It’s a good thing I’m not a gambling man. Last weekend my teams went 2-2. But I went against my gut picking teams coached by Norv Turner and Wade Phillips. I won’t do that again.

Jets at Colts: The Jets showed some real grit against the Chargers. Great defense and a great running attack. Brian Schottenheimer has really developed into a fine offensive coordinator. But the Jets probably don’t beat the Chargers if kicker Nate Kaeding doesn’t puke all over the field and miss three field goals. The Colts on the other hand bottled up the Ravens running attack and controlled their game from start to finish. Look for another Colts win, and another trip for Peyton Manning to the Super Bowl. Prediction: Colts 24, Jets 13

Vikings at Saints: A much tougher game to pick as both teams played very well last weekend. The Vikings defensive front four manhandled the Cowboys, and Brett Favre continues to make plays in the passing game. Yet the Saints have looked like the team of destiny most of the year. They put 45 points in the Cardinals, while holding Arizona to only 14 points. It appears that the Saints defense is getting healthy at the right time. And Drew Brees is maybe the best quarterback in the NFL not named Peyton Manning. Brees is uncanny in his accuracy. And he’s certainly the heart and soul of the Saints. I’m not jumping ship now. Prediction: Saints 27, Vikings 24

Dallas Cowboys: I thought it was interesting that the pre-game story on the Cowboys was all about how Dallas had gotten rid of all of the problems in the locker room, and that they were now a “team”. Yet immediately following the game wide receiver Roy Williams was pissed off because of how few passes have gone his way this season. Sounds like team first to me.

Pro Bowl: As a kid I looked forward to watching the Pro Bowl every year. It was a blast to see all the great players on the field at the same time. Only a couple of games were televised every week, and there was little opportunity to see many of the players throughout the season. But the Pro Bowl has lost its luster over the years. And I think primarily because now you get to see NFL coverage of every game in such great detail. This year the NFL is playing the Pro Bowl the week before the Super Bowl, which means the players who have been nominated to the Pro Bowl but our bound for the Super Bowl won’t be playing. The Vikings have nine players slotted to play in the Pro Bowl, which means if they make the Super Bowl, that’s a lot of star power missing from the Pro Bowl. I’m not sure this is a very good idea. We’ll see what it does for the ratings.

Bills Hire Chan Gailey: Where did this come from? I like Chan Gailey as a coordinator, but he’s had little success as a head coach. I don’t see the Bills getting better any time soon.

Broncos Part Ways with Defensive Coordinator Mike Nolan: I don’t understand this move at all. Denver’s defense has been bad for years. Mike Nolan converted the defense to a 3-4 and really made them competitive this year. And after one year, Nolan’s gone. Can only assume that Noland and head coach Josh McDaniels didn’t get along.

Chargers and LaDanian Tomlinson: I’ve enjoyed watching LT run the ball for years. He’s a class act on and off the field. But he’s no longer an every down back. And as explosive as Darren Sproles can be, he can’t carry the load either. Tomlinson has likely played his last game for San Diego. Look for the Chargers to draft a running back early this year.

Raiders: What’s up in Oakland? Are they firing head coach Tom Cable or not? Lots of rumors that Al Davis is testing the waters and talking to some potential coaches. But word has it that Al Davis wants a coach who will commit to working with quarterback JaMarcus Russell. And any coach willing to make that commitment won’t have a chance. Russell appears to be a complete bust.

Chiefs: And just because I love my Chiefs, I have to say one more time how excited I am about our new coordinators, Weis and Crennel.

This is an excerpt from Bill Williamson’s column on ESPN.com:

Oakland Raiders fans are a passionate, creative bunch.

They stand by their team and want their Raiders to win as much as any set of fans in sports.

So, it’s not a shock that a group has bought a billboard near the team’s stadium in Oakland imploring owner Al Davis to relinquish his decision-making power.

You can’t blame Oakland fans for being fed up with their team. Since advancing to the Super Bowl after the 2002 season, the Raiders have lost more games than any team in the NFL. Since 2003, Oakland is a paltry 27-80. If Oakland, which plays at Pittsburgh on Sunday, doesn’t win three of its final five games, it will become the only team in history to lose at least 11 games in seven straight seasons. Oakland is currently the only team in history to lose at least 11 games in six straight seasons.

Read the full article here.

Now that we’re past the half way point of the season, let’s take another look around the AFC West. Here are my predictions from earlier this year.

San Diego Chargers
Prediction: 9-7
Current Record: 7-3
Momentum: have won five straight

The Chargers have the most talent in the division. And that talent is winning. I’m not a fan of head coach Norv Turner, but the Chargers are playing pretty good ball. And their remaining schedule is fairly soft with games against the Chiefs, Browns, Cowboys, Bengals, Titans and Redskins. At this point, 11-5 looks very attainable for San Diego.

