We’re nearly halfway through the NFL season, and the AFC West looks to be a dynamic division again this year. The San Diego Chargers have been playing great football, but the Denver Broncos reclaimed first place in the west with their win over the San Francisco 49ers last week behind a historic game by Peyton Manning.
Let’s take a look at how the AFC West teams will matchup this week.
San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos, Thursday, 8:25 PM
Overview
This is clearly the biggest matchup in Week 8 as the now second place Chargers will travel to Denver to take on the Broncos in a Mile High showdown for first place.
San Diego is coming off a surprising 23-20 defeat by the Kansas City Chiefs, snapping their five game win streak. The Chargers offense struggled and were unable to convert on third down, going only 3-10, against a good KC defense, and it only gets tougher against the Broncos who will try to throw Philip Rivers off his game. The Chargers might also be without cornerback Brandon Flowers, who suffered a concussion last week.
Manning and the Broncos weren’t the only ones setting an NFL record. Rivers, and one of his favorite targets, Antonio Gates, set the record for most touchdowns from a quarterback to a tight end with 67 last Sunday.
Switching gears to the Broncos, they were extremely impressive in their 42-17 victory against the Niners. Not only did they control the clock, but their defense was able to stop the 49er offense and come up with a turnover.
Denver also had a quick game of keep away with Manning after the future Hall of Famer broke Brett Favre’s touchdown record. Number 18 now has 510 touchdowns on his career, and will continue to add on to his NFL record.
Players to Watch
Julius Thomas, Tight End, Broncos
Shifting the focus from Manning to one of his best receivers here. Thomas leads the league with nine touchdowns, and while the Chargers are one of the better defenses in the league when it comes to the passing game, ranked ninth, Thomas can see a lot of action this week.
Antonio Gates, Tight End, Chargers
Gates is one of the best in the league and someone Rivers always looks to. The Denver defense will look to keep Gates a non-factor this week, but somehow, someway Gates always seems to make an impact. The Chargers will need Gates to perform in this big division showdown.
Final Prediction (Chargers 24, Broncos 31)
While the Chargers held first place in the West for a few weeks, the Broncos were able to take advantage of San Diego’s loss last week and regain sole possession of first. Denver will add to their lead by defeating the Chargers on Thursday night on their home turf.
St. Louis Rams at Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, 1:05 PM
Overview
The 3-3 Chiefs are coming off a huge upset against the Chargers in San Diego. They dominated the time of possession 39 minutes to the chargers 21, and were also more efficient on third down going 7/14. Alex Smith led the Chiefs downfield in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to set up a 48-yard field goal attempt for Cairo Santos who sent the ball right through the uprights. KC made this division a three team race, but will have their work cut out for them this Sunday against the Rams. They are the number one passing defense in the league, which will work to their advantage this Sunday against St. Louis.
Like the AFC West, the NFC West is an intriguing division full of talent. The Rams enter this week’s matchup after completing a 28-26 upset against the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks. While the Rams are only 2-4, they were able to stop one of the best offenses in the league and take advantage of a struggling Seattle defense. St. Louis is feeling pretty good after a shocking win, and will look to keep the momentum going against a good Chiefs team.
Players to Watch
Alex Smith, Quarterback, Chiefs
Smith is key to the Chiefs offensive success. He was able to execute the game winning drive last week, and has done well under center this season. Smith is the leader of the offense and will be a big part of the Chiefs success on Sunday and needs to continue to utilize Dwayne Bowe.
Brian Quick, Wide Receiver, Rams
Although Quick was only targeted twice last week, he was being covered by Richard Sherman, and quarterback, Austin Davis, chose not to throw in that direction. In those two targets, Quick came down with the ball twice for 33 yards on the day. He is the Rams leading receiver, and will have to be a factor in the St. Louis offense against a KC defense that is exceptionally good against the passing game.
Final Prediction (Rams 19, Chiefs 24)
Both teams are coming off impressive wins, but the Chiefs will take this one and improve to 4-3 on the year. The fact that this game is being played at Arrowhead with play a factor as well.
Oakland Raiders at Cleveland Browns, Sunday 4:25 PM
Overview
The Raiders are now the NFL’s only winless team at 0-6. They have shown improvement over the past two weeks under interim head coach Tony Sparano, but still can’t find ways to win. When it comes to the Raiders, when it rains it pours. They’ve suffered on the injury front, losing key players on offense and defense; most recently, Usama Young who is out for the year with a torn ACL, a devastating injury to an already depleted secondary. Just when it seemed the silver and black were making strides, they take a few steps back. They played well against the Chargers in Week 6, but struggled to click against the Arizona Cardinals last week. This could be Oakland’s best chance at a win this season, considering their schedule only gets tougher from here on out.
Cleveland is 3-3, and coming off a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were winless entering Week 7. The Browns have one of the league’s best rushing attacks, but Jacksonville was able to hold off the run game; they were ranked third best in the league entering Sunday. They took a hit by losing their Pro Bowl center, Alex Mack, which affected their run game as they were held to just 69 yards on 30 carries. The last thing the Browns want to do is lose back-to-back games against the league’s winless teams.
Players to Watch
Derek Carr, Quarterback, Raiders
Carr is no ordinary rookie. Although he didn’t throw a touchdown pass last week, he has the NFL record with eight touchdowns through his first five games. The 23-year-old is the glimmer of hope on this Raiders roster, and his development can be seen on a weekly basis.
Ben Tate, Running back, Browns
The Raiders defense has struggled against the run all season long, and rank 26th in the NFL after allowing 872 yards via the ground game. While Tate had an off game last week with only 16 carries for 36 yards, the Browns will look to take advantage of Oakland’s defensive struggles and Tate is key.
Final Prediction (Raiders 17, Browns 14)
The Raiders will get their first win of the season this week. Its crunch time and the Raiders have shown improvement over the last two weeks against two of the league’s best teams. The 12-game losing streak comes to an end in Week 8.