AFC Powerhouse teams and their trajectories

[BTTA]

Old guard: Chargers, Steelers, Colts, Ravens, Pats.
Supposed new guard: Jets, Dolphins, Texans, Chiefs.

All five old guard were at crossroads at the beginning of the year, needing to rebuild aspects of their game in order to remain in the elite. All but the Pats have instead eroded significantly; their strengths are no longer dominant.

The new guard was supposedly poised to win their divisions and take their place among the elite. KC looks ok, but may have peeked. The others are in trouble (The Jets due to the expectations and resulting fragile emotional state).

Summary: Who woulda thunk it? It's great to be a Pats fan!!!! Keep those shades handy.

 

[moosekill]

Sort of an odd thread, but I would add that the Jets are not a young team by any stretch, other than their quarterback. (By the way, I am glad they are playing Sanchez rather than Brunell, he looked better than Sanchez has all season) The Jets are an old team with a ton of free agents next year, many of whom will be looking for big bucks. It is going to be a very interesting off season, especially if the Jets don't do well in the play offs.

 

[BritPat]

Not sure how you can say the Steelers or the Ravens have eroded significantly.

The Steelers look as good as ever on defense, their run game is back, and Wallace is like Holmes on steroids. The only question is the inconsistency this year, which is unlike them. They're dangerous at this time of year though. Very dangerous.

As for the Ravens, they've been off colour this year, no question, but again they're a dangerous animal who has upgraded at receiver. Passing the ball is still our biggest weakness on defense. And their defense has had real success in stopping us lately, although with us at full steam ahead with the new offense in place, things will be interesting.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

What is interesting is how much younger we are than the other teams.

 

[sieglo]

Old guard: Chargers, Steelers, Colts, Ravens, Pats.
Supposed new guard: Jets, Dolphins, Texans, Chiefs.

All five old guard were at crossroads at the beginning of the year, needing to rebuild aspects of their game in order to remain in the elite. All but the Pats have instead eroded significantly; their strengths are no longer dominant.

The new guard was supposedly poised to win their divisions and take their place among the elite. KC looks ok, but may have peeked. The others are in trouble (The Jets due to the expectations and resulting fragile emotional state).

Summary: Who woulda thunk it? It's great to be a Pats fan!!!! Keep those shades handy.

It's a new season now. Let's see what happens in the playoffs before jumping to conclusions and putting any of these teams in Canton.

 

[goheels22002]

The most interesting thing about this idea of power teams is the rise of the Chiefs under Todd Haley, Scott Pioli et al. Ranked 11th in ESPN's power rankings (ahead of the NY Giants, Tampa Bay, SD Chargers and other late season wannabes) the Chiefs are a force to be reckoned with at home (7-1) and have an opportunity to settle back in among the perennial contenders next week.

Haley is a long-time product of the Steelers and the Jets when Parcells, Belichick and Charlie Weiss were there, and had a huge role in the Cardinals run to the SuperBowl with Ken Whizenhunt, also a Steelers guy.

They've put together a team with studs in all three phases with a QB that doesn't freelance and plays within the system. If the Chiefs had a top talent at QB, they'd be frightening. The Chiefs are also a young team and their makeover was guided by bringing in smart football players who were all captains on their college or recent pro teams. Watch these guys - they may be the #1 contender in a year or two if not this year.

The other thing here is how much the Chargers regressed under Norv Turner with one of the top five most gifted QBs in the league. LT is still playing while Rivers is on the outside looking in with little optimism for returning to a favorite's status as the teams in their division get better.

You gotta like the Raiders trajectory for success next year (undefeated in the Division) more than the Chargers. If they only only had a 1st round draft pick......

And, of course, we have to thank our luckiest of stars for the Robert Kraft-Bill Belichick-Tom Brady Patriots becoming an exemplary franchise and perennial power. Who could have imagined in the late 1980s - early 1990s that the Pats would become a standard of excellence as they have for the last 15 seasons?



I

 

[ahmed]

I feel sorry for the Texans. They have all the talent in the world (both O & D) and yet underachieve every year. If their owner knows anything, he would get a new coach but seems like he's clueless.