Ask yourself how a team with a defense this good can be this bad. No need to scratch your heads Raiders fans. Just realize that your time is still to come a few years down the road. Just hope and pray that JaMarcus Russell isn’t a bust and that throwing him to the wolves doesn’t hinder his progress.

This is how we see the AFC West shaping up this season. We likely won’t make a futures wager on the winner of this league as the Chargers are not showing the best value at 2/3 odds. However, I feel like this is a division we have a great grasp of and we will look for this division to make us lots of money in the upcoming season.

By Jeff Alexander – 7/16/2007

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2007 AFC West

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