New York Jets @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Sunday 23rd January, 11:30pm UK Time

It seems like a long time ago that Rex Ryan announced shortly into the first episode of Hard Knocks that the Jets were going to win the Super Bowl; that they were the best and this was the year. Now, going into the conference championship for the second consecutive season they’ll be hoping to get past the hurdle they fell at last year.

The Steelers started this season under a cloud of controversy and talk of their starting QB being traded. Coach Mike Tomlin kept the ship steady and really it’s no surprise to see the Steelers competing – again – in the Championship game.

Heinz Field

Apart from the game this season, these teams hadn’t met since 2007. A lot has happened since then, like the Steelers winning the Super Bowl in 2008 and the resurgence of the Jets under Rex Ryan. Let’s take a look at the last few meetings

Week 15, 2010: New York Jets 22 – 17 Pittsburgh Steelers

Mark Sanchez

The Jets were coming in off a two game losing streak and had really struggled against the Patriots and the Dolphins. The offence was spluttering and the defence had been ripped to shreds against the Patriots. A win here was vital for them, but the Steelers almost won it. Two incomplete passes from the 10 yard line finished the game, but it was a close one.

Despite the loss, this week saw the Steelers book their post-season place.

Week 11, 2007: Pittsburgh Steelers 16 – 19 New York Jets (OT)

This was one of precious few high points for the Jets, who went 4-12 this year. The Steelers made the post-season but were knocked out by the Jaguars in the wildcards.

Week 14, 2004: New York Jets 6 – 17 Pittsburgh Steelers

and

Divisional Round, 2004: New York Jets 17 – 20 Pittsburgh Steelers (OT)

Despite a close play-off game, it was New Yorks for the taking. But when Doug Brien missed two field goals at the end of regulation the game was sent to overtime and the Steelers moved the ball down the field and a field goal kept them moving. They’d be stopped in the Championship game by the Patriots (who went on to beat the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.

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Offensively for the Jets, they’re going to have to rely on their running game to open things up for the pass. LaDanian Tomlinson and Shonne Green are a good pairing, the right combination for a one-two punch out of the backfield. But they’re up against the team who are by some margin the best at stopping the run.

As we’ve seen across his first two seasons, Mark Sanchez can blow hot and cold. He can be calm, composed and lead the team and he can just as readily turn in a complete shambles of a performance. There’s been talk that he’s still adjusting after coming out of college early, that he’s still young, etc., etc. But when he’s good, he can be very good. Even when bad, he can still turn up for the 4th quarter so we can’t rule him out even if he’s struggling throughout the game. This will be a big game for Santonio Holmes, who as we know was traded by the Steelers before this season started. After he served his suspension he’s been back and on great form. He’ll want to improve on his 6 catches for 40 yards that he got in the week 15 meeting here.

Troy Polamalu

The Steelers’ secondary has been occasionally exposed, but is by no means a weak unit. And of course they have the game changer called Troy Polamalu. Jets’ QB Mark Sanchez  said of Polamalu that he “…plays like his hair is on fire, and he’s got a lot of hair, so that’s a lot of fire”. He does, he’s all over the place and rarely does he make a misstep.

I spoke yesterday about Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams, that they’re the dominant corners in the league at the moment. I don’t rank Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie quite as highly, but they are no slouches either. And they’re coming off the performance against the Patriots who they completely shut down. Cromartie is the weaker of the two, though has the physical gifts to make plays. The Steelers have receivers that are more experienced, and probably more explosive, than the Patriots do though so the battle in the secondary is going to be great to watch. With the physical game of Hines Ward, the deep threat of Mike Wallace and the good hands of Heath Miller, Revis, Cromartie and the others could have their hands full.

There’s a lot to admire about the play of Ben Roethlisberger. He’s big and strong, he can extend the play as well as anyone else out there and he’s got a killer pump-fake. I expect that a lot of the game will be decided on the ground, but when Ben does step back expect to wait for the play to develop. On those plays the Jets will hope to get to him like they managed with Tom Brady last week, and Bart Scott will be as dangerous as he ever is. But I think they’ll have a harder time getting to Roethlisberger.

This is a very difficult game to call. The Jets have momentum and a self-confidence (or arrogance, if you’d prefer) that means they’re going in expecting to win. The Steelers are proven winners and have more experience across the field, but they’re capable of making huge mistakes as we saw in last week’s first-half.  This one is practically a coin-flip for me.

Though I like the narrative of the Jets going into this game, ultimately I think the Steelers are better. It’ll come down to a couple of key plays, and it’ll be close, but the Steelers will get it done.

