AFC West Wrap-Up, Hope Springs Eternal

So I've been getting behind in my predictions, and there are plenty of things going on in Chicago sports right now.  This is going to force me to break my predictions up with summaries and quick check-ins on the goings on of other important sports, so let's wrap up the AFC West.

Early Predictions:

San Diego Chargers

Oakland Raiders

Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs

I know I'll take a lot of flak for that Raiders pick, but I think they have been on the brink for a while now and I think they have the right talent for the job.  I think the Chargers are teetering, and while that will probably only result in a couple division losses I do think Denver and Oakland have the potential to unseat them.  KC will be a wild card team this year, not in the sense that they will earn a wild card but in the sense that they have a lot of potential and could surprise a lot of people, though I see a .500 season in their cards.  No Wild Card or win record predictions yet, I'll save that for my final picks before the start of the regular season.  I have been monitoring the predictions over at NFL.com, out of three who have posted predictions only one seems to disagree with me on the West (Pat Kirwan has the Chargers winning, followed by the Broncos, Chiefs, and Raiders with no Wild Card for the West).  I'm willing to stand behind my picks for now, and I think people will be pleasantly surprised with the division.

The Chicago Blackhawks have shipped Dustin Byfuglien off to the Atlanta Thrashers for some picks and prospects.  It's hard to tell how this trade will turn out as most of what we're getting out of it is an unknown commodity (so make something good out of it, Bowman), but I still believe shipping Big Buff was a mistake.  You simply can't replace a player of his stature that had his kind of burst, and 11 post-season goals don't lie as an indicator of his talent.  On the plus side, this probably means we'll get to keep John Madden, but I personally saw Byfuglien as a commodity we couldn't afford to lose.

The White Sox have won eleven in a row, with many of those games spanning Interleague play.  While many see it as a weak win streak, with many wins coming from the Nationals, Pirates, and of course Cubs, a streak is a streak and it signals hope for this club.  The Sox split a series with division rival Twins before the streak, though, and swept a very good Braves team.  What's more, their hitting has finally picked up, their defense is solid, and the lineup that was thought to be the best in the Major Leagues at the start of the season has a 2.33 ERA over the past 17 games.  Their return to the AL was inauspicious as they dropped a game to division rival Kansas City behind bad pitching and lethargic hitting that left runners stranded, but there is still a lot of optimism for this team.  If they can get their act together and put up a couple of runs against the AL that are half as impressive as their run against the NL then they should be poised to wrest the division away from Detroit and Minnesota.  Hey, if Cubs fans can hope to have a winning club after a century of failure then I can hope for a small comeback from a real baseball team, right?

There are rumors floating about the Bulls picking up touted free agents LeBron James and Chris Bosh, and I, like the rest of Chicago, am salivating at the possibility.  This team has already made what seems to be a good hire in new head coach Tom Thibodeau, has a good young core in place, and all-stars like James and Bosh would take this team to the next level.  Tom Waddle got a crack out of me when he suggested, in a thick Chicago accent, that the pickup of both players would mean a, "five-peat, minimum," but despite intended humour it wouldn't be out of the question.  Furthermore, as long as we're dreaming, what if the Sox made a run and captured their second title in five years?  What if the Bears shocked everyone and took home the Lombardi Trophy?  If the Bulls get Bosh and the King and win the Finals we could have an all Chicago 2010-2011.  I know this is dreaming of a superfan variety, but what's the harm?  At any rate, the rumors of a Bulls lineup consisting of Noah, Rose, Deng, Bosh, and James gets any Chicago sports fan's hopes up and brings back memories of the great Bulls teams of the nineties.

