No. 1: Taking Care of Business Within the AFC West
If you want to win your division, you have to at least match your competition within. Preferably dominate it.
The Chargers are in position to do the latter this season, which bodes well for their chances. For starters, two of the four teams within the AFC West will be starting new quarterbacks — the Broncos with Case Keenum and the Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes. And the Raiders’ Derek Carr will be going through his first year with second-time-around head coach Jon Gruden.
Philip Rivers is the only QB with any continuity carrying over from last year. So, a brief synopsis of the Chargers’ division rivals, shall we?
Denver Broncos
The Broncos’ quarterbacking situation can’t be any worse with Keenum under center than what Denver had to deal with a year ago. Keep in mind, however, Keenum is 30 years old and managed his first breakout season a year ago with a stacked Minnesota Vikings squad. One shouldn’t expect Keenum to look like his 2017 self with the Broncos still dealing with plenty of offensive question marks.Defensively, Denver is one of the few teams capable of matching the Chargers’ pass rush. It helps to have EDGE Von Miller, of course, and adding rookie pass-rusher Bradley Chubb is exciting.
Keep in mind, though, this isn’t the Broncos’ elite-level defense from Super Bowl 50.
Kansas City Chiefs
Mahomes is a true Wild Card for K.C. And the second-year quarterback has the luxury of his first meaningful snaps at the NFL level taking place on the road in L.A. versus the Chargers. If there’s ever a time to take advantage of an inexperienced quarterback, Week 1 is it.
Still, Mahomes has plenty of offensive weapons. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill, running back Kareem Hunt and tight end Travis Kelce are bona fide problems for any defense. That could be a problem.
Yet the Chiefs have defensive question marks of their own. Their run defense is ranked second worst in the NFL entering 2018, per Pro Football Focus. And their secondary comes in at No. 28 — not much better.
Oakland Raiders
Gruden’s offseason moves have been questionable, at best. And it will be interesting to see how his relationship with Carr develops. It will either go really well or poorly. But Oakland has far more questions to solve than its quarterback. Replacing former No. 1 wide receiver Michael Crabtree with an aging, increasingly injured Jordy Nelson? No thanks. A bounce-back season from fellow wideout Amari Cooper? Hopeful, but not worth betting money.
And that Raiders defense? Yeah, no comment. Especially with reports edge rusher Khalil Mack’s holdout has “no end in sight,” according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
From bad to worse, for the Raiders, on that side of the ball.
Out of their three divisional opponents, perhaps the Chiefs offer up the biggest threat to the Chargers in 2018. So it’s beneficial to get Mahomes in L.A. to kick off the year. That’ll be a pretty good gauge how the Chargers are stacking up against one of the better division rivals this season.
If that goes well, and the Chargers are able to handle their business within the AFC West this year, there’s no reason to assume L.A. won’t be looking at a divisional crown and a pleasant trip into the postseason.
