Other AFC Teams

[Mike the Brit]

Is it just me, or is Von Miller lined up in the neutral zone and/or jumping offsides on pretty much every play?

That apart, the Broncos have looked the pick of the AFC so far. Demarius Thomas looked better than I've seen him since the Fivehead was healthy and throwing to him. Siemian was actually pretty good against the Pats last year. If he's had a jump, they will be a very strong team.

 

[drewskie]

You need to be able to play legit defense to beat the Pats. OAK/PIT still dont' really fit that description, though their offenses are obviously legit.

DEN/KC still present the toughest match up for us in the AFC stylistically, and KC in particular not just because of week 1, but because the team speed they have at the skill positions on offense is tough for our personnel, just like ATL looks like the toughest out in the NFC right now. Berry being out for KC is a potential game changer down the road though.

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

Head to head will be big. Gonna have to beat the raiders and Pittsburgh on the road. Not gonna be easy. The chiefs already have any tiebreakers over us.

Our pass defense ranks 30th in the league. I know it's stats or whateva that has to get better. It's only two games but we will see if it gets better.

 

[IllegalContact]

it's september.......nuff said

 

[Deus Irae]

So what are your thoughts on the other AFC teams?

AFCE: Jets and Bills blow, but Miami has the potential to be a decent team
AFCN: Browns blow, Bengals need the QB play to be much better, Steelers are a threat, Ravens remain a mystery
AFCS: Jags blow, Houston can be good if they can get the QB play, Ten should be in for another mediocre season, Colts need luck
AFCW: Best division in football - Chargers find ways to lose, Chiefs and Raiders and Broncos (Anderson a/k/a a running game makes a world of difference) are all threats

Likely playoff teams

Patriots
Steelers
Texans/Titans
Chiefs
Raiders
Broncos

 

[dafoe2016]

So what are your thoughts on the other AFC teams? I would think Denver, Oakland, Pittsburgh and KC are our biggest competition for the 1 seed. Of course it sucks that KC has the tie breaker with us but they play in a tougher division so they are bound to lose a few.

Denver's D looks dominant and Siemian is playing well. However, they played 2 games at home. I am curious as to how well they will fare on the road - last year they were very average away from Mile High.

Prior to the start of the season many said the NFC was miles better but so far the AFC looks like the conference with more quality teams.

I will be surprised if Denver makes the playoffs, let alone is in the running for the one seed.

 

[Haterproof]

KC took our lunch money in the 2nd half of the game last week. They won that game convincingly. I really want to get revenge on them! I'm so glad they're in that iron cage match division AKA the AFC West! The Eagles vs Chiefs was a very great game all the way to the end! Pittsburgh is still Pittsburgh! Their offense will always be potent and that defense is still a joke! We should be in great shape with KC,Oakland and Den beating up on each other and Pittsburgh and Baltimore duking it out in the North!

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

I thought the Vikings would at least give them a game and they where dissapointing. Same old Vikings

 

[JayNM]

I am wondering if Baltimore should be added to the list. Their defense has forced ten turnovers in two games (twice as many as any other team). They have allowed only ten points in two games.

That may end up being just a mirage though: their first to opponents were the Bengals (who have yet to score a TD) and the Browns. Even so, limiting your opponents to less than 50% passing in two games says you must be doing something right.

We won't really know anything until weeks 4 and 5, when they play Pittsburgh and Oakland; next week should be another easy win for the Ravens (they play Jacksonville).

Bengals just fired their OC, with some reports already claiming there was a mutiny in the locker room

The Browns are the Browns.

Honestly, I am more surprised on how inefficient their offense was. If they don't improve, i don't think they'll go beyond the wild card

 

[1960Pats]

So what are your thoughts on the other AFC teams? I would think Denver, Oakland, Pittsburgh and KC are our biggest competition for the 1 seed. Of course it sucks that KC has the tie breaker with us but they play in a tougher division so they are bound to lose a few.

Denver's D looks dominant and Siemian is playing well. However, they played 2 games at home. I am curious as to how well they will fare on the road - last year they were very average away from Mile High.

Prior to the start of the season many said the NFC was miles better but so far the AFC looks like the conference with more quality teams.

The talk is always about the NFC, even though it shouldn't be. Same with the national tv coverage. Every year we get fed more NFC games than AFC.

The funny thing is that the AFC has dominated the NFC since they joined together. So much so that they have a 100+ game lead in head-to-head games. The only place where the NFC leads is in SB wins (26-25) and that's after a run of 13 straight to 1996. The AFC is 13-7 in SB's since then.

If the AFC vs NFC numbers were reversed we'd be getting hit over the head with them by the mediots on a regular basis.

 

[1960Pats]

AFCE: Jets and Bills blow, but Miami has the potential to be a decent team
AFCN: Browns blow, Bengals need the QB play to be much better, Steelers are a threat, Ravens remain a mystery
AFCS: Jags blow, Houston can be good if they can get the QB play, Ten should be in for another mediocre season, Colts need luck
AFCW: Best division in football - Chargers find ways to lose, Chiefs and Raiders and Broncos (Anderson a/k/a a running game makes a world of difference) are all threats

Likely playoff teams

Patriots
Steelers
Texans/Titans
Chiefs
Raiders
Broncos

I think the playoffs will be
Patriots
Steelers
Ravens (I hate the Ratbirds but they've been a good team when healthy and Cincy and the Browns are bad)
Texans/Titans
and 2 of Chiefs/Raiders/Broncos (hopefully KC will lose out and we get the tiebreakers on the others)

The AFCW will be hurt by the ridiculous 4-team 'divisions' and one of them may lose out to a lousy AFCS team with a worse record. That would be funny.