AFC West Part Four: Kansas City Clunker

Kansas City Chiefs



2009 Record: 4-12, Fourth in Division
2009 Playoff Record: Did Not Qualify
Key Losses: Mike Brown, Sean Ryan, Bobby Wade
Key Additions: Eric Berry, Casey Weigmann, Thomas Jones

Perhaps that is a fairly rough treatment out of the gate, but the Chiefs have consistently been in the bottom four of the league since they were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs by the Colts four years ago.  Since then they have compiled a 10-38 record and been among the most consistently losing teams along with the Dolphins, Lions, Browns, Rams, and Bills.  In fact, if not for the 1-15 seasons posted by some of these teams and the dubiously historic win-less season by the Lions, the Chiefs might be considered the worst team in the NFL over the past few years.  Their stock is going up, however, and they are making improvements in key areas with good, high draft picks, which have historically been the start to many teams' rebuilding.  They don't have an easy road back to the playoffs, though, and with the improvement of the Broncos and Raiders they could be looking at yet another disappointing season.

Make no mistake, some of the moves they have made are big.  Their free agent pickups, particularly, have been quietly phenomenal.  I mentioned center Casey Wiegmann as being a key loss for the Denver Broncos, and conversely he is a big pickup for a Chiefs team with a line that gave up 45 sacks and almost 90 hits last season.  Stability at center should greatly improve that, and the Chiefs line is no slouch when it comes to rushing yards, almost breaking 2,000 last season.  They were able to pick up wideout Chris Chambers from the Chargers near the midpoint of last season, and he was able to put up a couple of 100 yard plus games against the Browns and Steelers.  He should be a major focal of this offense in the 2010 season, under what the Chiefs hope will be a much improved passing attack.  Their biggest offseason acquisition, though, is perennial 1,000 yard rusher Thomas Jones, who should be a good leader for the pair of young backs the Chiefs have in 2009 rookie standout Jamaal Charles and 2010 second round pick Dexter McCluster.  Jones has been one of the more underrated backs in the league in recent seasons; while Chris Johnson, DeAngelo Williams, and Adrian Peterson have been getting attention for having good seasons early in their career, Thomas has been posting 1,000 yard seasons consistently for the past five seasons with the Jets and Bears.  He's a major boost to any backfield, and his presence should take a good deal of pressure off of Matt Cassel.

Their draft was also quietly impressive.  Eric Berry was a major pickup, but also key to improving a secondary that ranked 22 in the league in yards allowed will be second rounder Javier Arenas.  The rest of their picks were dedicated to improving key positions, though they still haven't paid much attention to the position of tight end, which figures to be more of a focal point under new offensive coordinator Charlie Weis.  The secondary will be greatly improved, adding the two rookies to standout third year corner Brandon Flowers, but problems still exist in the run defense.  The Chiefs didn't address the linebacker position until the fifth round, and questions exist as to how well aging veteran Mike Vrabel can lead this linebacking corps that gave up over 2,500 rushing yards last season and had just 22 sacks.  It's surprising that they spent so little attention on a position that is so key in the second year 3-4 defense.  Perhaps they believe new defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel can coax better production out of them, but the lack of talent seems to be too great to ignore.

Their schedule isn't very favorable to their strengths, either.  Aside from the Rams the NFC West doesn't slouch against the run, with the Cards and Hawks near the upper half of the league and the Niners being absolutely dominant.  Fortunately for the Chiefs their defense matches up well against what could turn out to be lethargic passing attacks from all four clubs.  The South is a different story, with two pretty powerful passing teams and two very powerful rushing teams.  If their pass defense can live up to expectations, though, it should at least keep them in most of those games.  Their division seems predicated on passing as well, and after taking two games from the Broncos and Raiders last season they should be poised to eclipse their division record, though perhaps not by much.  Their swing games are also question marks, though if I had to guess at this point I'd say they beat the Bills and fall to the Browns.

