Vorstellung » into the Hall of Fame

TSN football analyst Chris Schultz breaks down all the teams and each division in the NFL leading up to the regular season. Next up, the Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders of the AFC West. Denver Broncos Sometimes you go with emotion or a feeling, other times you go with pure logic and history. Denver Broncos, first in the AFC West. Now, winning the Super Bowl? That may have to defy logic and history. No team has won the Super Bowl the year after losing the Super Bowl since the 1972 Miami Dolphins. And no team has made it back to the Super Bowl after losing the Super Bowl since the 1993 Buffalo Bills. Still, with the talent addition of DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib, TJ Ward and Emmanuel Sanders at defensive end, cornerback, strong safety, and wide receiver you can say the Broncos are better than the team last year that finished 13-3. And the left side of Ryan Clady at left tackle and Orlando Franklin at left guard could be the best left side in football. The mentality of Denver is so different than any other team too. The 43-8 loss in the most important game of the year may have reignited determination and commitment as opposed to create animosity and blame. And it needs to be as the schedule is tougher this year than last: Indianapolis at home to start, Kansas City and then at Seattle. Also San Francisco, at New England, and at Cincinnati. Denver plays seven playoff teams this year. If Denver becomes a top 10 defence with a 55 touchdown offence duplicates another dominate regular season will happen. Then, if healthy come playoff time, another Super Bowl appearance in Phoenix is very possible. Will Manning stay hungry and motivated? Yes is an easy answer on two levels. First, he is not going to retire with 43-8 on his mind. And he is 17 touchdown passes away from the all-time touchdown record and should get that this year. He is 7,000 yards away from the all-time passing yardage record, give him two years. And he is 800 completions away from the most passes completed in football. That may take two years. Watch out Brett Favre. Finally as an organization Denver knows the time is now. Manning is still absolutely on top of his game but is much closer to 40 than 30 in age. His experience over his youth may get him back to the Super Bowl again and should easily get him on top of the AFC West. San Diego Chargers I thought last years success was a surprise for the Chargers, which will make this year tougher for the team, as no team will be surprised by them. The first, and most significant, reason for their success was Philip Rivers. He had one of his best statistical seasons ever with 4,478 yards, 32 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions. When you consider he threw 544 passes, completing 69.5 per cent, with only 11 interceptions, Rivers had a great year in 2013. The next surprise was for the Chargers was King Dunlap at left tackle. A part time starter became a 16-game performer and his consistency destroyed any previous criticism. Keenan Allen at receiver was also a surprise with 71 catches and over 1,000 yards. Allen was a third-round draft pick coming off a bad knee but played like a healthy first-round pick. Finally, DJ Fluker, their No. 1 pick, came in played tackle and guard and played like a top pick should. General manager Tom Telesco had an All-Star year and if their draft picks this year produce like last year, San Diego will be closer than ever to Denver in young and up and coming talent . Pass defence is the main area of concern of the Chargers this season. Only three teams had a pass defence more suspect than the Chargers in 2013. For that reason, their first draft pick was a pass defender in Jason Verrett , cornerback from TCU and their next pick was a pass rusher in Jerry Attaochu from Georgia Tech. When you consider the Chargers already use Jarret Johnson, Melvin Ingram and Dwight Freeney as present pass rushers and have free safety Eric Weddle as a top pass defender, if the two young guys can come through, what was a weakness for the team could become a strength very quickly . Although its never conclusive, when a team finishes strong there is great optimism that they will start the new season even stronger. The Chargers finished the season with four straight wins and, in impressive fashion, beat the Bengals in Cincinnati 27-10 in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Considering Cincinnati beat The Chargers 33 days earlier, December 1st in San Diego 17-10, the playoff win has great value. October 23rd - at Denver - and December 14 - home to Denver – could be the dates that determine the AFC West champion. Will it be San Diego? Not yet. Chargers will finish second in the AFC West. Kansas City Chiefs What the Chiefs accomplished last year was remarkable. To go from 2-12 in 2012 to 11-5 in 2013 is an amazing accomplishment and shows with good coaches and excellent decisions on personnel, with a change in attitude, you can produce a winner quickly in the NFL. The 9-0 start for the Chiefs was mildly miss-leading though. Of the nine wins, the Chiefs only beat one playoff team and when Denver came to town in Week 10, it was a relatively easy 27-17 win for the Broncos. Nonetheless, still a heck of a year for the team. This year they need quarterback Alex Smith to have a "heck of a year." The criticism of Smith is an absence of a deep ball and a propensity to check down his passes too often. And