Week 9 AFC West Roundup
By Justin Smith
San Diego Chargers
4th Place in AFC West
Record: 4-5
Last Game: Defeated Tennessee Titans 43-35 in San Diego
Next Game: vs. Miami Dolphins
In San Diego we again see things regressing toward the mean. And boy has that been good news for the Chargers this season.
Melvin Gordon was a record-breaking touchdown machine at Wisconsin during his college career. Playing against the highest-level college competition, Gordon entered the NFL as the NCAA’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns.
So naturally, he powered his way to exactly zero in his rookie campaign of 2015.
As things tend to do, Gordon began righting that statistical anomaly right out of the gate in 2016 He hasn’t stopped since. His speed and effort culminated in a 196 yard, 2 TD tour-de-force last Sunday against the Titans. This looks closer to the rule than the exception for the kid at this point.
Philly Riv is doing his thing. An underrated and under-appreciated player for most of his career, Rivers is smiling and keeping the faith. This all while San Diegans are voting to kick the team out of the city and rival d-lineman are talking about eating his children.
Rivers is the kind of guy who would smile in a hurricane. That is, when he’s not on the field. On the field he’s a whiny, screaming, uber-competitive testament to petulance. But off the field he’s a pretty happy-go-lucky guy.
So it’s got to be killing him that a) his team found new and exciting ways to blow games three times early this season and b) that he’s playing in the toughest division in the NFL.
Were it not for those two facts, the Chargers — who honestly are playing as well as anyone over the past four weeks — would stand an excellent shot at making the playoffs. As it stands now, not so much.
After the first half of the season the AFC West looks like possibly the toughest division in the NFL. The Raiders are, currently, on top. Can they stay there? That remains to be seen. But at this point, heading to the bye playing their best football and possibly returning some key defensive pieces, they are in good shape.