Todd Haley seems to be implementing a system mimicking that of Bill Belichick, bringing in players and coaches that have served under him at one point or another.  The question is, can he implement the system as well as the mad genius?  Is just hiring Crennel and Weis enough, or was Belichick really key to the success of the two coordinators who have failed to achieve success in their own coaching positions?  Furthermore, does he have the right personnel to make his schemes work?  Key additions will certainly make this team more fearsome, but enough to be contenders?  And will Matt Cassel rise to the challenge of running an offense, or was his success in New England simply because of the pieces that were around him?  Tough questions, and they will be answered this season.  It's hard not to be excited if you're a Chiefs fan given all the big moves, but I'd advise against clearing your January schedule just yet.  Teams like the Lions and Rams have proven that it's no easy feat to come back from low records, even with consistently high draft picks.  I wouldn't expect any Carolina-esque, or even any Miami-esque comebacks this year from the Chiefs, especially with the level of competition there's bound to be within their division.  I would expect a good deal of improvement though, including possibly a .500 season.

AFC West Part Three: Wild Horses can be Tamed

Denver Broncos

2009 Record: 8-8, Second in Division
2009 Playoff Record: Did not Qualify
Key Losses: Brandon Marshall, Tony Sheffler, Casey Weigmann
Key Additions: Demaryius Thomas, Tim Tebow, Jamal Williams

I've been down on the Broncos since Josh McDaniels got there, and I'm still down on them.  Installing your own system for a team is all fine and well, but for a first-time coach who inherited a relatively talented team in the first place to make the overhaul he has, I think it's counter-productive.  Furthermore, the offensive-minded McDaniels has been focusing on installing HIS offensive system with HIS offensive players despite already possessing a very talented core and having more pressing needs at defensive positions.  Seeing as how he's only in the second year of a four year deal he may very well be afforded the time to properly implement his system and turn this team around, but he won't get there until year three or four and if I were Broncos management I'd be very displeased with the way he's gone about disassembling a very talented team.

We'll start out with the offense.  Kyle Orton is the wrong quarterback for this offense, period.  The knock on Orton has always been his arm strength, and the style of McDaniels is to push the ball down the field.  Orton is a short yardage passer, he's best in a style of offense that relies on quick, short routes.  The more McDaniels asks him to press, the more pressure he's going to put on Orton.  That is only compounded by the continued disassembly of this offense.  Every player listed above as a loss is an offensive player and one who provides crucial support for Orton.  They got rid of their star center, part of a line that was at the midway point in the league in terms of sacks and in the bottom half in terms of hits.  That may not be an endorsement of Casey Weigmann, but the center is a crucial anchor for a line and to get rid of him affects the development of the line.  Furthermore, they haven't signed anyone to take his place who really stands out at the position.

This behavior continues to the receiving corps, where Pro-Bowler Brandon Marshall and Tight End Tony Sheffler were traded for draft picks, a common occurrence under McDaniels.  Marshall was an every down, any catch type of receiver, a go-to guy.  Last season he was the favorite target of Kyle Orton, with 101 receptions and over 1,000 yards.  Sheffler had 31 catches for 416 yards.  Getting rid of these players does Orton no favors, these players are go-to targets who can help a struggling quarterback by creating opportunities that other players can or will not create.

Who even knows how long Orton will hold onto the position, though as of right now he looks entrenched.  Brady Quinn brings to the table exactly what Orton is lacking, a big arm, though his accuracy leaves much to be desired.  Tebow has the big arm and reports are he looks good, but he will be a project.  At any rate, whoever is plugged in at QB will need support, which means talented receivers, a good line, and a good running game.  The only one of those areas that hasn't suffered damage under McDaniels is the running game, and even there questions remain unanswered.  Will the running game be unaffected by the changes in the line?  Will McDaniels stick to Knowshon Moreno even if Correll Buckhalter outperforms him as he did last season?  And if their quarterback begins to struggle, will defenses be able to focus in on the running game?  McDaniels' tampering is not constructive.  Perhaps he feels he has a reputation to uphold as the protégé of the evil genius, but he should really stick to supplementing the players he already has instead of trying to build a team from the ground up.

His defense has seen marginal improvement over last season, though.  Specifically, they addressed an area of weakness in beefing up their run defense.  Jamal Williams is a solid nose tackle at worst and a Pro-Bowler at best, and though health questions exist in their other defensive line acquisition, Jarvis Green, he should provide good run support if he can stay healthy.  They re-signed Elvis Dumervil, which was important, and kept together a secondary that was third in the league in pass defense.  They haven't made any big splashes at linebacker, which could again hamper their run defense, but their upgrades on the line will at least ensure some upward momentum in that category.