Graham Says:

I went with the Jets last weekend as I just think they are riding a wave of luck on a skill surfboard.  After knocking the highly fancied Pats out of the running they must also now have an unshakable belief that they can do it.

Some would say the Steelers present more of a challenge than the Patriots did, but I think we will see the Jets in the Super bowl this year.

Ben Roethlisberger

Craig Says:

This weekend will see two dominant defences face-off to settle the AFC Conference championship. The Jets take on the Steelers in what could be a gruelling encounter. The Steelers get through to the final after doing enough to clinch their division (by a divisional record of +1) resulting in a bye week, and then victory over the Ravens last week which I’m still bitter about. A collapse by the Ravens offence during the entire third quarter allowed the Steelers defence (who it has to be said, played out of their skins) to cause 3 turnovers and peg back the 14 point deficit from the previous half.

The Jets got through the Wildcard round beating the Colts AND then the Patriots, both on the road too. That in itself is impressive. Rex Ryan is obviously confident with his teams ability considering all the talking he’s been doing as of late, I just can’t help but think that it might come back and bite him in the ass.

The Steelers need to be respected, so in the build up to the game it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds. Obviously the trash talking with the Patriots was due to a massive rivalry between the two, but Ryan does love his mind games. If the Steelers play like they did in the second half last week then I can’t see them being beaten. The Jets were impressive against New England though.. It’s a tough one to call.

I can honestly see this heading into overtime and being won on a Field Goal. My gut is saying Jets win.

Image Credits:
Heinz Field – Natalie Litz
Mark Sanchez – TexKap
Troy Polamalu – Andy emcee
Ben Roethliserger – Alex Abboud

Talk about the meeting of two frustrating teams!

Here at mactalksnfl.co.uk I think we all want the Houston Texans to do well – they’re a team that’s easy to root for and are particularly impressive offensively. But they’re as infuriating as a team can be in terms of consistency. Beating the Colts on opening weekend? Fantastic. Going down heavily to the Cowboys and Giants… not so much.

Reliant Stadium

Matt Schaub's QB Rating - 2010 to Date

The AFC South is an incredibly competitive division at the moment, and could easily send two or even three teams into the post-season. Although they came so very close last year, the Texans have never made it out of the regular season and their maddening inconsistency is a factor. Pick any player and see how their stats rise and fall across the season – Matt Schaub is the perfect example of this, his rating looks like the Alps.

Arian Foster has also had bad weeks, but there has been much more – and higher quality – action on the ground this year. Last year the Texans ranked 30th in yards on the ground. So far this season they’re a top 10 running team (though admittedly about a 3rd of their total has in two games against the Colts). No team wants to be one-dimensional, and this will pay off as the season progresses.

The Chargers’ GM AJ Smith took a stand in the off-season and has let players go or refused to offer them more than tenders, and it has cost the team in the short term. LDT was released, and as many have said, he’s having something of an Indian Summer for the Jets. Ditto Antonio Cromartie. Vincent Jackson has been holding out (though has now reported to accrue time towards full free agency). Shawn Merriman was on IR and has now been waived (and will be a Bill the next time he takes the field). This left them short, it left them wanting.

The result – to this point – is a 3-5 record and 3rd place in the AFC West, a division which they usually own. They won’t be worried, not yet, as they’ve come back from 3-5 before and still won the division and I think most of us would – when looking at the division – pick the Chargers as the strongest team, though the gap is closing. They’ve also got 4 divisional games left to go (though admittedly they’ve lost the only two they’ve played so far). But they need to step up and take control again. They’re missing the players that have moved on, and not seeing Next Man Up pay-off like it is for the Colts, for example.

This is a difficult game to predict, and as you’ll see from our predictions for the week I’m the only one that doesn’t side with the Chargers here. I think the Texans have enough to get past a Chargers side which is spluttering a fair bit right now.

Texans to record a narrow win.

Image Credit
Reliant Stadium – Laurie

Graph created at NCES Kids Zone

But let’s take a closer look… let’s take a look at his stats and compare them to last year’s starter over the same timeframe:

So let’s be honest: He’s not doing any better than Thomas Jones, who was released, and both players had their numbers boosted by playing the Bills. There is a very strong case that LDT’s production this year is largely a result of the system; that he’s at a team much more set for the run than the pass, with lineman ready for it, indeed an entire club ethos of running it “up their ass”. In fairness, Thomas had some bad games in that timeframe, against the Titans in particular, but he was productive in others including 100+ yard games in 4 of the 6 divisional matchups.

