Thread: AFC West Report Card

By Patrick Reilly


Kansas City Chiefs

Andy Reid has successfully changed the culture in Kansas City. Don’t believe me? The Chiefs are 4-0, and have now beaten the Eagles, Cowboys and Giants. Those three teams were in Reid’s former NFC East when he was with the Eagles before being let go and becoming the hottest coaching candidate with NFL head coaching experience.

Last year the Chiefs were 2-14 but have double the wins already this season. The Chiefs have outscored opponents 102-41, averaging 25.5 points per game while allowing an average of 10.2 points per game. The Chiefs defense lead by linebackers Justin Houston and Tamba Hali and safety Eric Berry are playing stout football and keeping the Chiefs tied at the top of the division.

Divisional games: Week 6 Oak, Week 11 @Den, Week 12 SD, Week 13 Den, Week 15 @Oak, Week 17 @SD

Team Grade: A


San Diego Chargers

The Chargers are playing better than a lot of us anticipated. Mike McCoy has brought Phillip Rivers back to a quality starter. The Chargers currently are sixth in the league in passing yards averaging 291.3, and 18th in rushing averaging 105 yards per game. Having 100 yards on the ground makes the defense honor the run and gives Rivers more time to throw. Under McCoy....

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The Chefs look like the team many expected last year, and our only potential division challenge, but their competition to date hasn't been great, particularly given the Cowboys and Giants remain typically erratic. We already beat the Ravens and the only other difference between our schedules is NE vs. Buffalo. That means the real test of who's the best team in the West will most likely boil down to the AFCS. It's becoming evident the Texans will never be true contenders with Schaub, but they're solid everywhere else, the Colts are back from the depths to which PFMs loss sent them and even the Titans currently look formidable.

The best news for us isn't the scoreboard-flipping numbers we've posted, but that we faced the top ranked rushing offenses each of the last two weeks and are still ranked the best rushing DEFENSE. A lot of that (just as with our third worst passing D) has to do with forcing teams to go to Hail Maries early in the second half, but it's still impressive. We don't need a great D if this offense keeps performing like it has (though it would be nice to see some consistent rushing from more than Moreno, given his injury history,) but a great D should make us the team to beat for the title.

Yea, for the last couple years, the Chiefs have been the popular pick for the AFC West, and except for one fairly good year a couple ago, has let down the prognosticators every year.

This year, they are playing well. Whether or not the hot start is any indication of how they will finish is hard to say, but they've drafted a lot of talent in recent years, Andy Reid is a very good HC, and Alex Smith is better than many give him credit for being.