Las Vegas Raiders
The, Raiders will be an interesting follow all year long as the franchise tries to settle into a brand new permanent home in the desert while simultaneously adding to their impressive young core under Jon Gruden. The Raiders aren’t ready in any way to defeat the Chiefs and earn a division title, but they have turned the corner from also-ran and should be feared by mediocre (or worse) opponents. Give them more time, but there’s promise here.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Jekyll & Hyde routine by the Chargers this year makes it difficult to figure out what they might do. Will Anthony Lynn remain head coach? Will Philip Rivers return or retire? What will the team do with Melvin Gordon?
Once again health was a significant concern for a roster that looks better on paper than on the field. Is that anyone’s fault or just dumb luck? Tom Telesco has drafted a lot of talent on this team in the last few years, but injuries and poor or inconsistent play in the trenches has ruined most of Rivers’ career. Is he now fading? It looks that way but it remains to be seen how the Bolts will handle that.
New England Patriots
It’s about time that Bill and Tom end up visiting Arrowhead after several games where we brought dinner over to them. How seriously should we take the Pats in 2020? It will make a big difference once we see them in this year’s postseason? Will Brady spring back to life? Will new players emerge in the playoffs? Is Tom even interested in another year of this? This game could go from “tough out” to “nevermind” rather quick.
New York Jets
Is anyone really worried about this game? Perhaps that’s a sign that we should be respecting the franchise much more than likely are at this point.
The Jets have been competitive in several key games against stronger opponents and just took out the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 15 to earn their sixth win of the year. At times, Sam Darnold looks the part of franchise face and the Jets have some other nice pieces in place as well—none finer than safety Jamal Adams.
The Chiefs should be the favorites here by far, but the Jets deserve more attention than they will get.