AFC WEST NOTES
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It’s hard for me to get excited about the Broncos. Everything about this team just screams early 90’s Bears to me. You know, a team whose best days are behind it, yet remains good enough to make the playoffs pretty much every year. Back in like 88-92, you knew the Bears would be in the playoffs every year, and you also knew they wouldn’t be in the Super Bowl. The Broncos put out that exact same vibe these days. Jake Plummer is their Jim Harbaugh.
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Let’s give some recognition to Philip Rivers. He was a big question mark heading into this season, but he’s been great. He’s thrown 10 TDs against 3 INTs, and has posted a 97.7 passer rating. You’d be hard pressed to find anybody who’s put up numbers like that in their first 7 NFL starts. He looks like he’s been doing this for 7 years, not 7 weeks.
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Damon Huard has thrown 8 TDs against 1 interception in his stint as the Chiefs’ starting QB, which began when Trent Green suffered a concussion early this season. Huard’s performance has led to speculation that he could remain the quarterback even after Green is healthy.
Let’s revisit the assessment of Trent Green I made last December, which is as true today as it was 11 months ago:
“Now, let’s take a look at what KC’s done with Trent Green steering the ship. KC’s been to the playoffs one time in 4 seasons with Green as their quarterback, and in the year they did make it, they were one and done after a 13-3 regular season. With Green as the QB, a franchise that had ONE losing season in the entire decade of the 90s has had 3 out of 4 seasons without a winning record, despite playing on an offense with 2 slam dunk Hall of Famers (OT Willie Roaf and TE Tony Gonzalez), and a third guy who could get there too (RB Priest Holmes).”
Trent Green made a career out of being Dick Vermiel’s bobo. Now Vermiel is gone from KC, and you can bet that next year, Green will be too.
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Yes, the Raiders offense is cosmically poor. However, they do have the 8th ranked defense in the NFL. That’s how they’ve won their last 2 games. They are no joke on that side of the ball. Derrick Burgess has 7 sacks, Kirk Morrison is developing into a very good linebacker, Nnmadi Asamougha is making great strides at corner, and Thomas Howard and Michael Huff are a pair of talented rookies. The Raiders play on Monday Night this week in Seattle, and it says here that they are not going to embarrass themselves.
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