Broncos should be heavily favored...fan take

[InChiefsHeaven]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/denver-...0176--nfl.html


Dear Lord, this wench is a moron!

There's roughly 10 weeks until the 2012 NFL season starts, and Denver Broncos fans' excitement is growing daily. With continued positive reports coming out of Broncos headquarters in regards to Peyton Manning's recovery, the upcoming season looks very promising. With an improving defense, and the switch to a high-octane offense behind a future Hall of Fame quarterback, the Broncos should dominate their AFC West division.

While I think it's possible that the first half of the schedule could yield a losing record for the Broncos (with tough opponents like the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons, Houston Texans, and the New Orleans Saints), the second half of the season is where the Broncos can really make a charge to the top of the standings. A large part of that is due to the fact that they will have four of their six divisional games in the second half of the season.

It's hard to identify for sure who will be their most formidable divisional opponent. With Phillip Rivers as their quarterback, the most likely choice would be the San Diego Chargers. With head coach Norv Turner and general manager A.J. Smith narrowly avoiding being fired at the end of last season, the Chargers will face extra pressure to get the job done in 2012. To me, their schedule looks a little more difficult than the one the Broncos face. While they are playing a very similar schedule to the Broncos, they have to contend with playing away against the Steelers and the New York Jets in the final month of the season. Even if the Chargers take an early divisional lead, they will have a tough time holding onto it in December.

It's a toss-up as to what kind of season the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders will have. Both teams will have new head coaches in 2012 and new strategies. The Raiders made a bold move in acquiring quarterback Carson Palmer in 2011 and after a full off-season in the Raiders organization should be ready to be the best quarterback the team has seen since Rich Gannon. If (and this is a big "if") Palmer stays healthy, I look to see the Raiders show significant improvement this season. However, challenging for a divisional title would seem to be far from a reasonable goal.

Much like the Radiers, the Chiefs' fortunes hinge largely upon whether quarterback Matt Cassel can finally live up to that huge contract he signed three years ago. The Chiefs have drafted a large amount of high-quality talent over the past several years, but have yet to have that talent live up to its potential. A winning record would be a big improvement for this team.

Broncos fans will need some patience in September and October, but I think that the Broncos will prevail in the AFC West in the end.

Julie is a featured NFL contributor for the Yahoo Contributor Network. Having followed the NFL her entire life, she became a fan of the Broncos after moving to Denver in 2001.

What a silly silly Donkey fan...

[Okie_Apparition]

Manning will be the new Denver "stink"
dead fishy
~this part was private

[BossChief]

You little riddle filled bastard.

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

IF (and that's one big ****ing IF) Manning's healthy, they should be

[SPATCH]

I'm serious... name a team that, minus the QB, has better personnel on offense.

..and, yes, I am aware that QB is the most important position on the team; I still want to know if another team has better offensive personnel than the Chiefs.

[BigMeatballDave]

Originally Posted by BossChief

I can usually figure out what you're talking about.

You lost me on this one.

I never know what he's talking about.

[MMXcalibur]

It's going to hurt big time to watch this team excel, minus the most important position in the game....

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by the_spatula

I'm serious... name a team that, minus the QB, has better personnel on offense.

..and, yes, I am aware that QB is the most important position on the team; I still want to know if another team has better offensive personnel than the Chiefs.

QBs not included I'd consider taking the Giants, Eagles, Falcons and Texans.

QBs included I'd take just about any other offense in the league.

[SPATCH]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

QBs not included I'd consider taking the Giants, Eagles, Falcons and Texans.

QBs included I'd take just about any other offense in the league.

Giants: not nearly as good at RB or TE

Eagles: have WRs to rival Chiefs. Not as good on O-Line or at TE. Charles & Hillis have edge over McCoy & whoever

Falcons: not as good at WR, RB, TE, or O-Line

Texans: better RBs, not as deep at WR, not as good at TE (Daniels is just as injury prone as Moeaki if you're going to argue that), not as good across O-Line.

**Edit** I like the offensive talent in Dallas.. maybe Philadelphia. I still take KC, though.

[Tombstone RJ]

Originally Posted by SNR

If only our drafted talent could play as well as Robert Ayers or Rahim Moore. Then we'd be a championship team.

The Chiefs don't deserve any respect, but that doesn't mean you can be a reerun and say, "Duhr Cassel sucks therefore the rest of the team sucks"

pretty sure the Broncos won the division last year and a playoff game, all with a QB who had a 47% competion percentage. Go figure.

[BossChief]

I bet both KC and Denver start off slow but that the last game of the year will be for the division.

Stanzi and Brock are the quarterbacks by then.

[Tombstone RJ]

Originally Posted by BossChief

I bet both KC and Denver start off slow but that the last game of the year will be for the division.

Stanzi and Brock are the quarterbacks by then.

who names their kid Brock anyway?

[Tombstone RJ]

hey, that's it. Brock Osweilers new moniker: Kid Brock.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by the_spatula

Giants: not nearly as good at RB or TE

Eagles: have WRs to rival Chiefs. Not as good on O-Line or at TE. Charles & Hillis have edge over McCoy & whoever

Falcons: not as good at WR, RB, TE, or O-Line

Texans: better RBs, not as deep at WR, not as good at TE (Daniels is just as injury prone as Moeaki if you're going to argue that), not as good across O-Line.

**Edit** I like the offensive talent in Dallas.. maybe Philadelphia. I still take KC, though.

I think you're being a bit of a homer. We are very talented, but so are other teams. We're also sporting a lot of question marks and potential. Not including health issues, who knows if Hillis and Baldwin will pan out? Not to mention Moeaki. He had a pretty good rookie season, but he's spent so much time off the field, we have no clue whether not he'll acclimate himself. Hell, even Hudson and Asamoah have only seen limited game time.

If everything went as well as it could, yes, I'd take the Chiefs over most other teams. But as of now, question marks and all, I'd still consider all the teams I mentioned and probably add Dallas, Atlanta, and maybe even Detroit.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by BossChief

All of those qbs played DUE TO INJURY.

To act like last years schedule (at this point last year) was easier than this years schedule is fools gold.

That doesn't matter, though.

The facts:

1. We played an easy schedule last year.

2. Right now, barring an unforeseen rash of starting quarterback injuries to 1/3 of our schedule, we play a much tougher schedule.

Facts. Cannot be argued.

If you can sit here and tell me we'll play 1/3 of our schedule this year against complete shit QBs, I'll tell you we're winning 10 games.

[midwest]

if this team can just get a good qb...