The Red King Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Thought this might be a fun exercise. We're at a point where any (and all, since we have three Wild Cards now) of the four certainly could make the playoffs, but playing each other twice each will scatter around some Ls. So, looking around at the rest of the AFC, how many teams from the West do you predict will actually make it, and bonus points for who you think they are. Who survives the bloodbath? Me? Eesh, not an easy question. Gotta go with my gut and say the Raiders will not make it. I think the Chargers take the division, they're a lil further along in their rebuild, and KC is falling, but they're hard to count out. Denver could very much be a Cinderella team. Alright, my prediction is this...Chargers take the West. Chiefs and Broncos are locked in a deathmatch with other potential AFC Wild Card teams, coming down to Week 18 games and tiebreakers and such to untangle the absolute mess. When the dust clears the Broncos somehow edge the Chiefs, but both nab Wild Card spots. No idea if we're talking #5 and #6 seeds, or #6 and #7. What do you all think? Remember, this isn't just predicting how the AFC West ends up, it's predicting which/how many actually make the playoffs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewEra Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Two 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
716er Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Chargers and Chiefs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJB Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Zero 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LyndonvilleBill Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 One. Chargers. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 2 Chargers not the Div winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBBills Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 None... that's right. They all beat each other up and cannot get enough players to play a full game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TampaBillsJunkie Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Going off the deep end here to say Chargers Division winner and Broncos with Wilson come in as a wild card. LA 11-6 Denver 11-6 WC KC 10-7 Vegas 9-8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awwufelloff Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 All 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RalphWilson'sNewWar Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 AFC NORTH has the cupcake schedule…so really just need to see how many games Watson is suspended for. Ravens and Bengals may be playing in the AFC title game… but if it’s too many games suspended then I would say THREE AFC WEST TEAMS. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Lewes Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 only chiefs - all the other pretenders will beat themselves up and require another year to dethrone the reigning division champs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyDays Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 3 hours ago, LyndonvilleBill said: One. Chargers. This is my prediction as well. I think the Chiefs without Hill are a very different team. Hill opened up their entire offense. The Raiders are not good enough to compete in that division. The Broncos would be 2nd for me but I think they lack a true game changer on offense and bad pass protection does not mix well with Russell Wilson. The Chargers have the best mix of talent across the board. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunnerBill Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 I think the Chargers will make it. I suspect one of the Chiefs and Broncos will make it as a wildcard too. I dunno maybe this is a down year for KC and they miss. I don't think it would signify the end of an era or anything, and I guess they'd bounce back to the post season in 2023, but I think they have lost two big personalities from the locker room in Mathieu and Hill. This might just be a small step back year. 10-7 and miss the playoffs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Formerly_of_Roch Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 AFC West plays the NFC West so no easy task there, though is a bit easier with the Russel Wilson trade. Also play the AFC South which has 2 good to decent teams. If Lawrence figures things out, could be 3 good teams. The AFC also has the 17th game on the road so that won't help any of them. So having said all that I'll go with 2 teams as somewhat of a tough schedule and they will beat each other up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rc2catch Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 (edited) I’m gonna go ahead and say KC takes the division and their offense transforms into a more run heavy misdirection kinda scheme. Denver keeps it interesting. Vegas floats at 500 and the chargers as great as they are never play an actual game all together and finish with a losing record and a very lengthy injury report. Edited April 10, 2022 by Rc2catch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djp14150 Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Only the division winner makes the playoffs. The other division fees have improved but this idea that all 4 make the playoffs is absurd. they play nfc west…top to bottom a strong division. AFC south will be better. Both jacksonville and houston can be near 500 teams next season. It all depends on team confidence and how the early season schedule is. irt see AW teams go 3-3 in division. 