Yes, Tomlinson’s doing better than he did last year. But he’s not a big difference maker to the Jets.

On Thomas Jones, he was released as he didn’t want to take a pay cut. Although making only $900,000 in his 1400+ yards 2009, the Jets didn’t want to pay him the bonus he was due, or his base salary. Instead they got Tomlinson in for two years for only slightly more than the cost of Jones for 2010 alone. Jones is currently in Kansas City, and looking good too.

Tomlinson, then a Charger

We were privileged enough to see LaDanian Tomlinson at Wembley when the Chargers lost to the Saints, and his running – particularly on the edge – was a thing of beauty. But let’s not kid ourselves he’s back as good as the 2008 variety, let alone the 2006 kind. Even assuming that he does not tail off during the regular season, something that I do not believe at all, we all know that he’ll disappear come the post-season, where he has always been a major disappointment. His one good play-off performance (23 carries for 123 yards, 2 TDs) came at the end of his record-setting 2006 season. Since then, in 5 post-season games (his teams have been in 6, he sat one out), he’s carried just 47 times for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns. That’s… well, that’s rubbish.

If the Jets are counting on LDT to take them deep into the post-season, to be the difference from last year, they’re heading for disappointment.

Image Credit: SD Dirk

I know we take a look at the Broncos and 49ers every week as part of our Wembley Watch series, but I’m not sure that we’ve take a pre-match look at any of Denver’s matches. Well that changes this week!

The New York Jets travel to Denver in buoyant mood and form as after a week one (narrow)  loss to the Ravens they’ve gone on a four game streak, beating each of their divisional rivals and then the Vikings to take a strong position in the AFC.

Santonio Holmes is back from his suspension, and as I said after watching Hard Knocks, he looks like a great pickup for the Jets. He started slowly in his first game back, but will only get stronger as the season improves. Mark Sanchez had another difficult game, though protected the ball well again, but he seems to struggle in poor weather (something he’ll have to improve if he wants a long career in New York) but with a fair forecast expect to see a better completion percentage from the young QB.

Injured starters Darrelle Revis and Calvin Pace may start, that’s not known yet and both will be missed if they’re not there. Although Kyle Wilson has been struggling, and any team would miss Revis, they’re still strong in the secondary. And they’ll need to be against the #2 passing offence in the league.

We all know that the Jets love to run the ball; LaDanian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene will be licking their lips in anticipation at facing the unit that all but handed the field to Ray Rice last week. The Jets are the current #1 rushing team… expect to see them look to extend their lead.

Broncos QB Kyle Orton

Kyle Orton has been putting up great yards in the air, with Brandon Lloyd a dependable deep threat and Eddie Royal making good yards after the catch. With their running game struggling so much, expect to see the ball in flight a lot as Orton will again be asked to win the game.

The Broncos face the current (and quite possible future!) teams ranked 1 and 2 in the AFC in a tough little streak. However, I fancy them here. Two things will work in their favour: Home advantage and Jets’ hubris.

Expect an upset.

Image Credits:
Mile Hight – Wally Gobetz
Kyle Orton – Jeffrey Beall

So with our final part of this year’s First Look series, we turn our gaze towards the AFC West. As well as the Chargers, who were part of the great entertainment at Wembley Stadium in 2008, NFL UK fans will also keep an eye on this division for the Broncos who will be visiting these shores at the end of October this year.

This was the division that I most accurately predicted last season, correcting stating that the Chargers would win and that the Broncos in second would not make the play-offs. I’d take some credit but really, who saw it any differently?

Let’s see if it’s as straight-forward this year…

San Diego Chargers

The Chargers have had the AFC West as their personal playground for a while now. Last year was their 4th consecutive divisional title, and even when they’re not so good (like 2008′s 8-8 record) the rest of the teams have fallen over themselves to let San Diego take the title.

LaDainian Tomlinson was released after 9 seasons with the Chargers. He was a joy to watch when at his peak, and though that’s clearly past he’ll be hoping to do well in New York with the Jets. It’s quite possible the Jets could meet the Chargers in the play-offs… I hope so, for the teams as much as the story with LDT. Darren Sproles, who was a solid third-down back in 2009 goes into 2010 with another short-term contract in place. 12th overall pick Ryan Mathews in expected to start and to get a lot of carries across the season… if his contract is sorted for training camp then he’s a good fantasy option for the lower rounds!

