Kansas City Chiefs: This team has been the laughingstock of the AFC West along with the Oakland Raiders for the past few seasons. But that has changed in 2010. Thanks to the team hiring former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis as offensive coordinator and former Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel as defensive coordinator, the Chiefs' stock is rising high and things continue to look up for head coach Todd Haley. Matt Cassel is having a solid campaign in his second season as the team's starting quarterback and should have far better stats than a year ago, when the Chiefs struggled to a 4-12 finish. They're in the catbird's seat atop the AFC West and appear to be in the best shape to win the division at this point. There will be a couple of games that won't be gimmies for them (week 12 at Seattle and week 16 at home against Tennessee), but I can see the Chiefs shouldn't have any problems in winning their first division title since 2003.
Oakland Raiders: Speaking of the Raiders, it looks like "Just Win, Baby" is back in style in the East Bay. The team has not made the postseason since they got mauled in Super Bowl XXXVII against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden. Now under Tom Cable (who was previously head football coach at the University of Idaho), the Silver and Black are finally coming together, and just might have the talent and willpower to contend for a playoff spot. The team was bound for yet another losing season, until they came to Denver and delivered a 59-14 drubbing of the Broncos. Then they proceeded to follow it up with an equally dominant 33-3 win over the Seahawks. As long as the Raiders can minimize mistakes on the field and owner Al Davis can keep bone-headed decisions to a minimum, the Raiders should be in pretty good shape.
Seattle Seahawks: Lots of questions and doubts were abound when the Seahawks named Pete Carroll head coach last January. I was skeptical about the Seahawks' chances of having a good season in 2010 because coaches that had a great deal of success at the college level historically don't do well in the NFL (look up Dennis Erickson, Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, and Bobby Petrino for reference). Carroll had previous NFL experience and it was somewhat decent, especially during his three-year stint in New England before some fella named Bill Belichick took over in Foxborough. But back to Seattle. When Carroll arrived, the team made changes--big changes. The team made more transactions in the offseason than any other team in the league, and one of those pickups was wide receiver Mike Williams, who had been out of football for two years. He played at USC under Carroll during his highly successful (and controversial) stint in Los Angeles. Williams is showing flashes of brilliance he never had an opportunity to show off when the Detroit Lions drafted him in 2005. But what Seattle needs to do if they want to contend for a playoff spot if not win the division is to be more productive on offense. Having a big, physical receiver in Williams and an equally physical running back in Marshawn Lynch (acquired by Seattle via trade with Buffalo) is good, but not good enough. Being 30th in the league in total offense is an Achilles' heel for them. It showed in their Week 2 loss at Denver, Week 4 loss at St. Louis, and recently in Oakland. But the biggest intangible the Seahawks have is their home crowd at Qwest Field, regarded as one of the best in the NFL. And if the Seahawks do indeed win the division, they would host a playoff game. Hopefully their position atop the NFC West will motivate the entire team to play harder the rest of the way, beginning this coming Sunday against the NFC East-leading New York Giants.
St. Louis Rams: The days of the Greatest Show on Turf are long gone. Their teams were exciting with the likes of Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Issac Bruce, and Torry Holt. Even though a decade has passed since GSOT was at its peak, the foundation of GSOT Version 2 might very well be in place, and it starts with quarterback Sam Bradford. What a wise move the team made in making Bradford the first overall pick in last spring's NFL Draft. He has done a nice job in his rookie season, and might very well be the Rookie of the Year. Not bad for someone that had not played a game since re-injuring his throwing shoulder during the 2009 Red River Rivalry, when Bradford was playing for Oklahoma against Texas. Another thing that has helped the Rams' cause is running back Steven Jackson has stayed healthy all year, something that he has struggled to do throughout his career albeit remaining productive. They're a half-game behind the Seahawks for the lead in the NFC West, and are off this week before playing the lowly 49ers. If both Bradford and Jackson can stay healthy and the rest of the Rams can stay hungry, it'll be a battle with Seattle to the finish line in terms of who will win the NFC West, with preseason favorite San Francisco now out of the picture with their dismal 2-6 record.
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