NFL: Predicting the AFC’s division winners

AFC West

1. Denver Broncos: 14-2

Yep, 14-2. I’m picking the Broncos to win Super Bowl XLIX, mostly because I believe 2014 will be Peyton Manning’s redemption season.

I didn’t think Manning was justified to taunt and bump helmets with Texans safety D.J. Swearinger in Week 3 of the preseason, but it was refreshing to see the five-time MVP that fired up over something. He seems as motivated as ever, and perhaps his emotional side that we don’t often see will become the theme of this season.

Manning has it all: the aforementioned five MVPs, 13 Pro Bowl honors, and even a Super Bowl win and MVP. But a second Super Bowl ring would do wonders for his legacy, and I sense that this is the season he finally gets it.

2. San Diego Chargers: 9-7

Somebody has to get the AFC’s second wild card and sixth playoff spot, so why not the Chargers? San Diego finished last season by winning five of its final six games (including playoffs) and, if Philip Rivers can be the elite quarterback that he re-emerged as in 2013, I don’t see a reason why the Chargers can’t pick up right where they left off.

3. Kansas City Chiefs: 6-10

The Chiefs are on serious regression alert. Their schedule (seventh-toughest in the league) isn’t anywhere close to the cake walk it was last season. Add that to the fact that it could be incredibly difficult to recover from their monumental collapse against the Colts, and you have a Chiefs team that will likely struggle in 2014.

4. Oakland Raiders: 3-13

Unless Derek Carr is a far better quarterback than I believe him to be, the Raiders won’t be able to escape the AFC West cellar that they have been calling home for what feels like forever.