For the receivers, Vincent Jackson will miss the first few games with a suspension. Along with Sproles, Malcolm Kelly and Antonio Gates will be Philip Rivers‘ main targets.

Defensively, they need to improve a little everywhere. But it’s not a bad unit that has been augmented across the draft with Donald Butler, Darrell Stuckey and Cam Thomas who should all see playing time early – Stuckey in particular at safety.

With core successful parts of the team largely unchanged, this team carries good continuity over from last year. Their loss against the Jets was down to just a few key moments, and they’ll feel there is unfinished business. I can’t look past them for the division. Again.

Oakland Raiders

The Raiders have made a big step forward with finally giving up on the JaMarcus Russell experiment and trading for Jason Campbell from the Redskins. There is no question that he’s an upgrade and should improve whole elements of the game. He’s not perfect, he holds onto the ball too long, and can stall drives in the redzone, but he’s better than Russell. Play-calling this year will be down to Hue Jackson, who’s come in from Baltimore.

Rolando McClain, drafted 8th overall this year, comes in and is the immediate leader on the defence. He needs to help stop the run. Nnamdi Asomugha remains one of the league’s premier corners, and a main reason why this team is so good against the pass (the other is that they’re so bad against the run!)

Coming of successive 5-11 records, they’ll look to to better. I’m not sure I can see it at this point though.

Denver Broncos

Whilst I’m looking forward to mercilessly booing the Broncos at Wembley, there are some intriguing stories to watch develop here. Knowshon Moreno had a great rookie season and was fun to watch, I’ll be hoping he doesn’t suffer the dreaded sophomore slump. Brandon Marshall is now out of town, so Eddie Royal and Demaryius Thomas will look to lead the line. Thomas was the first receiver taken in the 2010 NFL Draft and forms part of a promising young corp. Brandon Lloyd, a favourite of Kyle Orton at Chicago, will also look to hook up with his old quarterback.

Speaking of Orton… he posted his career best stats last season, better than Jay Cutler did in Chicago (much, I’m sure, to Josh McDaniel’s delight). However, he’s now got not only Brady Quinn behind him, but Tim Tebow. Nobody divides opinion quite like Tim Tebow, but common wisdom has him starting 2011 and he could well be used as a redzone impact player… though it’s not so clear which position he’d play! Regardless of those behind him, Orton will be looking to push on.

The Broncos were great against the pass last year, with only the Jets and Bills giving up fewer yards, but it was a different story against the run where they ranked 26th overall. A similar story to Oakland in that regard. Don Martindale moves from linebackers coach to DC and will have to work mainly with the same personnel he had last year.

After starting 6-0 last season and ranking up impressive wins on the way, the Broncos will think they should have done more than becoming only the 7th team since the merger to have such a start and then not make the play-offs. I can – just about – see them getting to 9-7 and being in play-off contention this year. Week 16 against the Texans could be a big game.

Kansas City Chiefs

The poor Chiefs. When a 4-12 record is a big step forward, you know it’s not been a good time.

Matt Cassel was the big signing for the 2009 season but in the end, you could easily make a case for Tyler Thigpen having a better season in 2008 than Cassel did in 2009. Chris Chambers, who came in last year off waivers, has signed a long-term deal and will start opposite Dwayne Bowe. One bright spot for the Chiefs was the emergence of Jamaal Charles at running back. Once Larry Johnson was released, he took over the major share of carries and gained a great YPC average and eventually became the first player in history to get 1,100 yards on fewer than 200 carries.

The story for the Chiefs this year is the big changes to the coaching staff. Pretty much the entire team will be coached by new faces this season, and how quickly adjustments are made will be telling this year for the Chiefs.

They may well improve, but I can’t see them making a big splash in the conference.

Predictions (made 18th July 2010)

Image Credit: Robert Sanque

We all know that predicting the divisions before the season has started can be, well, lets say – tricky! However, it is one of the things that we love doing and something that serves as a reference point for the changing fortunes of teams throughout the year. Oh, and more importantly means we can refer back to the awful predictions each other made as the year goes on!.

New England Patriots

We head in to the new season with the Patriots not looking as unbeatable as they have in recent years. In fact if we look at the bookies early odds for the Super Bowl they are sitting at 14, much higher than at this point last year. I hope Wes Welker continues his way back from injury or it leaves quarterback Tom Brady with fewer options.

The Patriots picked up some handy looking tight-ends in Anthony Hernandez and Ron Gronkowski that add dimension to the offense.

The schedule looks quite easy on them which may help mask the holes that they have, and lets face it you can never write them off. I am sure Pats’ fans are not too worried just yet.