by doing so, smith is not necessarily out to win the game but out to not lose it as a quarterback. However, that is exactly why Andy Reid brought him in, with the hope his even play will ensure Smith doesnt turn into the next Joe Flacco. The strength of the team is Jamaal Charles, and many think he is the best running back overall in all of football. The Chiefs use him accordingly. At 511, 199 pounds he doesnt punish defenders, but he has that sixth sense to avoid the "vicious collision" that happens every now and then to other running backs in the game. He is their best runner and best pass catcher and considering the conservative but safe approach of Smith; 508 passes and only 7 interceptions last season. Charles success dictates offensive success in Kansas City. Trying to duplicate last year for this team may be tough. Every year teams lose and gain players in free agency. You hope not to lose your best players or too many of them, but you also hope there are not too many signed away from one position. The Chiefs lost Brandon Albert, Jon Asamoah and Geoff Shwartz to Miami, Atlanta and the Giants, respectively. This year the Chiefs Eric Fisher will dominate on one end of the line and Donald Stephenson make all forget about Brandon Albert at the other. But we wont know if thats possible until at least October. The Chiefs have a very good defence and had five Pro Bowl players last season in Dontari Poe, Tamba Hali, Justin Houston, Brandon Flowers and Eric Berry. Yet, Denver, with Payton Manning, beat the Chiefs Twice scoring 27 and 35 points. San Diego beat the Chiefs twice with Philip Rivers scoring 41and 27 points. And finally, the Colts too beat the Chiefs twice with Andrew Lucks offence scoring 23 points in the regular season and 45 points in a disastrous playoff game. The Chiefs beat the teams they were supposed to beat and lost to the teams they should lose too with good to great quarterbacks. Are the Chiefs better than Denver? No . Are the Chiefs better than San Diego? Maybe. Are the Chiefs better than Oakland? Yes. Therefore the Chiefs finish third in the competitive AFC West. Oakland Raiders Nobody spent money like the Raiders last offseason, and the question will be; did they spend it effectively and wisely on the players that are all very well paid? You really wont know the answer to that question until they finish playing the Jets, Texans , Patriots and Dolphins to open their season. If the Raiders emerge from that stretch 4-0, then come that first week of October Reggie McKenzie, Dennis Allen and the Raiders will be the talk of the league. If they go 0-4, you can conclude what they invested in did not provide a return. The 2014 team truly will be completely different than 2013 because all 14 of the free agents signed should be starters; six on offence and 6 on defence. The Raiders did not go for the unknown that is anticipated to be good over time, but quite the opposite. They signed proven starters and key performers and most between the age of 28-32. The Raiders were in salary cap heck, but now find their book balanced like never before. A key for the team will be a rebuilt offensive line with four new starters, with the only returning player being Steve Wisniewski . The backfield combination of Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren McFadden could be special if only if both can stay healthy. With a Pro Bowl fullback in Marcel Reece, the Raiders have backfield talent. The truth is I can go through every positional group and speak optimistically about the Raiders because each group has an influx of proven talent. However, it is not about the best players, it is about players playing their best together. With 12 different free agents you also have 12 different egos, how those come together will be interesting. Dennis Allen is 8-24 as a head coach over two years. I doubt he can go 12-36 after three years and survive. Matt Schaub lost his job in Houston because of four straight interceptions returned for touchdowns. Rookie Derek Carr is a good player at quarterback that is only getting better and better. Donald Penn at left Tackle is very good. Carlos Rogers at cornerback is very good. Antonio Smith, the defensive tackle from Houston Texans, is also very good. Everything says this season for the Raiders will be different; better. More wins. And that I agree with, maybe to the extent of even 8 wins, but that wont be enough. Raiders finish fourth in the AFC West. Nate Archibald Jersey .200. His solution to his hitting woes was business in the front and a party in the back."That would be a mullet," Norris says. D. J. Wilson Jersey . Saskatchewans Darian Durant is expected to miss the rest of the Roughriders season with a torn tendon in his right elbow. The 32-year-old, who will undergo surgery in the next couple days to repair the injury, was added to the teams six-game injury list Tuesday. https://www.cheapbucksonline.com/.com) - Colorado may be ahead of the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference standings, but they are a club that the Avalanche may want to avoid in the playoffs. Eric Bledsoe Jersey . The above paragraph could be rewritten, verbatim, with Marcus Stromans name in place of Romeros. After both men had disastrous outings in Tuesdays 18-4 mauling at the hands of the Tigers, its clear that neither is the best option to begin the season in Toronto. Michael Redd Jersey . And former Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson certainly knows his pain. "Its pretty hard to coach there without allowing some of these things to kind of affect you," Wilson told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun in his ESPN.