Kansas City Chiefs
Prediction: 6-10
Current Record: 3-7
Momentum: have won three of their last five

The Chiefs started out by playing poorly, and dropped very winnable games against Oakland and Dallas. They do seem to be getting better. And they have a few more winnable games in front of them. Their remaining schedule includes the Chargers, Broncos, Bills, Browns, Bengals and another game against the Broncos. If they can go 3-3 over the last six they’ll end up 6-10 and have a lot to build on heading into the off season.

Denver Broncos
Prediction: 5-11
Current Record: 6-4
Momentum: have lost four straight

Do you hear that sound? That’s the sound of the wheels coming off the Broncos bandwagon. With games left againt the Giants, Chiefs, Colts, Raiders, Eagles and Chiefs again, Denver is facing several more losses. I think at this point they’ll hit 8-8. Pretty disappointing after starting the season 6-0.

Oakland Raiders
Prediction: 3-13
Current Record: 3-7
Momentum: the benching of JaMarcus Russel may create some momentum for the Raiders

The Raiders have some talent, but have been incredibly limited by the play of their quarterbacks. It doesn’t say much when you have to turn to Bruce Gradkowski to give your team a spark. I listened to Trent Green talk about JaMarcus Russel the other day. Russel’s mechanics are awful, and his attitude appears to be worse. He has not put in the effort to become even a competent quarterback. The Raiders have some tough choices ahead. And with games left against the Cowboys, Steelers, Redskins, Broncos, Browns and Ravens, it appears that Oakland will be lucky to scrape out another win or two.

The Chiefs are 1-7, but should be sitting here at the halfway point at 3-5 with wins against the Raiders and the Cowboys. While the Chiefs have proven they’re not a very good team this year, the Raiders are brutally bad.

Offensively Challenged
JaMarcus Russell is the 32nd ranked quarterback in the NFL. In case you need a refresher, there are only 32 teams in the NFL. The only quarterback with enough playing time to qualify to be shown on NFL.com’s stats with a lower passer rating is Derek Anderson from the Browns. Russell has a quarterback rating of 48.3, has completed only 48.4% of his passes, and has thrown 2 TDs and 9 INTs. Russell will go down as one of the biggest busts in the history of the draft. The Raiders are ranked #31 in passing, and #26 in rushing the ball, which puts them at #32 for total offense.

Defensively Challenged
The Raiders are only slightly better than the Chiefs when it comes to defense, where they’re ranked #27 in yards allowed. The Raiders defense is probably a bit better than the numbers suggest. Like the Chiefs, when your offense is inept, it continues to expose your defense. The Raiders have some good players on defense with Richard Seymour and Nnamdi Asomugha.

While the Raiders are 2-6, they should be 0-8 right now. They had no business beating the Chiefs earlier this year when Kansas City dominated them in almost every category. And for the Raiders to have beaten the Eagles is virtually unexplainable. Philadelphia was certainly looking past the Raiders, and it bit them.

The Chiefs badly need this win. They need to build some confidence. They need to establish their running game with Jamaal Charles and Kolby Smith. They need to start building an identity. And it all starts this week in Oakland.

Prediction: Kansas City 13, Raiders 10

The Raiders continue to make me laugh. This is from Bob Gretz’s blog:

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Raiders officials told CBS Sports they do not want Gannon to attend Saturday’s television production meetings in advance of Sunday’s Raiders-Broncos game. They cited his public criticism of the organization in recent years.

“Rich Gannon is not welcome here,” Raiders executive John Herrera told the Chronicle on Friday. “We told CBS we did not want him in our building, we did not want him to be part of our production meeting, and that’s where it sits.”

“He’s attacked us on a regular basis since becoming a member of the media,” Herrera said. “After affording him the opportunity to establish a career here, he has since gone on to attack us in a way that’s totally unacceptable.

“He seems to be a guy who can’t get over the fact that he played the worst Super Bowl game in the history of the game and he wants to blame everybody but himself. I guess it’s our fault he threw five interceptions.”

Read Bob’s full post here.

Well it’s Raider Week in Kansas City as our Chiefs get ready to face the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. I’ve been surprised at the amount of good pub the Raiders have received after losing to the Chargers last weekend. The close score was a clearer indication that the Chargers are not a good football team, than it was that the Raiders have improved.

In 2008, the Raiders had the 10th best rushing offense in the league. Against the Chargers last week, the Raiders ran for148 yards.

In 2008, the Raiders had the 32nd ranked passing attack. That’s dead last among all 32 NFL teams. Against the Chargers, JaMarcus Russell went 12 of 30 for 208 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs.

Ultimately the Raiders, as they always do, make just enough mistakes to lose a game. They have untimely turnovers. And stupid penalties. Same old Raiders.

There are no gimmees for the Chiefs. And the Chiefs have no reason to be overly confident. But the Chiefs are at home. Matt Cassel should return. And the Chiefs showed last week that they’ll play tough football.