Overall, the success of this team will depend on how well and how fast the McDaniels offensive experiment will work.  The defense has finally been stabilized to some degree after at least three sub-standard seasons, though it must remain healthy if it is going to improve in its areas of need.  The offense has been almost completely reconstructed under McDaniels, however, and inconsistency at key positions could hamper quarterback development.  They could benefit, like other West teams, by playing divisions with a lot of pass-happy defenses, but they also could be facing problems facing competitive defenses, especially in the AFC South.  Furthermore, KC should figure to have an explosive run game which could present problems if they can't fix their run defense; and though they can probably handle the Raiders' defense, the Raiders' defense can probably also handle them.  They don't have easy swing games either, playing last year's Wild Card teams in the Ravens and the Jets.  Though the team has potential, it will be an uphill climb and I don't see them anywhere but perhaps second or third in the division.

AFC West Part Two: The Silver and Black Attack is Back

Oakland Raiders

2009 Record: 5-11, Third in Division

2009 Playoff Record: Did Not Qualify
Key Losses: Justin Fargas, Javon Walker, Gerard Warren, Kirk Morrison, JaMarcus Russell
Key Additions: Rolando McClain, Lamarr Houston, Jason Campbell


Analysts are predicting a lot of upward momentum for AFC West teams, and this is the one instance where I strongly agree with them.  Despite putting up sub-par results, the Raiders have kept a very talented core consisting of a good mix of young and old players.  They also had a silently decent draft, unlike in the past where they would select fast players that many say they could have had much later.  This year they took a young and highly touted linebacker to reinforce their already talented linebacking corps and make up for the loss of Kirk Morrison, who they turned into their fifth-round pick, Jacoby Ford.  With the rest of their picks they reinforced other defensive positions and the offensive line, which could stand to improve after allowing 49 sacks last season.  However they did help the team accumulate over 1,700 rushing yards and a 4.1 YPC average.  In addition, maligned ex Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell had a habit of hanging on to the football too long, a habit that new acquisition Jason Campbell should break.  If the offensive line can begin to mesh, then Jason Campbell should have a good chance to improve their offense.


However, Campbell will need some help if he's going to get this offense over the hump.  Losing Justin Fargas, one of their many backs who had a habit of underachieving, could be big.  Fargas was no superstar, but he had some decent numbers and consistency, something his replacements might lack.  Michael Bennett has slightly more yards and a slightly better average than Fargas over about the same period of time, but has been prone to fumbling.  Rock Cartwright has been good at hanging onto the ball, but has put up significantly fewer yards playing the backup role to a true featured back in Clinton Portis.  Whether either of these backs can make up for what Fargas brought to the team remains to be seen.  That also leaves the question of their prize draft choice from three years ago, Darren McFadden, and if he can really function as a star back.  He has been underwhelming at best so far, and if he does not step up to fill the featured role this running game could be as dismal as it was last season.  That would not bode well for Jason Campbell, who has proven he can be effective behind a good line and running game in Washington, but who has struggled without offensive support.


The receivers probably aren't as big an issue as the run game, after all Campbell has succeeded in Washington without any standouts.  However they will need to improve, if they continue to drop passes and blow routes like they did last season then Campbell stands no chance.  Losing Javon Walker was big, as they have no true possession receiver now.  They continue to conform to the idea of fielding a speed-oriented corps, and neglecting receivers who might not run as fast but can make spectacular catches could hurt them.  Just a reminder, TO is still out there.  I know many think having him around all the young players could be a detriment, but he performed well last year in Buffalo and is exactly the type of receiver they need to complement speed demons Darrius Heyward-Bey, Johnnie Lee Higgins, and Jacoby Ford.  They still have an outstanding tight end who can fill that role in Zack Miller, but as was shown last season he can't carry the receiving corps on his own.


