Kansas City Chiefs 7, Denver Broncos 3
If you’re a fan of great defense, or terrible offense, this was the game of the day for you. Kansas City was able to establish a first half lead that they never relinquished. Romeo Crennel had his team ready to play once again, and their defense was simply unrelenting against Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos.
To the Broncos credit, they were able to keep the game close, despite generating next to no offensive production. They were able to get great production from Willis McGahee who ran for 145 yards, but their passing game was blanketed, and the Chiefs forced Tebow to beat them with his arm, something he couldn’t begin to do.
You’ll be hard pressed to find too many upset Broncos fans and players, however. With the Chargers’ victory over the Raiders, the Broncos hang on to win the AFC West at 8-8. Even though they’ll be hosting a playoff game, you won’t find too many teams that fear the Broncos in the post-season. The Broncos have to be able to pass the ball far better than they did today. Tebow has to find open receivers and get the ball out before the pressure gets in his face, something he didn’t do well at all today. Frankly, 6 of 22 for 60 yards just won’t get it done in the playoffs.
The Chiefs will now be looking long and hard at Romeo Crennel as the current front runner for the Chiefs vacant head coaching position. The job he’s done with the Chiefs since taking over as the interim coach has been outstanding to say the least.
San Diego Chargers 38, Oakland Raiders 26
The Raiders just can’t catch a break. They were within a touchdown of taking a 4th quarter lead against the Chargers, and they had San Diego pinned inside the Chargers’ 1 yard line. Then, the Chargers marched down the field on a 99 yard touchdown drive that destroyed any playoff aspirations the Raiders had going into the weekend.
The shame in all of this AFC West craziness is that the best team in the division, the Chargers, won’t be playing with the big boys in the playoffs. They have no one to blame but themselves. The problem is that they are actually a playoff caliber team that would have scared more than a couple teams who did make the cut.
The Raiders will once again be evaluating what went wrong in a season that started off looking very promising with the Chargers, Chiefs, and Broncos all having very rough patches of the year. Unfortunately, the Raiders couldn’t close the deal, and that’s what it’s all about.
Other Games:
Seattle Seahawks 20, Arizona Cardinals 23
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24, Atlanta Falcons 45
Baltimore Ravens 24, Cincinnati Bengals 16
Pittsburgh Steelers 13, Cleveland Browns 9