Prediction: Chiefs 24, Raiders 19

Whenever I think I need a little comedy, I just read the latest news from the Raiders. For those who missed it, earlier this week the Raiders traded their first round pick in the 2011 draft to the New England Patriots for standout defensive lineman Richard Seymour. Seymour is 29 and headed into the last year of his contract. One of the things the Pats have always done well is knowing when not to overpay for aging players. And Seymour will demand a significant contract next year when he becomes a free agent. Getting a future first round pick for him now, especially if the Pats have already decided that they don’t want to retain him, is a great deal for them.

So what’s the problem? Well Seymour has failed to show up in Oakland since the trade.

The Raiders have continued to tow the company line of “Richard Seymour wants to be a Raider and he’ll be here soon”. But the latest news is that the Raiders have delivered a letter to Seymour threatening him with a year’s suspension if he doesn’t report soon. Read more here.

Here’s my favorite line from the story: Raiders coach Tom Cable said he had no knowledge of a letter being sent but does not see Seymour’s absence as being a distraction for his team heading into the opener.

Really? No knowledge of a letter? Not a distraction? Here’s a comment from one of their players:

“We come in hoping to see him here and then we’re promptly disappointed,” Raiders All Pro cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said.

It says a lot about the state of a franchise when they trade a first round draft pick for a player, and the player refuses to show up and play. Makes me laugh. Thank you Oakland.

The good news for the Chiefs is that the AFC West is not very good. The bad news for the Chiefs is that the Chiefs aren’t very good either.

San Diego Chargers (9-7): I have said from day one that Norv Turner was a bad hire for San Diego. Maybe it’s because I’m still a Marty Schottenheimer fan. Or maybe it’s because I believe that past performance is the best indicator of future performance. And Norv’s past performance as a head coach is mediocre at best. The Chargers are too talented not to win some games. But Norv will continue to find ways to lose. The Chargers will win the AFC West because they have the most talent on the field, and the other three teams are not very good.

Kansas City Chiefs (6-10): The Chiefs will have some ugly moments this year, but I expect them to be a better team. I like the transition to the 3-4 defense, and believe the defense will have moments where they shine. The offense will struggle. Matt Cassel should be OK if the line can give him a bit of protection. Which appears to be the primary problem. Larry Johnson will rush for more than 1,200 yards, and Jamaal Charles will add another 600 yards.

Denver Broncos (5-11): It’s been an interesting comparison watching Josh McDaniels and Todd Haley. Much was written early that new Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli would liked to have hired McDaniels in Kansas City. But after watching all the turmoil in Denver this year, the Broncos can have McDaniels. This team has too many distractions, and too little talent.

Oakland Raiders (3-13): As a Chiefs fan, people expect me to hate the Raiders. But as a kid growing up in the ’70s, I loved watching the Raiders. Now it’s only fun to laugh at the Raiders. Al Davis has run this organization into the ground. I fully expect quarterback JaMarcus Russell to get benched by week eight. And that first round pick wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey will flop.

It appears this story isn’t over yet. The Raiders are the gift that just keeps on giving. The Napa police department on Friday reopened its investigation into an attack that left Oakland Raiders assistant coach Randy Hanson with a broken bone in his face.

Here’s a part of the AP story:

The police said earlier this week that the case was closed because the victim was unwilling to cooperate. On Friday, the department announced that it had been reopened, apparently after Hanson agreed to cooperate with authorities.

The NFL is already looking into the case to determine if Cable violated the league’s personal conduct policy. According to the policy, a coach or player can be disciplined for “violent or threatening behavior among employees, whether in or outside the workplace.”

According to the Internet site the National Football Post, the attack happened after Cable told Hanson he was being relegated from an on-field coach with defensive backs to breaking down film.

The report said Cable attacked Hanson after the assistant verbally contested something defensive coordinator John Marshall had said.

After being told by owner Al Davis that he could not get his old job back, Hanson reportedly decided to cooperate with police in the investigation.

Read the whole story here in the Lawrence Journal-World.

This story is from the Associated Press:

Maybe the Oakland Raiders should save their hitting for the field.

Raiders head coach Tom Cable declined to comment Monday about reports he punched defensive assistant Randy Hanson in the jaw and caused injuries that required treatment at a hospital earlier this month.

According to AOL Fanhouse, Cable hit Hanson on Aug. 5 for unknown reasons. A report filed with the Napa Police Department describes an unidentified 41-year-old assistant coach being treated at the Queen of the Valley Hospital for a jaw injury, which the victim alleges was caused by an unidentified member of the Raiders’ coaching staff.

Cable, who replaced Lane Kiffin as Oakland’s head coach four games into the 2008 season, repeatedly sidestepped questions Monday about the incident and declined to discuss his involvement.

“It’s an internal issue that we are dealing with, and that’s all I’m going to say,” said Cable, who repeated the phrase when questioned whether he was involved.

UPDATE: Now according to ESPN, Cable denies hitting Hanson. The new report says that Hanson hit his face on a cabinet when Cable flipped him out of his chair.