Getting Hot in the Wild West?
By Staff
Inked this morning, an LA Times article citing Vegasinsider.com, makes the Chargers this season’s favorite to win the AFC West at 2-3 odds. Just behind are the Broncos at 8-5. Next, the Chiefs at 8-1, and of course the Raiders at 30-1 are low team on the totem pole.
Now, this sounds great to Chargers fans, but are we getting ahead of ourselves?
Yes.
Let’s compare the Broncos and Bolts. As this week is getting hot at Southern Hills, we’ll have a PGA Championship spin on the comparison.
Broncos / Chargers
QB
Cutler (par)/Rivers (par)
E/E: The numbers are similar, with Rivers having a slight edge and more playoff experience. I give Cutler a nudge because he’s played under the same head coach for his whole career, while Rivers has played in a coaching carousel. Boring long iron approach to a par four for two-putt pars.
RB
Henry (par) /Tomlinson (eagle)
E/2: Tomlinson wins, no contest. Although Henry is an upgrade at the position, and he should be productive in Shanahan’s system, LT has the advantage by a few strokes. LT hits this par 5 in two, Broncos are hitting lag putts for birdie attempts.
WR
Rod Smith, Javon Walker, Brandon Stokely (par) /Vincent Jackson, Malcolm Floyd, Kassim Osgood (bogey)
E/1: Rod Smith may be old, but he’s consistent. Javon Walker, has had a rocky career, but he’s got explosiveness in his bag that no Charger receiver has shown. The Broncos can hit shots the Bolts can’t at WR.
DB
Dre Bly, Champ Bailey, John Lynch, Nick Ferguson (eagle) /Quinten Jammer, Drayton Florence, Clinton Hart, Marlon McCree (shakey par)
2/1: The Broncos have what might be the best CB duo since the Ravens fielded Chris McCallister and Rod Woodson in 2001. The Chargers, well they’re solid at best; just ask Tom Brady. Broncos DB drive this par four, the Bolts are up-and-downing for par here.
4-3/3-4
D.D. Lewis, D.J. Williams, Ian Gold/Alvin McKinley, Gerard Warren, Kenard Lang, Ebenezer Ekuban (par) /Shaun Phillips, Matt Wilhelm, Shawne Merriman, Stephen Cooper/Igor Olshansky, Jamal Williams, Luis Castillo (birdie)
2/2: While the Orange isn’t a crush, the Chargers are turning lights out. This 3-4 scheme drains a birdie putt.
Special Teams
Jaon Elam, Todd Sauerbrun, Quincy Morgan et al. (par) /Nate Kaeding, Mike Scifres, Michael Turner et al.(birdie)
2/3: The special teams contest is really close. Kaeding (26-29) and Elam’s (27-29) numbers are almost identical, but Elam is aging and losing the range he once had. Turner is solid returning, but Parker’s injury places some question at an already shakey punt return position. Morgan and Williams don’t blow me away either. Last year, the Chargers ranked much higher than the Broncos in total special teams, and this year are projected as #3 special teams franchise, while the Broncos rank #18 according to football outsiders. This arbitrary and unbiased ranking, decides for me that the SoCal boys have the advantage in this deciding category.
After a close comparison, the Chargers win, barely.
The Chargers may not be Tiger, but the Broncos aren’t exactly Rory Sabatini.
At this point, last year’s 14-2 record means nothing.
Nothing.
A good season the previous season is completely arbitrary. Ask the Carolina Panthers; they’ve had two 11-5 seasons in the past four years and followed each up with 8-8/7-9 records.
And they got to a Super Bowl!
The Chargers didn’t even do that. Let’s not sync our ipods before downloads finish.