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View Full Version : AFC West looking like land of the lost



Lonestar
08-19-2009, 06:12 PM
by Woody Paige Denver Post Columnist , The Denver Post



Dontcha think the Broncos have troubles with a starting quarterback who threw three interceptions; Brandon Marshall's "Pay me or trade me and apologize to me, but don't expect me to practice or play" attitude; their first draft pick out for a while with a knee injury; their safety wearing a cast the size of a boulder, or Boulder, on his broken hand; and their defensive line so undistinguished another unknown substitute has been procured?

At least Josh McDaniels hasn't been accused of punching out an assistant coach, as the Raiders coach has.
At least the Broncos coach hasn't been accused of trying to be like a famous NFL coach lately, as the Chiefs coach has.

At least Josh, by gosh, didn't lose at home in the exhibition opener to the Seahawks or the Texans, as the Chargers' and Chiefs' coaches did.

At least McDaniels' first-string quarterback took the Broncos past midfield, unlike the Chiefs' new first-string quarterback.

At least McDaniels isn't being compared to a coach of 30 years ago, as the Chargers' coach was.

The AFC West FunFest is back - Cluster's Next Stand.

Welcome to Dysfunction Junction. Denver, Oakland, San Diego and Kansas City: Four franchises in their 50th seasons, and a division with 14 trips to the Super Bowl. Shouldn't the four teams have learned something by now?

McDaniels just may be the division's sanest coach.

Norv Turner is a late, botched Broncos' drive at home against Buffalo away from being out of San Diego this year.

Tom Cable is the Oakland coach only because nobody else wanted any part of it, and look what he's blamed for - going all Ultimate Fighting Championship on defensive coach Randy Hanson.

Todd Haley, the new Kansas City coach, was last seen as the Arizona offensive coordinator in a nationally televised shouting match with receiver Anquan Boldin.

Cable spent a couple of seasons at the end of the 1990s as offensive line coach/coordinator at Colorado, but was a nondescript assistant until "Weird Al Yank-a-coach" fired Lane Kiffin after four games last season.

Cable's only road victory was a 31-10 blowout here. Interim has been removed from his title this season, but permanent will never be added.

The Broncos were responsible for Turner and Cable keeping their jobs.

McDaniels and Haley were assistants du jour in 2008. What would have happened if Josh ended up in K.C., Haley in Denver? Josh would have been reunited with Matt Cassel and Todd would have been united with Jay Cutler.

Instead, Haley is feuding with wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, who has been demoted to third string. Marshall should feel fortunate. He's only second string on the depth chart. People in Denver believe We Three Columnists have been too hard on McDaniels as a wannabe Bill Belichick.

Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock says Haley "wants to establish himself as a young Bill Parcells." Which Bill is best to emulate?

Kyle Orton was criticized for his first performance. Whitlock wrote, after the Chiefs lost their first exhibition: "K.C.'s first-unit offense made me long for the good old days, when the Herm Edwards-coached Chiefs routinely accumulated four or five first downs in a half." Cassel led the Chiefs to only two first downs.

The Broncos played rookie running back Knowshon Moreno, although he had been with the team for only a week. The coaches didn't even realize when he injured a knee - and left him in the game and called his number again.

Meanwhile, Turner was challenged by San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa for starting veteran running back LaDainian Tomlinson. Turner stated in training camp Tomlinson would only play "if someone else is the coach." These coaches in the AFC sure are forthcoming.

Canepa invoked the memory of coach Don Coryell, who wouldn't play star starters in August, and opined: "There's no valid reason to expose (Tomlinson) now. Without a healthy L.T., the Chargers simply haven't been as good when it matters. He can still run. What a shock. L.T. didn't get hurt, but what if he had?"

Life as usual in the AFC West. Other camps are having their own problems. An assistant coach was struck, like Sonny Liston, by a phantom punch; a sulking wide receiver thinks he's being treated unfairly; a coach is scolded by the press for a bad opening game; coaches refuse to answer proper questions; newly acquired quarterbacks have been sneered at, and three of the four teams lost their first exhibitions. The Raiders won, but their training locale in Napa Valley has been turned into Whine Country.

Here's the main thing, though. Overall, the division has to be improved. Not one of the four teams finished above .500. The AFC Worst's combined record was 23-41. Surely the Raiders, the Chiefs and the Chargers will win more games, and McDaniels says those who pick the Broncos to win fewer are wrong. It's quite possible the four old AFL rivals will split their division games (3-3), and the AFC West champion will have to win nine.

Dontcha think?

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9957790/AFC-West-looking-like-land-of-the-lost-