Inside The Afc West

Sporting News, The, Oct 30, 2000

GAME OF THE WEEK

Oakland at San Diego. The Raiders will strut into San Diego atop the division and tied for the best record in the conference. The Chargers await winless and utterly confused about their quarterback situation, but otherwise they are a well-rested and win-hungry group. The Raiders' coaching staff knows it's a recipe for disaster.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

Chiefs RB Kimble Anders against the Seahawks' much-maligned run defense. Fresh from a 102-yard game, Anders could get plenty of carries against a Seattle defense that is near the bottom of the league in stopping the run. And if quarterback Elvis Grbac is out, the "Air Gunther" Chiefs may go to the ground game, and Anders, even more.

ON THE SPOT

Denver DL Trevor Pryce. He was on a sacking spree (6 1/2 in three games) until suffering a strained right knee in the second quarter of last week's debacle in Cincinnati. Fortunately for Pryce and the Broncos, they get a week to regroup before their next game.

KEEP AN EYE ON

Raiders QB Rich Gannon. He throws a lot of high-percentage passes, completing 85 percent in Week 7 at K.C. and nearly 70 percent of his passes last week vs. Seattle. Wonder what will happen against San Diego, which allowed Kurt Warner to connect on 24 of 30?

ROOKIE REPORT

FS Rogers Beckett, a second-round pick of the Chargers, is starting to look more like an NFL defensive back. Listed at 6-3, 205 pounds when he arrived from Marshall, Beckett appears even bigger now. He moves like a safety, but he looks and hits like a linebacker.

FEARLESS FORECAST

Now that the Bengals have their first win, the more talented and mostly luckless Chargers will follow along by stunning the first-place Raiders. Up till now, the Raiders have won with some talent and even more good fortune. They are overconfident and ripe for a major upset.

FANTASY SOURCE

When San Diego played in Oakland in Week 1, the Raiders won a 9-6 barn-burner. But since then, the Chargers defense has gone in the tank. Rich Gannon is playing as well as just about anybody in the league and should continue to hurt San Diego both on the ground and in the air. Keep him in the lineup.

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Denver

4-4: 3rd

Secondary is ballhawking, albeit a little bit too slowly

The secondary has been a boom-and-bust trait. It already has matched last year's total of 11 interceptions. But overall the secondary has looked a bit slow. RCB Terrell Buckley, who leads the AFC with five interceptions, has been the secondary's best player because of his gambling style and aggressive, man-to-man defense. The safety tandem of Eric Brown and Billy Jenkins has only been so-so. Touted as big hitters, they have missed as many big tackles as they have made. After an awful start, Jenkins has gotten better. The steady force has been LCB Ray Crockett. But it's clear that Crockett has lost a step or two, and he gives receivers huge cushions, making the Broncos vulnerable to quick out patterns. The real tests will come on November 5 against the Jets and November 13 against the Raiders. ... The Broncos got a glimpse of the future without LT Tony Jones, who is expected to retire at the end of this season, when he left the Cincinnati game with a concussion. Rookie Cooper Carlisle took Jones' place. The result was a drive-killing sack and fumble, with Cooper barely laying a hand on Cincinnati's Steve Foley. Denver faces a major project trying to rebuild the left side of its line.

SCOUTING REPORT: RB Mike Anderson, the former Marine, already has three 100-yard games, and he came through when the Broncos were in dire straits. He runs hard and hits holes fairly quickly. But he runs straight up and down, takes a lot of shots and lacks the cutback ability that makes a healthy Terrell Davis one of the league's best runners. As tough as Anderson is, he's one-dimensional. He hasn't proved himself as a receiver and has missed key blocks. When teams force him outside, he loses his effectiveness.

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME: If you ask QB Brian Griese's teammates why he's become one of the league's top-rated quarterbacks, all of them will give you a similar answer: hard work and dedication. That might sound trite, but it's the troth. Griese's offseason workout program was tough and demanding. In addition to lifting weights and running, Griese greatly improved his flexibility. But most of all, he learned the offense by reviewing every single offensive play from last season. He analyzed every mistake and every success. With the help of WRs Rod Smith and Ed McCaffrey, Griese put what he learned into practice. Day after day, he threw passes to his two best receivers. Now, it's obvious they have made a connection. --Patrick Saunders

GRADING OUT vs. Cincinnati

OFFENSE C

500 yards was not enough because drive-killing penalties kept the Bengals in the game.

DEFENSE F

Corey Dillon's performance tells most of the story. Shoddy tackling tells the rest.

SPECIAL TEAMS C-

Jason Elam's leg strength is not back and Tom Rouen's punting is only so-so.