New York Jets

Well, I thought the Jets were going to get off to a bad start last season and was proved wrong.  T-Rex seems to be able to get the best out of his players (I think I would try harder rather than face him off too) and while there is still rebuilding work to be done they did have a good run.

I don’t like the swap of Thomas Jones for LaDanian Tomlinson.  It might have made sense a while ago, but Jones was on great form and despite troubles his game will surely get better.  Jason Taylor will be lining up against the Dolphins in a Jets’ shirt and is a good steady force in an already good defence.  There were no real age issues evident last season and he should roll out another good performance this time around.  Mark Sanchez I am sure will settle now that he has some experience.

With their schedule there is a great chance of them making the play-offs again if they can hold it together.

Miami Dolphins

Last seasons’ Dolphins were a great team with holes in it.  Quarterback Chad Henne proved that with the experience of Pennigton in his ear he could make things happen.  There are few worries in my mind that he won’t be able to build on that this season.  That brings me to the signing of Brandon Marshall.  At last Henne can throw the ball with a hope that there is someone there to catch it!  Ok, too harsh, but Ted Ginn Jr dropped some important balls in some important games.  I really hope that they continue to make more of Davone Bess, as I think he has so much more to offer.

The addition of Mike Nolan as defensive co-ordinator and an OK schedule mean that there is a real race with the Jets this year.

Buffalo Bills

The Bills pulled off some good wins last season, but they are in tough company in the AFC East.  They have bought in some rookies which should improve the team, CJ Spiller and Alex Carrington being among them.

Trent Edwards needs to add a wider dimension to his game to keep hold of his position.  I get the feeling that there is more to come and hope that he shows it early on.

Really this is a building year; there is work to be done to take them up a notch.  That is not a bad thing though, building years for the Dolphins and Jets paid off and the same could happen here.

Summary

This is going to be close and tough.  There are three teams here which could take the AFC East title in my opinion and calling the finial standings is a long shot at the moment.

Predictions (made 10th June 2010)

Image Credit: Khaijg (again!)

To start with we’re back to New York. Less than a week after releasing Thomas Jones (who has since signed with the Cheifs) the Jets have added LaDanian Tomlinson to the line-up. He’s got a fair deal to be a backup and although I think Jones was a better option, they’ve got LDT for a lot less than Jones was due. It would essentially be a crime not to use this as an excuse to post Electric Glide as unlike running backs that never gets old.

Carrying on with aging running backs, Larry Johnson is now a Redskin. He’s signed a surprisingly sensible 3 year deal that makes things interesting and has certainly improved the squad. If we can sort the line out, we might be able to actually make some yards now. Will Montgomery has resigned in this area.
Johnson has 2 years on Portis, but considerably less mileage. Hopefully he can contribute.

It’s all change under centre for the Cleveland Browns with Anderson being released and fan-favourite Brady Quinn being traded to the Denver. I’ve seen Broncos’ starting QB Kyle Orton described as “workmanlike” and that seems fair. It’ll be interesting to watch that situation and take bets on who’ll be starting the Wembley game.

Incoming for the Browns are Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace. The smart money would be on Delhomme to start, even after his terrible 2009. He’s due a tonne of cash too, from the Browns and Panthers who apparently missed a fairly critical clause in his contract. D’oh.

Mark Tauscher has signed – again – in Green Bay. Expect to see him picking up Aaron Rodgers a lot during 2010. Speaking of Aarons… Aaron Kampman has gone to Jacksonville in what is a better fit for him than the Packers’ 3-4 scheme.

This is the tip of the iceberg as there have been moves and trades all over the place. Check ‘em out.

In a move that surprised precisely no-one, the San Diego Chargers have released LaDanian Tomlinson. This saves them a $2M roster bonus that was due last month and with Sproles becoming a free agent after being Franchised last year… we all new this was coming.

To me there are fewer things sadder in the NFL than the way Running Backs deteriorate so suddenly. Sure, it happens in other positions but these guys are often key and important players that are highly visible. Then, a few years later, they’re shadows of their former selves. The League is dotted with cases like this with Shaun Alexander being the most recent example – cut just over 2 years after signing a record-breaking deal. I watched Clinton Portis and Ladell Bett’s form this year with that same near-30 sinking feeling.

However, the whole affair seems to have been managed with some class and that’s something. The fact is that if he wants it, there’ll be a place for him on a team. No, he’s not an every down back, and his cuts and pace have slowed with his age, but there are plenty of teams who would be happy to have him as an impact player for a year or two.

