The AFC West Mess

I have friends scattered all over the AFC West. I have a Broncos fan that lives in Vegas, a few co-workers that are part of the Raider-Nation and plenty of friends and relatives that are San Diego Super-Chargers. I can honestly say I don’t associate with any Kansas City fans, but that’s mostly because the Chiefs don’t have any fans outside Missouri (and I don’t associate with Missouri, their state or their University out of my Nebraska-biased bitterness). I’ve spent my share of time making fun of the Elway-less Broncos or the Raiders for the last 6 seasons where they had 11+ losses. But I have to admit, it’s almost boring to bash the AFC West right now. Everyone has GM issues, a few teams have coaching issues and NO ONE could play over .500 this season. As of today, the AFC West sucks.

There’s a theory that says if you want to know about an organization, you look at the best. The best of the best will reflect the rest of the organization. So if we follow that theory, then we’d have to go to San Diego to visit the 8-8 Champion Chargers for the AFC West. As it stands today, their superstar running-back is in the midst of a public feud with their general manager via various media outlets. All I know is that LaDanian Tomlinson should tread very lightly in these waters. Last time this happened with AJ Smith, Marty Schottenheimer was out of a job faster than you could say, “Marty-Ball.”

Besides the airing of dirty laundry, it was learned that the Chargers brass is also hiring a marketing firm (Wasserman Media Group) to sell luxury boxes and club seats to people in Orange and Los Angeles counties. With the 2nd largest media market always looming to the north, there are many people in San Diego that are afraid that this is just the first step towards moving the team to LA. It’s not exactly the best way to endear the Charger fans after a difficult regular season and rumors of their future Hall-of-Famer getting the boot. Here’s the best way to describe the current state of the Chargers: Norv Turner is the greatest area of stability in the entire organization. Good luck with that.

Seriously, are there child labor laws?

If the Chargers are the best of the west, then what is left? The Broncos had the same 8-8 season, but that wasn’t good enough after their horrific drop from 8-4 to OUT of the playoffs. So in response, the Broncos fired Mike Shanahan and went shopping for a new Coach and GM. They came back from the market with a 12 year old head coach in Josh McDaniels. I’m serious—I don’t know if he’s old enough to drive. Besides wondering who is going to drive him to the stadium, I’m wondering who is going to pick his players for him. As of today, owner Pat Bowlen still hasn’t hired a permanent GM and is sitting on Jim Goodman as his head personnel guy. If you just said, “Who the hell is Jim Goodman?” then you are just like most Broncos fans.

To be honest, it don’t really matter who is the head of personnel—they just have one job: find 10 guys that can play defense with Champ Bailey. Last season they were 30th in the league in points allowed, just edging out the Rams and the Lions. It doesn’t matter what we’re talking about, if you’re compared to the Rams and the Lions, something has gone tragically wrong. Good luck with that.

Speaking of horrific defenses, the Chiefs are also in the midst of a complete rebuild. Last season they had the 5th pick in the draft and actually addressed their most glaring need by drafting a defensive lineman in Glenn Dorsey. Their reward: an agonizing 2-14 season that showed almost no potential for the fans in Kansas City. The only upside is they upgraded that 5th overall pick in 2008 to the 3rd overall pick in this year’s draft (wait, is that an upside?).

More than likely, the best thing to come from this season’s 14 losses is the glaring need for a complete house cleaning at all levels. Their motto very well could be, “Out with the old, in with the new.” Carl Peterson was replaced with wiz-kid Scott Pioli from the Patriots. The next move was removing Herm Edwards and finding a legitimate candidate to lead the Chiefs out of the depths that the previous regime put them in. A lot of the fans have been clamoring for a big name hire like Bill Cowher or Mike Shanahan. Maybe because the Chiefs were able to pull someone like Pioli, they think they can grab anyone they want for the coaching position too. Instead, it sounds like Kansas City is going to go with a different approach. If things go as reported, Todd Haley of the NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals will sign on as the next coach at Arrowhead. Like I said: Out with the old, in with the new.

On the field, the Chiefs and Scott Pioli will have their work cut out for themselves. As bad as the Broncos defense was last year, Kansas City was just as bad. On top of that, they presently have Tyler Thigpen as their starting quarterback of the future. Larry Johnson has as many miles as a cross-country trucker’s Peterbilt and Tony Gonzalez is just as old. So at the skill positions they are getting old (where you want young legs) and under center they have someone who is too young (where you want experience). Good luck with that.

This has been a common sight over the last 6 years.

Lastly, there is the Oakland/Los Angeles/City of Industry Raiders. Even though they had a better record than Kansas City last year, I have to mention them last simply because of the dysfunctionality that has become so accepted within the organization. When it comes down to it, they are the Raiders and all the stereotypes that come with that moniker. The two biggest problems are that Al Davis is still alive and kicking and that JaMarcus Russell is the future. Ouch. Davis is running a team that so dysfunctional, no one even wants to coach them. I’m not sure if the Lane Kiffin debacle was the organizations fault or the coach’s fault, and at this point it doesn’t matter. I just know that Tom Cable is the current coach and no one else will touch that job with a 10-foot pole. If Cable is replaced, that would be 6 coaches in 7 seasons. If he ISN’T replaced, then, well, Tom Cable is the head coach! He was 3-8 as an interim head coach last season. Is that really good enough to earn the job on a permanent basis? How low are the standards in Oakland?

As bad as things are off the field for the Raiders, they might be just as bad ON the field. They are the first team in NFL history to lose at least 11 games in 6 consecutive seasons. Their #1 overall pick, JaMarcus Russell, led them to the 29th best offense in the league. It baffles me how the Raiders can use high draft picks every year on offense (Russell, McFadden, Gallery, etc) and still can’t manage anything resembling productivity on a consistent basis. Which leads to the problem for next year: do they use a high draft pick to select a deep threat on the outside, or address their secondary that is going to have a HUGE hole if Nnamdi Asomugha bolts for free agency. He’s a stand up guy, but let’s see how he reacts if the Raiders throw the franchise tag on him AGAIN! You know that last statement just made Gibril Wilson wish he was still at Tennessee. And this is the team that’s going to be led by Tom Cable? Good luck with that.

It’s amazing to think this, but the Chargers and Norv Turner easily have the best coaching situation right now. The Raiders are stuck with who they have, the Chiefs technically don’t have a coach yet and the Broncos coach can’t legally drive. This is the kind of division that has teams swapping guys like Javon Walker, Norv Turner and Donnie Edwards (twice). Hell, it’s even the division that Al Davis calls home! But before you pile on Oakland, just remember—who was the last team from the AFC West to appear in the Super Bowl? That’s right: the Raiders. But hey, if everyone plays up to their potential, maybe one of the teams can at least have a winning record next season. Yeah, good luck with that.

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