 

[Deus Irae]

I think the playoffs will be
Patriots
Steelers
Ravens (I hate the Ratbirds but they've been a good team when healthy and Cincy and the Browns are bad)
Texans/Titans
and 2 of Chiefs/Raiders/Broncos (hopefully KC will lose out and we get the tiebreakers on the others)

The AFCW will be hurt by the ridiculous 4-team 'divisions' and one of them may lose out to a lousy AFCS team with a worse record. That would be funny.

You could be right, but:

The Ravens are a talent shallow team, they have been hit hard by injuries, and they just lost Yanda for the year. I have them as a mystery team, but I'm not buying into them just because they've beaten the Bengals and Browns (and we can probably pencil in the Jaguars for next week). I don't think we'll really know anything about them until at least 5 games into the season (game 4 is against Pitt, game 5 is against Oak).

 

[NG Pats Fan]

Is it just me, or is Von Miller lined up in the neutral zone and/or jumping offsides on pretty much every play?

That apart, the Broncos have looked the pick of the AFC so far. Demarius Thomas looked better than I've seen him since the Fivehead was healthy and throwing to him. Siemian was actually pretty good against the Pats last year. If he's had a jump, they will be a very strong team.

It's you. Von Miller has the best explosiveness in the NFL and an incredible instinct of timing off the snap. He's a first ballot hall of fame talent unfortunately

 

[NG Pats Fan]

I will be surprised if Denver makes the playoffs, let alone is in the running for the one seed.

People really need to stop underrating Denver

 

[Oswlek]

It's only two games but we will see if it gets better.

Can you think of a reason why it wouldn't?

 

[ivanvamp]

So what are your thoughts on the other AFC teams? I would think Denver, Oakland, Pittsburgh and KC are our biggest competition for the 1 seed. Of course it sucks that KC has the tie breaker with us but they play in a tougher division so they are bound to lose a few.

Denver's D looks dominant and Siemian is playing well. However, they played 2 games at home. I am curious as to how well they will fare on the road - last year they were very average away from Mile High.

Prior to the start of the season many said the NFC was miles better but so far the AFC looks like the conference with more quality teams.

AFC Power Rankings
1. New England
2. Kansas City - it's my power rankings and I can put NE over KC; I still think NE is better
3. Pittsburgh
4. Denver
5. Oakland
6. Baltimore
7. Tennessee
8. San Diego
9. Miami - SD should have won that game and I think Cutler sucks

For the last few years, I have felt like the NFC has more top teams than the AFC. I think that may be changing. I think NE, KC, Pit, Den, and Oak are as good as, or better than, anyone in the NFC. We are fortunate that KC, Oak, and Den are in the same division. Let's say they all go 2-2 against each other, just to make it simple. Each of them likely will lose at least one, probably two (possibly three) more games. I think the AFC West will look like this:

Team 1: 13-3
Team 2: 11-5
Team 3: 11-5

And I don't know which one will be in which position. Injuries will pile up. They'll have some random losses. They'll beat up on each other. And one of them may even lose to San Diego - who is too good to go 0-6 in the division, I think, so they'll knock SOMEBODY off in the division at least once.

The Patriots need to go 13-3 then, most likely, to get the #1 seed. Hoping that KC wouldn't tie them at 13-3 because they obviously get the tiebreaker and HFA. Would be fine with Denver being 13-3, with one of their losses being to NE. Then the Pats would likely get the #1 seed, while KC and Oak both have road playoff games in the WC round - how crazy would that be?

 

[patsfanincleveland]

AFC Power Rankings
1. New England
2. Kansas City - it's my power rankings and I can put NE over KC; I still think NE is better
3. Pittsburgh
4. Denver
5. Oakland
6. Baltimore
7. Tennessee
8. San Diego
9. Miami - SD should have won that game and I think Cutler sucks

For the last few years, I have felt like the NFC has more top teams than the AFC. I think that may be changing. I think NE, KC, Pit, Den, and Oak are as good as, or better than, anyone in the NFC. We are fortunate that KC, Oak, and Den are in the same division. Let's say they all go 2-2 against each other, just to make it simple. Each of them likely will lose at least one, probably two (possibly three) more games. I think the AFC West will look like this:

Team 1: 13-3
Team 2: 11-5
Team 3: 11-5

And I don't know which one will be in which position. Injuries will pile up. They'll have some random losses. They'll beat up on each other. And one of them may even lose to San Diego - who is too good to go 0-6 in the division, I think, so they'll knock SOMEBODY off in the division at least once.

The Patriots need to go 13-3 then, most likely, to get the #1 seed. Hoping that KC wouldn't tie them at 13-3 because they obviously get the tiebreaker and HFA. Would be fine with Denver being 13-3, with one of their losses being to NE. Then the Pats would likely get the #1 seed, while KC and Oak both have road playoff games in the WC round - how crazy would that be?

The Patriots are the only team that has the chance to get significantly better.

The KC game should be treated like the 2008 Wildcat game against Miami. Once that's on tape, can Andy Reid stain it?

Denver would probably be the biggest concern based on the fact they can do something very well. With the way this team has been playing coming off byes lately: that could be a concern.

 

[mosslost]

The chiefs already have any tiebreakers over us.

well, not 'any' tie breakers... unlikely but three way division tie with us Pitt/Balt, and KC , could wreck their tie breaker.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

interesting article on a reenergized broncos team. i have the feeling these guys are going to be trouble for a lot of teams. Nov. 12 will be critical for us.

Mike McCoy's Broncos offensive makeover on display in win

 

[BradytoMosstoGronk]

Fortunately they get to test themselves against the west this year. As much as it's hard to see happening, I would love to see a 11/12 donkey beat down in Mile High.

If they can beat the raiders AND broncos, my money's still on this team for the #1 seed. Alex smith/Andy Reid will find ways to lose games.