Talking sports and the first 5 games

[Mile High Mania]

There's not a great deal of real 'sports talk' happening in various threads, just a bunch of nut kicking and trashing Knowmo, all justified. First off, there's no doubt in my mind that the Chiefs are winning the division and the other three teams are fighting for the right to finish 2-3 games behind them at best for the 2-4 slots in the division.

Just wanted to get that out of the way first. I started this to get a general consensus of whether or not there will be any pressure put on KC from within the division after the first month.

Chiefs
Ravens / Bengals / @ Falcons / @ Chargers / Saints
3 of 5 at home, but it's a tough 3 games with those offenses they face. Chargers and Saints should be easy wins. I think KC starts off 4-1 and while a 5-0 start would not be shocking, I just don't think they escape those first 3 games undefeated.

Raiders
@ Chargers / @ Ravens / Panthers / Browns / @ Broncos
3 of 5 on the road, and I see 3-2 after this start. If they lose to the Chargers in week 1, then they have more issues than anyone imagined. I think the Ravens are the only definite loss, but they're not going 4-1.

Broncos
@ Seahawks / Steelers / @ Buccaneers / @ Jets / Raiders
3 of 5 on the road and given their history and likely starting Nix in week 1, you cannot honestly say any of these is a gimme win, but I am confident they can win their 2 home games. I think they lose at Tampa and the Jets, but will surprise a few in week 1. I think they are 3-2 after this stretch, but 2-3 is not unreasonable to suggest.

Chargers
Raiders / @ Panthers / @ Steelers / Chiefs / BYE / @ Broncos
I think this team is the weakest of the bunch to start off the season considering what they lost. They should have an easy win vs CAR, but it's a road game. This team is the biggest unknown to me, but I think they go 2-3, possibly 1-4 during this stretch.

So, I'll stick with KC not going undefeated and take the worst case with the others for the purposes of this one...

Chiefs 4-1
Raiders 3-2
Broncos 2-3
Chargers 1-4

And, there was no rhyme/reason for just looking at the first 5 games other than to just look at the early part of the schedules in digestible chunks.

Early on, I think there will be some hope that it's competitive, but it won't last. So, what do your records look like after 5 games?


(and no, this is not the start of a series or going back to the 2011 version of the 'state of the AFCW'. It's a one-time thing)

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by Mile High Mania

Good stuff... curious to see if Pasta makes any predictions here.



The takes on KC's first two games are interesting, ranging from 0-2 to 2-0... I think they'll split, losing to CIN, I just don't see them losing the opener.



Much like Russ two years ago... Bo will have the most pressure in week 1, visiting SEA again and then returning home to play Russ and PIT. Worst case, they need to split those games and if I had to pick, definitely need to beat PIT in week 2 to move on from the last 2 years. Lose that one and it's just like Russ losing in that opening week at SEA. Not a great tone setter.


Winning at SEA in week 1 is not beyond the realms of reality, but it will be crazy difficult.

They could easily lose the opener. Not saying they will, but they could. They lost it last year because the offense came out very flat. Baltimore most likely has this game circled as they want revenge from last year. Them beating KC is more likely than Cincy.

[Direckshun]

Week 1 Derrick Henry is also not going to be the same as Week 20 Derrick Henry, at his age.

He's going to be a steamroller in September. We'll see where that goes by the time January rolls around.

[wazu]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Week 1 Derrick Henry is also not going to be the same as Week 20 Derrick Henry, at his age.

He's going to be a steamroller in September. We'll see where that goes by the time January rolls around.

In the fantasy football community he's known for being a slow starter, turning it up once it gets cold out.

[JohnnyHammersticks]

Assuming Chase ends his hold-in, the Bengals are still without Mixon. Zack Moss and Chase Brown are their RBs. Plus they lost Tyler Boyd, and Mike Gesicki is their starting TE. I could see the Bengals taking a step backwards this season.

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by JohnnyHammersticks

Assuming Chase ends his hold-in, the Bengals are still without Mixon. Zack Moss and Chase Brown are their RBs. Plus they lost Tyler Boyd, and Mike Gesicki is their starting TE. I could see the Bengals taking a step backwards this season.

And their OLine isn’t the greatest, especially with a Joe Burrow coming back from a season ending injury.