Here at Mac, we’re wishing him luck whatever he turns his mind to.

Image Credit: SD Dirk

Running back LaDanian Tomlinson will not start tomorrow’s game against the visiting Ravens. His sprained ankle will keep him from starting for only the second time in his long career. The Chargers will miss him, that’s not a doubt, but with Darren Sproles to run and Philip Rivers to pass, they’re still a very strong team. Though it remains to be seen how the other injuries to the offense will affect them.

Graham and I have both picked the Ravens to edge tomorrow’s game.

Tacked on the back here is the amusing news that Philip Rivers was charged and fined $7,500 for tauntinng during last week’s late win against Oakland. Not much to add to that, but it made me smile.

Buffalo Bills
Experienced defensive back Terrence McGee has agreed a new contract in Buffalo that will keep him there for an additional 3 years. McGee is questionable for this weekend, but is sure to be a factor during the course of the season; good business to sign him up at this point rather than let his final year run down. The questions and worries are gone for both sides and he can concentrate on playing ball.

And that’s it for today. We’ll do another round-up tomorrow lunchtime to catch anything that might affect the matches tomorrow night.

In 2-3 weeks’ time, we’ll take a final look before setting our season predictions in stone (for future gloating and/or ridiculing).

Josh McDaniels has been running a tough camp. It remains to be seen if that’s the right way to motivate the players as in other places, players haven’t responded to it.

Kyle Orton will be wanting to shine, but has already had some boos and catcalls from the watching fans. He’ll be looking to get motivated from that. Brandon Marshall is sitting out with an injury at the moment, and don’t forget he has a court appearance coming up soon too. He could yet see a second suspension. In his absense Brandon Stokley has been stepping up. The veteran goes into what could easily be his final season and is surely looking to make an impact.

Rookies Knowshon Moreno and Roberts Ayers have signed and are in camp. I’ll keep an eye on these guys, Moreno in particular, to see how they shape up.

This is a difficult team to predict, but it would take a brave call to have them moving forward from last season.

Another coach who’s running a tough camp is Todd Haley at Kansas. The players there are getting put thoroughly through their paces an no-one is a guaranteed starter (well, he says that but we all know some players are).

Matt Cassel – assuming he’s the starter of course, not much of a stretch – will have Armani Toomer to add depth at reciever. He and Bobby Engrams being the old men here. Dwayne Bowe will be wanting to build on his 1,000 yard season in 2008. Here’s hoping he can hold onto the ball.

There are a few injuries across the defense, but nothing too alarming at this point. It remains to be seen how they adjust to the 3-4 scheme, something that should become clearer during the pre-season.

Haley apparently isn’t afraid of upsetting anyone, or selecting starters based on previous form. This all makes for Kansas City to be a story worth following this year. But not, I expect, into the post-season.

I was hoping to get all the Second Looks out before the pre-season started, but that’s not happened. Accordingly, some of my harsh words about the Raiders have been tuned down a little bit after they looked sharp against Dallas last night.

Oakland open the season with three back-to-back divisional games. So their season could effectively be over at week 4. But perhaps I’m being unfair. Darrius Heywood-Bey has settled in well after the usual rookie adjustment period. He could really do with having Javon Walker on the field as well, he’s currently injured, as if the Dallas game is any indication he’s being treated as a real threat and covered accordingly.

Chaz Schilens got a lot of looks from JaMarcus Russell and could be worth bearing in mind for those in deep fantasy leagues.

Perennial backup QB Jeff Garcia has been injured, likely pushing Charlie Frye towards the number 2 spot. Garcia can never be counted on to not make an appearance at some point during the season though.

In short though, and despite last night’s showing, I still don’t see much I like here. Certainly nothing to make me think this is a team making huge strides forward.

I don’t really know what to say about the Chargers. To me, they’re so obviously head and shoulders above the rest of the division it’s almost unfair.

On top of that, it seems the biggest news coming from their camp is that Antonio Cromartie doesn’t rate the food. With Quentin Jammer on the other side, if Cromartie is fit (and gets a good meal) this is a corner pairing as good as any across the league.

Darren Sproles and his new contract will be one to watch. With LaDanian Tomlinson now ‘getting on’ (in running back terms) and, it seems, notoriously absent in the post-season, it’ll be interesting to see how the backfield shakes up. One thing’s for sure – most coaches would love to have these two guys to call on.

Summary
I can’t look past San Diego here at all. Second place to be tight between the Chiefs and the Broncos, but neither to make the post-season.

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