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- This season is beginning to resemble 2006-07 for All-Star forward Corey Perry, one of five Anaheim Ducks holdovers who helped them win their only Stanley Cup title seven years ago. Rookie goalie Frederik Andersen won his sixth straight game to start his NHL career, making 35 saves in place of ailing Jonas Hiller, and the league-leading Ducks extended their winning streak to five with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night. "If you look around this room, weve got a lot of new faces," Perry said. "But theres a lot of guys in here with a lot of character that want to win and prove that they belong here and go out there every night working as hard as they can. Theyre playing every game like its their last. And if we keep doing that, were going to be successful." Perry had a goal and an assist, Nick Bonino got the go-ahead goal in the final minute of the second period and Andrew Cogliano added an empty-netter, helping Anaheim improve the NHLs best record to 15-3-1 and the best home start in franchise history to 8-0. "Its surprising, but its a nice surprise," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "The way our training camp ended, with us losing the last three games -- then losing to Colorado 6-1 in the opener -- boy, I wouldnt have thought that we would have put this kind of string together. But then they started to compete, started playing for each other and started battling for jobs." The Ducks are the leagues only undefeated team on home ice, and the first to win their first eight home games since the 2010-11 Los Angeles Kings. Anaheims 31 points through its first 19 games eclipsed the previous club mark of 30 set in that 2006-07 championship season. Andersen became the first goalie to win his first six NHL games since Damian Rhodes did it for Toronto from March 1991 to December 1993. According to a Ducks spokesman, Hiller was under the weather -- but available to play. He sat by the locker room watching the game at the end of the runway leading to the bench area. Ducks captain and leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf, who had his first career hat trick Friday night in a 6-2 victory over Buffalo, was scratched for the first time this season because of an upper-body injury. Mathieu Perreault took his place on the teams top line between Perry and Dustin Penner. "When youre missing the second-leading scorer in the league, one of the best players in the world -- and your captain -- youre always going to miss him," Boudreau said. "But I thought we did a great job of battling. The team wanted to show that we can survive injuries because weve got good depth. It gave other guys a chance to play, and they stepped up.dddddddddddd" Tom Sestito scored his first goal of the season for the Canucks, back at Honda Center for the first time since beating Anaheim 5-0 last January in the Ducks lockout-delayed home opener. "Its been a struggle the past two games here," said coach John Tortorella, whose team lost 5-1 to the Los Angeles Kings the previous night. "We know what they are as players, we know what they are as people, and they are going to be the players we know they are. They are going to bounce out of it." The Canucks have played three consecutive games without a goal or an assist from either of the Sedin twins for the first time since last January, the second week of the lockout-delayed season. "When you keep them off the scoresheet, youre probably going to win," Bonino said. "Daniel Winniks line did a great job against them, and when other guys found themselves out there against them, they were aware. But you cant run at them. Thats the biggest thing. They want you to come flying at them because they can spin off and make plays. So you have to play under control, but also get on them quick. We did that, and Freddie shut the door." Eddie Lack made 20 saves in his fourth NHL start, all of them on the road -- including overtime victories against Calgary and St. Louis. The 25-year-old rookie played the final 28 minutes of Saturdays game, stopping 13 of 14 shots after Roberto Luongo was pulled from a game for the first time since April 3, 2012, against the Ducks. Anaheim led 2-1 after two periods despite getting outshot 29-16. Bonino slammed his fifth goal into a wide-open net after Emerson Etem got the puck from Perry in the left circle and drew Lack out of the crease. Perry opened the scoring 8 1/2 minutes into the middle period with his 11th goal. Sestito tied it at 14:09 with his sixth goal in 77 NHL games. The Ducks were 0 for 2 on the power play. The Canucks, who came in with a league-best penalty-killing percentage of 89.1, have killed off all 22 short-handed situations over their last seven games. NOTES: Ducks assistant coach Scott Niedermayer was in Toronto on the eve of his induction into the Hall of Fame. ... Andersen became the first Ducks goalie to win his first six NHL games. Viktor Fasth, who hasnt played since Oct. 16 due to a lower-body injury, was 8-0 in his first nine appearances last season. ... Luongo is 1-5-2 with a 4.09 goals-against average in his last 10 games against Anaheim. ... The Canucks begin a six-game homestand Thursday night against San Jose. The Ducks start a four-game road trip Tuesday at Florida. ' ' '