With the NFL schedules released yesterday, we finally get an idea of how the season can potentially unfold for our respective teams. Today let’s start with possibly the most anticipated team in this season, the Denver Broncos. Taking a quick look at their schedule, they are in a lot of trouble. They need Manning and the offense to step up big early. Their first six games are against Pittsburg, at Atlanta, home to Houston and Oakland, and at New England and San Diego. They could conceivably start the season at 1-5 or 2-4 if they don’t click fast. With Manning coming off of four reported neck surgeries, his health is still in question. While the news has sounded good, with many saying he looks as good as or better than he was before the injury, none of us have seen anything, and he has not taken the field in a game yet. We don’t know if he will be able to take the big hits, and with some very good, aggressive defenses coming to play him early, we will find out very early into the season how well he has healed. Besides the injury Manning will also have to figure out the offense very fast. Manning and his receivers will have to get on the same page otherwise Pittsburg, Oakland and Houston, and the other teams will definitely take advantage of the Broncos.
While I would never put it past Manning to be who he is, be great, and lead the team to the playoffs, their early season schedule is brutal, and it doesn’t get any easier. With visits to Cincinnati, Carolina, Baltimore and Oakland and a home game against the Saints, their entire schedule is filled with tough games. Their only real “gimmie” game in the entire season is against Cleveland. Lucky for the Broncos, the Chargers have an equally difficult schedule as well. The Chiefs schedule is a bit easier than both the Broncos and Chargers, but still has only 2 gimmie games. The Raiders are the team to watch out for. They have games against Jacksonville, Miami and Cleveland, which can all be considered gimmie games. The Raiders, however, always find a way to blow it so I wouldn’t put my money on them just yet. The Broncos have a difficult schedule, but also have a very good team, with a bit of luck and some quick jelling between Manning and the offense, they could play extremely well and gain a lot of momentum from early victories against good teams.
In most divisions, the team that wins the most in-division games wins the division. The AFC West the last two years has been a crapshoot. Last year all 4 teams finished with 3-3 records within the division, and the year before Kansas won the division with a 2-4 record against the rest of the division. This year, the team that wins the most in-divison games will win the division. All 4 teams have very difficult games against out of division opponents. While I won’t doubt the Manning led Broncos, they will have a tough time winning the division. If they can beat the teams in their division, they will win the division, otherwise they’ll have a hard time making the playoffs.
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