The biggest plus for this team is its defense.  Perennial Pro-Bowler Nnamdi Asomugha is back and heading a secondary that quietly made its way into the top ten in the league in terms of pass defense and helped secure wins over the Bengals, Broncos, Steelers, and Eagles last season.  The problem lies in their rush defense, where they ranked 29th in the league last season and gave up almost 2,500 yards.  They didn't make any big moves on defense this offseason, instead opting to make incremental ones and secure key positions.  They're hoping for immediate production from their top two picks, inside tackle Lamarr Houston and inside linebacker Rolando McClain.  They'll need immediate production if they want to win, especially against the run.  The success of this defense, though, rests on the front four.  Without good run support and pressure on the quarterback they won't be able to win games and their hopes for a chance at a Wild Card could be dashed.  A strong secondary and weak run support could work a bit to their advantage when it comes to their schedule, both the AFC South and NFC West have their share of pass heavy teams with weak rushing attacks.  San Diego and Denver also could be struggling to find their running legs, but the Raiders are now in a division that features a back who has put up five straight 1,000 yard seasons in Thomas Jones.  In addition, their swing games are against the Steelers and Dolphins, two teams that rely heavily on the run.  They should be able to improve to .500 even if they don't solve their problems with run defense, if they can get veterans Tommy Kelly and Richard Seymour to lead some of their younger linemen and noticeably improve, than they should surprise a lot of folks who have them pegged as a bottom-feeder for next season.


The key for Oakland?  Youth.  Tom Cable is in a bad position, if he doesn't win now he could be gone.  It would be a shame if he didn't save his job because if he's gone next season whoever gets his job will have inherited a far better team than the one he did.  Another guaranteed season and Cable could look like a genius, but he's on the hot seat now.  In order for him to keep his job these young players need to play hard now.  Jason Campbell, Darren McFadden, Darrius Heyward-Bey, and their top draft picks will all need to play at a pro level out of the gates, and they will need their veterans along the defensive and offensive lines to play solid enough to keep them in it.  There's a decent chance for that, though, and this could be the year where the Raiders turn things around.  At the very least they should improve their record, make .500, and get a couple more wins in the division.

AFC West Part One: Nowhere to Go

There hasn't been a lot for AFC West fans to be happy about for a while now. Aside from a couple of surges to the Conference games by the Broncos and Chargers, neither of which led to a Superbowl appearance, the division hasn't had much of any playoff success since Bill Callahan and Rich Gannon took the Raiders to the Superbowl at the end of the 2002 season. Subsequently, there's not much room for any of these clubs to go but up, with the possible exception of San Diego. First, let's analyze San Diego's offseason so far:

San Diego Chargers

2009 Record: 13-3, Division Champions

2009 Playoff Record: 0-1
Key Losses: LaDainian Tomlinson, Demetrius Byrd, Brandon Manumaleuna
Key Additions: Ryan Mathews, Darrell Stuckey

Let's start out with the good, just last season San Diego went 13-3, an impressive feat. That being said, San Diego suffered an early exit at the hands of a Wild Card team in their first playoff game. There's been a lot of talk of if San Diego can really even get to a Superbowl, and those arguments seem to carry a lot of weight especially now. For a team that has won the division four years in a row and five of the last six years, these results are just inexcusable. What's the difference, though? Is it personnel, or coaching, or does playing in the most annually dismal divisions turn San Diego into a fluff team? This season could hold the answers.

Now let's go to some nuts and bolts. I gave you the big numbers already, but let's look at some more minute details. In 2009 they were among the top five in the league in major passing categories, but second to last in rushing with an average of 3.3 yards per carry and 88.9 yards per game. They were ranked 16th in overall defense giving up 327 yards per game. In the postseason their defense tightened up, allowing only 262 yards and 17 points. Their offense, however, failed to come through in the clutch.

To me, this signifies coaching difficulties. Norv Turner is a celebrated coach, much of the team's recent success has been attributed in part to him. However, consistently losing key playoff games and teams breaking down at key moments to me signifies a lack of discipline, and I believe if the team doesn't win this year Turner may be on the way out.

