AFC West Breakdown 2013: Week One

Philip Rivers (17) gestures during the game against the Houston Texans at Qualcomm Stadium. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Denver Broncos

Looking back: The Broncos looked way back to January for some inspiration for their performance. They didn’t have to. All they had to do was look on the side of their stadium and see Joe Flacco hanging there. A seven-touchdown game from Peyton Manning helped the Broncos to 49 points. The Ravens had never give up that many points in franchise history. The Broncos brought a gun to a knife fight and the Ravens forgot their knives.

Looking forward: Just as high on the richter scale of big games, the Broncos hit the Big Apple to take on the other Manning for their first road game of the season. The G-Men may have had six turnovers the other night, but a Tom Coughlin-coached team doesn’t have two straight weeks of that.

Kansas City Chiefs

Looking back: It’s hard to gauge the Chiefs at this point. They played the junior varsity team of the NFL, the Jacksonville Jaguars. The score? 28-2. That score has never been recorded in an NFL game before. Alex Smith threw for two touchdowns, which is a quarter of the touchdown passes that the Chiefs had in all of 2012. Oh, and Andy Reid is enjoying his Kansas City BBQ.

Looking forward: The Chiefs open at home against the Cowboys. A more formidable opponent, the ‘Boys are coming off a win against the Giants. This will be a good test to see where the Chiefs really stand.

Oakland Raiders

Looking back: A 4-point loss to the Indianapolis Colts in week one doesn’t have the Raiders down and out. They put up a heck of a fight until Robert Griffin III, errr, I mean Andrew Luck ran 19 yards for the winning touchdown score with 5:20. Dennis Allen has his team playing some good defense. The Raiders had four sacks and held Luck to 178 passing yards.

Looking forward: Up next is a home game against the Jags. That should get their confidence back. The Black Hole will be darker and louder than ever.

San Diego Chargers

Looking back: There are certain inalienable truths in today’s NFL: Bill Belichick will be in a hoodie. Michael Vick won’t slide. The Chargers will blow a sizable second half lead at home on national television. The Bolts were up 28-7 late in the third, but a pick-six from Philip Rivers allowed the Texans to slide right in and enjoy their flight back to Houston. Mike McCoy enjoyed last year’s comeback a lot more.

Looking forward: The Chargers hit the road to take on Chip Kelly’s high flying Eagles offense. The Eagles are coming off of their first win, a road game against the Redskins when the biggest story was supposed to be about RG-III and his knee. Instead, the big story was the Eagles rapid improvement.

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