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Published on 08/25/2008 at Mon Aug 25 22:33.
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AFC West: Status Report

Posted Mon Aug 25th by

The Denver Post’s Jim Armstrong wasn’t jumping the gun at all in his newest blurb. He states that in the event of San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawn Merriman absence, the power could sway in the AFC West. There is no disputing it, Merriman is the Tasmanian devil coming off the edge, but he owes much of his success to the fact that he gets to play the Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs twice a year.

Against the Denver Broncos last season he had a total of four tackles in two games, no sacks; compare that to the Chiefs (14 tackles, 4 sacks) and the Raiders (6 tackles, 3.5 sacks) that’s three/fourths of his sack total in 2007 (12.5), teeing off on the struggling Chiefs and Raiders. Not to insult the Chiefs and Raiders, but come on, last season, if it wasn’t Merriman, it would have been whoever was playing outside linebacker. Note to Jim: Merriman sat out against the Detroit Lions, yet the Chargers were still able to win the game 51-14.

But. I liked the idea, who is indespensible? Which player, if absent, changes the outcome of the game, season or playoff picture for an entire division? Quarterbacks are out, anyone who has seen the New England Patriots or Indianapolis Colts this preseason can agree. Except in the AFC West, take away Philip Rivers, San Diego’s still okay, take away JaMarcus Russell and the Raiders are still looking rough this season, the Chiefs… Do they even know who the quarterback is yet? I’m sure they do… Jay Cutler for the Broncos though, yeah, we’d be screwed. So QBs, out.

For the Chargers that player happens to be LaDainian Tomlinson, as seen in the AFC Championship game and the playoff game against the Tennessee Titans; where without him the Chargers were not winning that game. For the Chiefs that player may very well be Larry Johnson; Johnson’s absence last season proved detrimental for the squad. However, there is no guarantee that Johnson will ever be the same. So, let me go with Tony Gonzalez, while giving a nod to the recent exit of Jared Allen and a wink to several promising rookies. The Raiders, well, Justin Griffith, the Raiders aren’t worth much without their running game and Griffith paves the way.

Now, the home team, Denver Broncos, who besides Jay Cutler is indispensable? Chad Mustard, just kidding, though that was true last season for awhile… I want to say Champ Bailey, I want to say Tom Nalen, though just looking at last season, we know that not to be true (yes, we were able to win a couple of games last season). It may be Brandon Marshall, but I’m going to go even sexier and say DJ Williams.

What do you guys think? Am I off my rocker? Someone I missed or do you just want to scream at me?

  • OC Bronco

    I think you make a great point with Merriman although I wish it wasn’t true. In week 17, his back up, Jyles Tucker, was named NFL Defensive Player of the Week. It makes the argument that he may not have been the true catalyst for their defensive success.
    With that being said I am still trying to make heads or tails with the rest of the question! How can you rule out QB’s when in many cases they obviously have the largest impact on the game? Isn’t the answer decided by how good their replacement is? We didn’t even miss John every game when we had Kubiak!

  • http://broncos-denver-broncos.blogspot.com/ Ian Henson

    I ruled out QBs partially to make a point about the AFC West, because your QB should be irreplaceable. That’s not the case in the AFC West, except with the Broncos. It’s also an easy question to answer if you leave the QBs as fair game, for most of the other NFL teams anyway. Some have great backup quarterbacks =)

  • LorDog

    I think ruling out quarterbacks is a good idea. It almost drills things down to the lowest common denominator. For the Broncos I want to be bold and say that Eddie Royal is the player. I know we haven’t seen him in “live” action but he’s the kind of guy that can spark the entire team. Someone who doesn’t have years of mental wounds and still thinks the sky’s the limit and his game shows it. That’s what rally’s the troups and gets the whole team back on track. That’s what we wanted from DJ last year…it just never really happened. I say Eddie Royal.

  • Arden

    How about either of the tackles? I know they’re young, but offenses tend to evaporate if the QB is running for his life.

  • http://broncos-denver-broncos.blogspot.com/ Ian Henson

    Lor-

    I like Eddie Royal too, but he’s too risky of a pick, for me, without any game experience yet. By the end of the season though, I really hope that you’re correct.

    Arden –

    Same rule as above, yes, the LT and even the RT are paramount, but they’re both rookies. So it’s difficult to say that we can’t live without them, when he may be replacing one or both at some point in the season. Though, yes, it is doubtful that we would be replacing Ryan Clady mid-season ::knock on wood::

  • Arden

    I agree that we don’t know about the rookies yet. However, my reasoning was more based on looking for spots on the depth chart with the biggest drop-off in ability between first and second string and its impact. While losing D.J. Williams would be terrible, I would feel more comfortable with his backups playing than a UFA rookie like Tyler Polumbus (no offense) having to step in for Ryan Clady and protect Jay Cutler’s blind side for example.

  • http://birty.blogspot.com mikebirty

    there’s a reason why he’s called champ. Without doubt the most important player to the broncos.

    The whole defense is built around very few balls being thrown to his side and there being no need to double cover his guy. Take him out and the whole defense changes.

    Fox is good and should be a starter, but even he admitted through training camp that when you compare him to Champ, he sucks.

  • http://broncos-denver-broncos.blogspot.com/ Ian Henson

    Arden-

    If Clady were to be hurt, Erik Pears (last season’s starting RT and a mammoth of a man) would most likely fill the gap. That or Harris would push over and Pears would take back over the RT position. If they (the Ryan’s) were both to go down, I would guess that PJ Alexander (who can play any position on the o-line) would fill in at RT.

    Mike B-
    Yes, Champ is incredible and shuts down an entire half of the secondary. Statistically speaking he is better than Deion Sanders (who some argue to be the best corner ever). It’s a tough question to answer, I stick by my opinion, but yours is just as valid, Denver’s only went one game without DJ Williams since 2004 (and they won it).

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Jonathan Douglas

    Mikebirty,

    It appears from our preseason work that stopping the run is the priority this year — even if it means giving up some passing yards (or lots in some cases). If our season goes that way, I’d agree that it would be one of our CB’s that must go man-to-man. However, I don’t think Champ is make or break. In games without Champ, we haven’t been worked over. I’d say it might be the guy that has to start on the OTHER side when Champ is playing. THAT guy is the one that has a target on his back and if he slips up… we lose (um… Green Bay last year).

    However, I think I have to agree more with where Arden is going. I think games are won and lost in the trenches. I can’t say D-line is make or break, cause if your offense can score unlimited points, your defense can get beaten every once in a while. So, that leaves the O-line.

    We’ve mixed and matched a lot last year and this off-season and remained pretty good, but I think the guy in 2008 might turn out to be Casey Wiegmann. I don’t know if Tom is coming back to form. And if he can’t, then we will need Casey to play as good as he did this preseason.

    If Wiegmann goes down for a game, the entire O-line will get switched up… which may cause serious problems.

    So, my pick (I think) is Wiegmann.