That may be easier said than done. Though I think this division will have its ups and downs, I definitely think it will be harder to win games previously taken for granted. In addition, San Diego seems to be having some age problems. Three of their starting linemen offensive linemen are approaching thirty, the other two have less than two combined seasons starting. This line does a good job of protecting the quarterback, but the declining rushing numbers and lack of clutch performances suggests this may be an area of trouble next season. In addition, their two star receivers and star tight end are getting up there in years, and there seems to be no heirs apparent. If there were, they were released and it seems that San Diego is banking on a youth movement at these positions, a gambit to say the least. Add to this that the team is counting on a rookie running back to jump start a running game that declined last year under 12,000 yard career rusher LaDainian Tomlinson, and this offense has far more questions than in years past.

All this adds to the fact that the clock is ticking for Norv Turner and Phillip Rivers, who is turning 29 and entering his seventh year. Starting a rebuilding movement at this point is out of the question, and the holdouts of Marcus McNeil, Vincent Jackson, and Shawne Merriman are just compounding matters. Yes, these players are clearly getting older, but at this point in the franchise's history can they really afford to lose them and try to build replacements from the ground up? In addition to the offensive questions, the defense has yet to prove it can be a force, as it was for the team that knocked them out of the playoffs, the New York Jets. This is a team that was middle of the league at best in interceptions and sacks, if not for an explosive offense the Chargers would be sunk. Linebacker is a question with Merriman holding out, and isn't much clearer with him in the mix. His absence might not be as big a factor as the other holdouts, but his replacement, Larry English, might not be the long-term answer either. Shaun Phillips was a force last season, with seven sacks and seven fumbles, but the other backers combined for just four sacks and four fumbles. One has to wonder, also, if Phillips can carry this defense without the benefit of a disruptive force in Merriman on the other side. The linebackers are going to have to be the cornerstone of this defense, as the linemen, if they follow their 2009 statistics, are underwhelming at best.

The secondary is a question. They played an above average season last season in terms of interceptions, and Quentin Jammer, Eric Weddle, and Antoine Cason are all returning. They have a rookie penciled in to start at strong safety, albeit a highly touted one. Though this secondary was good at takeaways, they left a lot to be desired in yards allowed. With the offenses in the division all getting upgrades and a failure to keep up when facing good defenses in the postseason this could be an issue that comes back to haunt them.

Overall, San Diego will have to either sink or swim. They have issues on both sides of the age spectrum, and that causes it to be hard to predict how things will turn out as either the youth or the veterans could prove to be a boon or a detriment. One thing is for sure, they will need production from one or the other, and with an ever-growing playoff issue both sides of the team will have to contribute to wins as opposed to the shootout style they have relied on in the past. Their schedule won't be easy by any means, either. Aside from playing the AFC South, with perennial offensive powerhouses Indianapolis and Houston and hungry Jacksonville and Tennessee, they get the pleasure of playing two other 2009 playoff teams in the Bengals and the Patriots, a defensive and offensive powerhouse, respectively. They get a partial reprieve in facing the NFC West, but their usual domination should at least be less of a guarantee with all of their division opponents making significant upgrades, don't be surprised to see the Bolts drop a few division games. Of all the playoff teams in 2009, I consider the Chargers one of the most susceptible to falling off, that is unless they can tighten up their problem areas and solve some of their holdout situations.

NFL 2010 Predictions

The start of the NFL season is drawing near, and predictions about where the teams will end up at the end are starting to come in. Many prognosticators, including myself, make the disclaimer that nothing is for certain at this point and that once the season starts everything is up for grabs. I can't help but think, though, that some use that as an excuse to make wild predictions about the upcoming season during the period when not much is known.