4-4 against te two divisions with one going 5-3. Then it’s the non common games. the advantage in non common games gives to denver. Here they can go 3-0 vs others going 1-2. I think denver wins the division. the 2nd place team may or may not make the playoffs ..it depends on tiebreakers. expect to see KC vsLAC in week 18 where winning means WC spot if things go their way, but loss means out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jokeman Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 Two, KC as don't think Raiders/Broncos defense can keep up with them as Reid build offenses in Philly with subpar WRs. The Chargers feel like a more complete team with Khalil and Jackson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybrew1 Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rochesterfan Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 4 hours ago, RalphWilson'sNewWar said: AFC NORTH has the cupcake schedule…so really just need to see how many games Watson is suspended for. Ravens and Bengals may be playing in the AFC title game… but if it’s too many games suspended then I would say THREE AFC WEST TEAMS. I don’t care what happens - I do not see Ravens/Bengals playing for the AFC title. I think Bills, Chargers, Tennessee, Cincinnati are division winners. I think Denver, Baltimore, Indy - are the Wild Cards - so I guess 2 AFC West teams. I think the Hill trade hurts KCs offense significantly and doesn’t help Miami enough to make the playoffs. There are trades that both teams win - I think this is a trade where both teams lose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wppete Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianmoorman4jesus Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rc2catch Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 5 hours ago, ScottLaw said: KC run heavy? Maybe run heavy is a little extreme. But they are certainly moving that offense into a much slower milk the clock kind of offense 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelius Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 Two - Chargers and Raiders are my pick, but KC would be the third Raiders scare me a bit with that pass rush. Crosby was an A+ draft pick. Late 4th round becoming one of the most feared pass rushers in the NFL, paired with Chandler Jones is nasty. Oh yeah, Davante Adams. Carr isn't Josh Allen but he's still regularly slept on. They have a lot of the right pieces. I find the Broncos love this offseason gross and it's nice to see that people have seemingly come to their senses in this thread. Nate Hackett and old Russell Wilson are going to just easily defeat the Chargers, Chiefs, and Raiders? Everybody talks about how loaded the Broncos are but how about how loaded the Chargers and Raiders are? And the Chiefs still have Mahomes and mutant Kelce. Donkeys may win less than 8 games, banking it here in this prediction thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Brown Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 (edited) Chiefs schedule is really tough (they play the Bucs, Bills, and Bengals) while the rest of the division gets easier opponents. The loss of Hill and a running game will hurt them. The NFC West is a tough conference to play too so that will bring down their win total. I've got Bills, Bengals, Colts, Chargers, Ravens, Raiders and Titans in that order for the playoffs. So, two from the AFC West. The Broncos have a lot of promising young WR's but they don't have Metcalf or Lockett. I don't trust their o-line either. Edited April 11, 2022 by Doc Brown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSBill Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 I say two. They will have to play each other twice, so someone will be losing. My predictions: The mad genius Andy Reid redoes everything in KC, and they end up on top again. The Chargers finally figure out how to win, or at least win enough. The Raiders--probably has the most talent, but also has a Babe Ruth like curse on them. They will find new ways to self-destruct. The Broncos, a great Defense, but I think Russel Wilson's best days are long gone. He will be a bust in Denver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunnerBill Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 Interestingly I don't think Cincy are the playoff lock everyone seems to think. Obviously there is a question over the Browns because of the looming possibility of a suspension for Watson, but I think Baltimore, Cincy and Cleveland are pretty close roster wise. And other than the Patriots and the Chiefs (who had both WON Superbowls the prior year) the pattern is that teams who make the Superbowl and lose take a step back the following season. The Panthers, Rams, 49ers all made it, lost and then missed the playoffs the following season. Atlanta did at least make it back to the post season but with a worse regular season record and were bumped in the divisional round. While the Benglas have made some moves on the oline.... Kappa is a nice pick up, as is Collins, they still have an (at best) average left tackle protecting Burrow's blindisde. Also their corners overachieved last year having been basically pulled off the scrapheap and I think it is realistic to expect a bit of regression there - although it is a spot they could certainly add someone in the draft. They do get Joseph Ossai back from an ACL to add to the pass rush rotation and he was having a hell of a pre-season last year before it struck... so I expect them to still get after it up front. And of course they go from a 4th place schedule to a 1st place schedule too. They could certainly get back to the playoffs, but I'm not sold on them as a lock to just win the division and waltz back to the postseason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RalphWilson'sNewWar Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 (edited) 11 hours ago, Rochesterfan said: I don’t care what happens - I do not see Ravens/Bengals playing for the AFC title. I think Bills, Chargers, Tennessee, Cincinnati are division winners. I think Denver, Baltimore, Indy - are the Wild Cards - so I guess 2 AFC West teams. I think the Hill trade hurts KCs offense significantly and doesn’t help Miami enough to make the playoffs. There are trades that both teams win - I think this is a trade where both teams lose. Yeah…I think the Bengals have the talent and obviously the special QB to repeat. But the bengals are probably interchangeable for several AFC teams. However, when it comes to the Ravens. About 7-8 teams in the AFC with “special” QBs. Each in their own way. And when each player/team is that close…I always look for those intangibles that will put them over the top. In 2022…no one is hungrier or has more motivation than Lamar. Dude will ride that energy in 2022. Edited April 11, 2022 by RalphWilson'sNewWar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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