After sending three teams to the playoffs in 2013, the AFC West only had one representative this year in the Denver Broncos, and their appearance was short lived. The Broncos lost to the Indianapolis Colts in the divisional round of the playoffs ending their season and John Fox’s time as Denver’s head coach.
Looking at these four teams, there were several factors that contributed to their downfall this season. Here’s a look at each teams shortcoming and biggest needs entering this offseason.
Oakland Raiders
The Raiders finished in fourth place of this division with a 3-13 record. Oakland has a variety of needs before the 2015 season kicks off, but their biggest shortcoming of 2014 was a solid offense.
They have a foundation set with Derek Carr, but the young quarterback is missing offensive weapons. The Raiders need to bring in a quality receiving core to move the chains and be able to make the big plays to gain ground. The silver and black lack playmakers who can push for extra yardage in crucial situations.
The run game was also detrimental to the Raiders season. With Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren McFadden as starters, the ground game was nonexistent for more than half the season. The run began to show some effectiveness when Latavius Murray was given some playing time. Just how bad was the Raiders run game? They finished dead last in rushing with 77.5 yards per game. While they have a spark plug in Murray, the Raiders need to add some depth to the run game to make it a legitimate threat in 2015.
Defensively, the Raiders were horrid in the beginning of the year, but improved throughout the season. Khalil Mack is a guy the Raiders will look to build around on defense to create a strong pass rush, but the secondary needs improvement. Playmakers are definitely needed on defense too as they finished the season 21st in overall defense.
Last place teams usually have a lot of holes to fill and the Oakland Raiders are no exception. They’ve begun a coaching overhaul with the hiring of Jack Del Rio, but have a lot more change planned for this offseason. Some pieces are already in place, but there is still a lot of need for improvement both offensively and defensively.
San Diego Chargers
The Chargers started off hot, but sizzled out as the season progressed. They ended up finishing the year in third place with a 9-7 record. It looked like the Bolts would make the playoffs once again, but didn’t get it done in the end.
A problem for the Chargers this season was the offensive line. Injuries also played a role as they had three different centers throughout the course of the season, which brought difficulty for quarterback Philip Rivers. The Chargers o-line was inconsistent and while Rivers was able to put up good numbers, 4,286 yards and 31 touchdowns, if he had better protection, who knows what this offense could have done.
The run game was also an issue for the Bolts this season, again due to injury. They lost Danny Woodhead for the year early on in the season, and Ryan Mathews played in only six games. San Diego’s lack of rush attack hurt their offense as they were the third worst rushing team in the league with 85.4 yards per game.
Two of the biggest issues for the Chargers this past season had to do with the offense. They made a few timely comebacks in critical games, but when all they needed to do was secure a win in Week 17 to make the playoffs, they were unable to do so, thus ending their season. Injuries played a big role in their missing out on the postseason, so depth will be something they will look to provide this offseason.
Kansas City Chiefs
While the Chiefs weren’t necessarily expected to do a lot this year, they nearly made the playoffs with a 9-7 record. They experienced a lot of roster changes including the loss of some key players from the 2013 season, but were still able to compete and put forth a strong showing in the AFC West.
The Chiefs lacked playmakers this season, and lost some tough games because of it. Offensively, they were able to get the job done, but the fact that KC wide receivers had so little touchdowns had an effect on their season.
KC’s offensive line wasn’t expected to be as good as the year before, and they weren’t as Alex Smith took a few hits. The quarterback even suffered a lacerated spleen and sat out the final week of the season.
Obviously they had a strong run game with Jamaal Charles leading the way while battling injuries, and their defense was ranked seventh overall and was second best against the pass.
The receiving core was an issue for the Chiefs this season, but despite so many changes, they were able to win nine games and come back from an 0-2 start on the year.
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos entered this season with high expectations. As the defending AFC Champs they were expected to at least make it back to the Championship game with an improved defense and Peyton Manning at quarterback. Unfortunately, they lost in the divisional round to the Colts and are facing a bit of change for 2015.
John Fox was fired and Gary Kubiak has been hired as their new head coach. Rumors and speculation are still running wild as to whether or not Manning will call it quits after this season, which ended with another injury for the future Hall of Famer, who had been playing with a torn right quad.
It was only a year ago that the Broncos lost to the Seattle Seahawks 44-8 in the Super Bowl. After that loss, they went out and supposedly created a defensive force with additions like Aqib Talib and Demarcus Ware, and they greatly improved as they finished third overall in total defense, but it wasn’t enough to make another trip to the Super Bowl.
Denver won the West yet again with a 12-4 record, and they dominated throughout the season. They had a strong defense and an offense stacked with talent, but an injured Manning makes mistakes and played poor football the last month of the season. The offensive targets were there, but execution lacked.
The Broncos aren’t like the other teams in the AFC West, they aren’t really lacking anything, they are a talented group, but injuries took over and caused mistakes to be made on the field.