PATRIOTSFANINPA

My Analogy of the main contenders in the AFC and what I presume to be the strengths and weaknesses of the teams expected to give us the most challenges to claiming the AFC title.....


INDIANAPOLIS
STRENGTHS - Peyton Manning and his WRs are still as dangerous as ever,Addai compliments the offense with a solid running game
WEAKNESSES - Losing two starting corners and replacing them does not bode well for the Colts,They will probably need to score more than 31 points in most games to be competitive in this conference becasue I think the secondary will get pounded,Even with Bob Sanders.

DENVER
STRENGTHS - Travis Henry will provide the Broncos with yet another time consuming ground game,great pickup for them and on defense they have Champ Bailey and Dre Bly at corner-2 of the best at the position
WEAKESSES - I Still am not convinced Jay Cutler is the second coming of John Elway,Similar to what Phillip rivers is in San Diego,An unknown quality at this early point in his career-He needs to have a great season for Denver to be the best in the AFC.

SAN DIEGO
STRENGTHS - Easy one - its Ladanian Tomlinson,simply the best there is at RB and no one close-he wins games on his own it seems sometimes..
WEAKNESSES - Unproven WRs which scare no one and their secondary is still suspect and lacks true speed.

JACKSONVILLE
STRENGTHS - Very solid front defensive line,near the best in the league and I expect a very good year out of Maurice Jones Drew as he beocmes the main man behind the QB as this year goes on.
WEAKNESSES - Unsure which QB is good for this team,I think the coaching staff is not sure either,this may bite them in the ass as the season progresses and thier WRs are O.K. but not known as big time game breakers yet.

NEW YORK JETS
STRENGTHS - Thomas Jones adds firepower to the running game and the OL should continue to gel as a very strong unit-Chad should have good time to find open guys this year,Look for him to have the lowest amount of sacks or near that for this year.
WEAKNESSES - Defensive line does not scare me and they don't get to the QB often,Most mobile QBs will eat up that pass rush for big plays downfield.

BALTIMORE
STRENGTHS - That defense from DL to LB and back to Ed Reed are still a force to reckon with,even with the loss of Thomas this unit is as good as it gets in this league,Don't expect too many teams to put up 20+ on them.
WEAKNESSES - The WR core is weak and does not pose a threat to teams with a good secondary,That showed against Indy last year in the playoffs when Bob Sanders and Harper put the clamps on thier receivers and left McNair up in arms.


CINCINNATI
STRENGTHS - Best Offense inthe NFL with a great rusher in Rudi Johnson and you can't find a better group of WRs to have played together for awhile in Johnson,Houshmenzada and Henry - Plus Palmer is a great QB when he has decent time in the pocket.
WEAKNESSES - The defense is very poor against he run if you look at last years team and the linebackers are a bit slow off the ball-Just like Indy this team needs to put 31 or more on the board to win games many times this year cause that D will give up points for sure.

What do you think?
Any other contenders?

Rob0729

I think their run defense is still a major concern for them. So is Bob Sanders' health. I think Dallas Clark is one of their biggest strengths because he has allowed Manning to change his game.

Their LBing corp has been depleted with the loss of Al Wilson and their d-line has some real questions. I agree with their CBs being their biggest strength. I think the addition of Graham will help their offense, just not as much as his pricetag indicated.

I think their biggest weakness is their coaching. Norv Turner is just one of those retreads that keeps on popping up. They have turned over almost their entire coaching staff and that will screw with some of the continuity that this teams has built up.

The Jags have a great defense that was depleted last year because several key players were injured. I think that is their biggest strength.

I agree with most of this, but Chad's durability has to be a concern. He got through last year ok, but will he do it two years in a row. If they lose Pete Kendall, it could be a big blow to their offense. D'Brickishaw Ferguson gave up a lot of sacks last season and supposably Kendall covered up for a lot of his weaknesses.

I think QB is a concern. McNair started to show his age down the stretch and I don't know if he can hold up for an entire season this year.


I think the mentality of this team need to be considered a weakness. A lot of questionable characters.

Very good analysis overall.

shakadave

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Grizzafted

The bottom line is we need a better pass rush this year. We were deficient in that regard last year, evidenced most dramatically in the AFC title game. We didn't pressure Rivers much, and almost no pressure on Manning. I think with Rodney back in the lineup and AT coming off the edge that should change. I hope, at least.

Never mind wide reciever. If we can consistently pressure the quarterback, we'll win a super bowl this year. If not it could be tough.

Patriotic Fervor

You can say that about most any team, most any year....

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....and that's the way I see it!

patriotsdynasty12189

Dont forget the Chargers are replacing 2 starters at inside linebacker and we, ourselves know how hard that can be... Brown/Beisel anybody???

Aqua4Ever04

Not saying they're both contenders, but I think you should always include your division rivals. Miami and Buffalo are there and we all know Miami always presents a threat to the Patriots.

PATRIOTSFANINPA

Buffalo will be lucky to win 4 games this year with all of those key player losses.

And for Miami that 6-10 record last year really scared the ***** out of the Patriots,What a threat they are

KontradictioN

I personally think that Quinn Gray should start at QB for Jacksonville. Watching what he did in that Kansas City game was pretty impressive (considering it was the last game of the season and the first time he played at the professional level). Surely he'll make better decisions than Byron Leftwich.

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RyanTheColtsFan

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