Aside from SI's Peter King, who although ranking the Bears fairly low admits his own lack of credibility in rankings due to his past predictions, there seems to be a general consensus of failure for the Bears in the upcoming season. Two analysts over at NFL.com have recently ranked the Bears 21st and 27th in the league for next season. 21st I can understand, we were an underachieving team last year and we still have questions at some key positions, namely cornerback and safety, and we still have a lot to prove, but 27th? Lets put it this way, on the first list the Bears were ranked below teams such as the Texans, the Titans, the Dolphins, the Steelers, and the Falcons, not a true slouch among them unless you want to bring up the Titans' disastrous first half, and no team with a 2K rusher can be THAT bad. The second list ranked the Chiefs, Raiders, Seahawks, Buccaneers, Jaguars, and Broncos better than the Bears. Can you believe that? The entire AFC West, which has been disastrous in the past, is expected to do better than the Chicago Bears. I do believe this is going to be the season of upward momentum for a lot of teams, including the Raiders and the Lions, but also including the Bears.

I'll admit I have my doubts. Is Mike Martz going to be successful with his new system? Is first-time coordinator Rod Marinelli the right man for the job. I still say this organization should have gone to Perry Fewell, gotten down on their knees, and begged him to come to Chicago. Still, we can't be as bad as people are saying we'll be, not even possible. Word is from training camp that Matt Forte looks better than he did his rookie year, and splitting the workload with another 1,000 yard back like Chester Taylor couldn't hurt. Zack Bowman is doing well enough to be trusted to take on some of the NFL's elite receivers, a privilege he lost last year to Charles Tillman.

The worst criticism, though, I think is aimed at the two groups least deserving of it, the offensive line and receiving corps. There is a lot of great young talent along this line including our new star tackle Chris Williams and the heir apparent to perennial Pro-Bowler Olen Kreutz, Josh Beekman. What people forget is that this line played its best at the end of the season against opponents like the Vikings, where they held an end like Jared Allen to no sacks and three tackles. It's the same story with the receivers, Aromashodu was the league leader in receiving that week against the Vikings in a spectacular performance, and yet league analysts call our group of receivers weak. Hester, in two seasons, has averaged over 700 yards a season, and while I'll agree that he's not the number one that Lovie Smith so adamantly believes he is, he is a talented receiver. Between the speedy and reliable Knox, the possession specialist Bennett, the unknown commodity of Juaquin Iglesias, and the extremely talented (and in my opinion only true number one on the Bears' roster) Aromashodu, this receiving corps should surprise a lot of people. In Lovie's first couple of season he said he liked playing as an underdog team, I think that type of mentality will combine with teh talent on this team to surprise a lot of people. Personally, I don't like making predictions until closer to the pre-season. I'll announce my first rankings closer to the start of exhibition games, but I'll be going over the strengths and weaknesses of all the teams by division. First up, the AFC West.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS-2010 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!

So there has been a lot that went on since the last time I wrote anything here, the Bears free agency spending, the Sox aces falling off, the Cubs sucking, but to be fair that has been going on for over a century now. The biggest news, though, is that this city has their first Championship since the Sox won in 05 and the Hawks have their first championship since 1961, whoooo! This officially makes the Bears the Chicago pro team with the longest championship drought (I said pro team Cubs fans), meaning its about damn time for them to take one home, win it this year and all of Chicago's pro teams will have won their league's championship in a twelve year span.

The Hawks don't seem like any flash in the pan either, they have a lot of youth that look to be in for bright futures in the NHL. Have Detroit been supplanted as the annual division champs? Time will tell. The Hawks did have an amazing run that set a good deal of benchmarks and records. Jonathan Toews became the second youngest captain to win the cup and the second youngest player to win the playoff MVP award, accumulating 29 points in the playoffs. A deep roster consisting of veterans like Marian Hossa and John Madden and a talented youth movement including Dustin Byfuglien, Patrick Sharp, Troy Brauwer, and breakout goalie Antti Niemi in addition tot he young and talented Toews and Patrick Kane, who scored the game-winner against Philly, sealed the long-awaited championship for the Original Six team. Talk is already starting to fly about who will and won't be back next year (more on that soon), but for now Chicago and the Hawks can just celebrate the return of the Stanley Cup to Chicago. Congratualtions, Hawks!