{"id":78792,"date":"2014-06-24T11:55:59","date_gmt":"2014-06-24T18:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/?p=78792"},"modified":"2014-06-24T12:01:21","modified_gmt":"2014-06-24T19:01:21","slug":"2014-afc-west-division-preview-handicapping-odds-23614","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/nfl\/2014-afc-west-division-preview-handicapping-odds-23614\/","title":{"rendered":"2014 AFC West Division Preview – NFL Handicapping Odds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Handicapping The\u00a0AFC West<\/strong><\/h2>\n

2014 AFC West Preview \u2013 There\u2019s Denver and Everyone Else<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the NFL draft a distant memory and mandatory mini-camps underway, it is time to get down to some business and start talking about the teams that will emerge this year and challenge for the Super Bowl when the weather turns cold and we are all longing for the weather that we are having now. <\/p>\n

The AFC West may be the easiest division in football to prognosticate \u2013 unless an injury to Peyton Manning sinks the Broncos, there is absolutely no way Denver doesn\u2019t win yet another AFC West crown. Let\u2019s just say for argument sake that something crazy DOES happen in Denver. <\/p>\n

Is there another team poised to take advantage? Let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n

\n

Denver Broncos<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Broncos Odds to win the 2015 Super Bowl XLIX<\/strong>: 13\/2
\nBroncos Odds to win the 2015 AFC Conference<\/strong>: 9\/4
\nBroncos Odds to Win the 2014 AFC West<\/strong>: -275
\nBroncos Odds from Sportsbook.ag<\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nobody will accuse the Denver management of being content with a runner-up finish in last year\u2019 Super Bowl \u2013 that\u2019s for sure! In the offseason all the Broncos did was fill two enormous areas of need \u2013 on defense with the addition of the terrific DeMarcus Ware and arguably one of the three or four the best corners in the game Aqib Talib.<\/p>\n

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CLICK to GRAB OUR BEST Expert Sports & Football Picks for 2014 GAMBLING!<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But with the success from last year comes a much tougher schedule \u2013 the always tough divisional games may be the easiest part of the Broncos slate! Denver will have to play each of the NFC West teams once this year to go along with games against New England and Cincinnati. All in all Denver has nine teams that made the playoffs in 2013 on the schedule, has three prime-time games and has an enormous target on their backs!<\/p>\n

Denver\u2019s schedule threatens to slow them down a tad this year but there is no doubting who the class of the AFC West is. While we can\u2019t really expect the offense to continue their record setting pace, we can expect Denver to walk away with the AFC West and seriously challenge for the AFC crown and the Super Bowl. <\/p>\n

Denver is a more complete team than they were last year \u2013 scary to say the least!<\/p>\n

\n

Kansas City Chiefs<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Chiefs Odds to win the 2015 Super Bowl XLIX<\/strong>: 40\/1
\nChiefs Odds to win the 2015 AFC Conference<\/strong>: 18\/1
\nChiefs Odds to Win the 2014 AFC West<\/strong>: +500
\nChiefs Odds from Sportsbook.ag<\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Chiefs were the surprise team of the NFL last season \u2013 they won\u2019t catch anyone off guard this year! Andy Reid and Alex Smith completely turned the franchise around \u2013 from 2-14 to 11-5 in one year! Amazing. But the 2013 schedule was a relative cake-walk \u2013 they won\u2019t be playing a last place schedule this year!
\n[soliloquy id=”82219″]
\nDespite the success last year KC has gone through a few key offseason changes \u2013 most importantly the departure of three of five starting O-linemen and spark plug Dexter McCluster. The team failed to do much in the draft and still has enormous question mark in the receiving corp. outside of a questionable Dwayne Bowe. <\/p>\n

At least there is still Jamaal Charles!<\/p>\n

KC is a team most likely to take a step backward this year. It is hard to imagine Alex Smith duplicating his numbers from last year and there is far too much competition within their own division (Denver AND San Diego).<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be surprised to see Kansas City finish third in the division this year \u2013 winning the AFC West and even qualifying for the playoffs could be a stretch, at least on paper.<\/p>\n

\n

San Diego Chargers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Chargers Odds to win the 2015 Super Bowl XLIX<\/strong>: 40\/1
\nChargers Odds to win the 2015 AFC Conference<\/strong>: 18\/1
\nChargers Odds to Win the 2014 AFC West:<\/strong> +550
\nChargers Odds from Sportsbook.ag<\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps the most intriguing team in the AFC West this upcoming season is the Chargers who went on an uncharacteristic December run, qualified for the postseason and upset the Bengals in the first round of the playoffs last year.<\/p>\n

The Chargers have the benefit of a relatively easy first third of the season \u2013 if they win four of the six games out of the gate they could be in good shape at the end of the season! Philip Rivers looks reborn under Coach Mike McCoy and 2013 breakout start Keenan Allen threatens to take the next step toward NFL stardom.<\/p>\n

San Diego\u2019s defense was solid last year and should be better this year and the offense took a step forward last year meaning they should be at least as good this year. <\/p>\n

Although I don\u2019t see anyone touching the Broncos this year, if one team were to do it \u2013 take the Chargers who will make the playoffs again this year and maybe post another first round upset.<\/p>\n

\n

Oakland Raiders<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Raiders Odds to win the 2015 Super Bowl XLIX<\/strong>: 100\/1
\nRaiders Odds to win the 2015 AFC Conference:<\/strong> 50\/1
\nRaiders Odds to Win the 2014 AFC West:<\/strong> +1800
\nRaiders Odds from Sportsbook.ag<\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ugh! The Raiders! Oakland brought in Matt Schaub as the answer to their long standing quarterback problems \u2013 ask the Houston Texans how that worked out for them! They also resigned the perennial injury prone running back disappointment Darren McFadden and brought in Maurice-Jones Drew who has clearly lost a step or two the last few seasons. <\/p>\n

It all adds up to another lost season in Oakland.<\/p>\n

The Raiders will have a tough schedule, just like the rest of the division, they will have to play the Chargers, the Broncos and the Chiefs two times and they have a total of nine games against teams that made the playoffs in 2013 \u2013 not good.<\/p>\n

I suppose the Raiders defense could continue to shine and I guess Schaub and Jones-Drew could turn back the clock but the overall talent on this roster still leaves a lot to be desired. <\/p>\n

Not much else to say but \u2013 enjoy your time in the basement of the AFC West\u2026. again!<\/p>\n

The 2014\/15 NFL futures betting<\/a> season is here in full force! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting.<\/b><\/p>\n

CappersPicks.com has NFL odds<\/a> up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Handicapping The\u00a0AFC West 2014 AFC West Preview \u2013 There\u2019s Denver and Everyone Else With the NFL draft a distant memory and mandatory mini-camps underway, it is time to get down to some business and start talking about the teams that will emerge this year and challenge for the Super Bowl when the weather turns cold […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":63232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[62617,62618,62616,49547,63,14929,8345,14491,62615,1618,869,14920,61091],"class_list":["post-78792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-2014-afc-west-odds","tag-2014-afc-west-preview","tag-2015-super-bowl-lines","tag-afc-conference-odds","tag-afc-west","tag-broncos-odds","tag-chargers-odds","tag-chiefs-odds","tag-las-vegas-nfl-lines","tag-nfl-futures","tag-nfl-sportsbooks","tag-raiders-odds","tag-super-bowl-xlix-odds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78792"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78878,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78792\/revisions\/78878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}