09-11-2020, 12:15 PM
The other AFC West division games this opening weekend are:
Raiders @ Panthers Noon
Chargers @ Bengals 3:05
Titans @ Broncos MNF (back half of double-header)
So, if you want to watch all these games you can depending upon what your local affiliates carry.
Raiders @ Panthers (LV favored by 3)
I think the Panthers are bad outside of Run CMC, I know the hawtest hawt taek ever, but adding Bridgewater at QB might be enough of an improvement to add a couple wins on the season if he can just bring some stability. This should be a winnable game for them.
The Raiders I don't feel like they made the major improvements they needed to compete with us by a long shot, but they may be a more convincing 7-9 than they were last year (-106 point differential, simply put they got lucky enough to get worse draft picks).
The Raiders invested a lot in veteran defensive players, particularly in their front 7 in LB Cory Littleton (100+ tackle LB), DE Carl Nassib (Meh DE), and others, I just don't know what to think of them as a cohesive unit. It wouldn't take much to improve the defense though, that's what has buried them in the cellar the last few years.
Chargers @ Bengals (LA favored by 3)
The Chargers should be a better team than the Bengals, but this is the first time we've see anything other than Rivers leading them in a long time. Tyrod is an incredibly different QB than Rivers. More careful. More athletic. But he played piss poor the last we saw him for the Browns. Should be interesting. The defense losing Derwin James is huge.
They were an average team that had some bad breaks last year that led to a worse than deserved 5-11 record (-8 point differential), but it's hard to jump on the bandwagon right now (not that I would).
The Bengals were 2-14 en route to winning Joe Burrow. While I wouldn't expect too much from a rookie QB starting immediately, Burrow's weapons (Mixon, AJ Green, Boyd, etc.) are nothing to sneeze at. However, the fact that this is only a 3 point game really reflects the lack of faith in the Chargers on behalf of the betting public more than anything to do with the Bengals.
Titans @ Broncos (TEN favored by 2.5)
Broncos have the toughest matchup by far. They were 7-9 with a -34 point differential, so they were the only case where they actually finished where they belonged.
But they're facing a legitimate Titans team that had some uncanny bad luck to end up at their evergreen Jeff Fisher memorial 9-7 status (+71 point differential) and made some noise in the playoffs. The Titans lost some pieces (Logan Ryan, Jack Conklin) but added some guys too (Clowney, Vic Beasley). Hard to say exactly where they stand, but it'd be easy to guess average or better.
The Broncos at least gave the appearance of improvement in a number of areas, but many of these improvements are rookies. Not every rookie hits and not every hit shows up right away, and of those that hit they're likely to hit the famed "rookie wall" at the end of the year, especially with the lack of a full offseason of preparation. Losing Von Miller cannot be understated. Considering his age, he may never be the same player again.
I think the Broncos have the best shot of challenging us this year, but they are going to feature some hardcore growing pains, especially early.
Raiders @ Panthers Noon
Chargers @ Bengals 3:05
Titans @ Broncos MNF (back half of double-header)
So, if you want to watch all these games you can depending upon what your local affiliates carry.
Raiders @ Panthers (LV favored by 3)
I think the Panthers are bad outside of Run CMC, I know the hawtest hawt taek ever, but adding Bridgewater at QB might be enough of an improvement to add a couple wins on the season if he can just bring some stability. This should be a winnable game for them.
The Raiders I don't feel like they made the major improvements they needed to compete with us by a long shot, but they may be a more convincing 7-9 than they were last year (-106 point differential, simply put they got lucky enough to get worse draft picks).
The Raiders invested a lot in veteran defensive players, particularly in their front 7 in LB Cory Littleton (100+ tackle LB), DE Carl Nassib (Meh DE), and others, I just don't know what to think of them as a cohesive unit. It wouldn't take much to improve the defense though, that's what has buried them in the cellar the last few years.
Chargers @ Bengals (LA favored by 3)
The Chargers should be a better team than the Bengals, but this is the first time we've see anything other than Rivers leading them in a long time. Tyrod is an incredibly different QB than Rivers. More careful. More athletic. But he played piss poor the last we saw him for the Browns. Should be interesting. The defense losing Derwin James is huge.
They were an average team that had some bad breaks last year that led to a worse than deserved 5-11 record (-8 point differential), but it's hard to jump on the bandwagon right now (not that I would).
The Bengals were 2-14 en route to winning Joe Burrow. While I wouldn't expect too much from a rookie QB starting immediately, Burrow's weapons (Mixon, AJ Green, Boyd, etc.) are nothing to sneeze at. However, the fact that this is only a 3 point game really reflects the lack of faith in the Chargers on behalf of the betting public more than anything to do with the Bengals.
Titans @ Broncos (TEN favored by 2.5)
Broncos have the toughest matchup by far. They were 7-9 with a -34 point differential, so they were the only case where they actually finished where they belonged.
But they're facing a legitimate Titans team that had some uncanny bad luck to end up at their evergreen Jeff Fisher memorial 9-7 status (+71 point differential) and made some noise in the playoffs. The Titans lost some pieces (Logan Ryan, Jack Conklin) but added some guys too (Clowney, Vic Beasley). Hard to say exactly where they stand, but it'd be easy to guess average or better.
The Broncos at least gave the appearance of improvement in a number of areas, but many of these improvements are rookies. Not every rookie hits and not every hit shows up right away, and of those that hit they're likely to hit the famed "rookie wall" at the end of the year, especially with the lack of a full offseason of preparation. Losing Von Miller cannot be understated. Considering his age, he may never be the same player again.
I think the Broncos have the best shot of challenging us this year, but they are going to feature some hardcore growing pains, especially early.
![[Image: 57agPlO.png]](http://i.imgur.com/57agPlO.png)