A month into the season, all four teams want to win the AFC West. Question is, which is capable of doing it?
It’s time to recalculate things in the mild, mild West. Before the season, many assumed it would take a dozen W’s, maybe more, to win the division. The Chargers, after all, had finished 14-2 and sent 10 players to the Pro Bowl in 2006.
This year? San Diego already has lost three games. The other teams in the division — the Broncos, Raiders and Chiefs — are at .500.
The way things look with four games in the books, 10-6, maybe even 9-7, could win the division. No, really, I’m not making this up. In the AFC West of 2007, the Raiders are contenders. So are the Chiefs, the proud owners of two touchdowns in three games before routing the Chargers at San Diego.
If the good news for the Broncos is that the division is there to be won, the bad news is they haven’t shown many signs of being worthy. Their running game is improved over last season, but they’re struggling in two crucial areas: the red zone and run defense.
So will they win the West? Only time will tell, but this much appears safe to say: If they want to hold out realistic hope of doing it, they had better beat the Chargers on Sunday at Invesco Field at Mile High.
A loss and the Bronx would fall to 2-3, with heavyweights Pittsburgh and Green Bay next on their schedule. Fact: The Broncos, who have been blocking and tackling since 1960, never have opened a season 2-3 and gone on to win the West.
For that matter, they’ve never started 3-2 and won their division. The closest they came was in 1987, when they started 3-1-1 and landed in the Super Bowl. But that was a strike-shortened year, when all kinds of strange things were happening in the league.The bottom line? The Broncos need to get better, and fast. They need to start scoring touchdowns to give themselves confidence they can continue to do it. And they need to shut down the run, which in turn would limit opponents’ play-action possibilities.
More than anything, though, they need to win. There’s already enough pressure on Jay Cutler, last seen trying to resemble a nine-year, not nine-game, veteran. He doesn’t need a three-game losing streak to contend with, too.
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
