AFC West Preview: Denver vs. Kansas City, Oakland vs. Cincinnati
For the AFC West teams, they’ll get to enjoy to Thanksgiving Day before they hit the field on Sunday.
This week, the bottom of the division Kansas City Chiefs (1-9) will take on the top team, the Denver Broncos (7-3). Can the Chiefs snap their seven-game losing streak?
The Oakland Raiders (3-7) will play an improving Cincinnati Bengals (5-5) and will try to snap a three-game losing streak.
The struggling San Diego Chargers (4-6) will take on the AFC North-best Baltimore Ravens (8-2) and for now, the bettors can’t decide who will win this game.
It’s even with a 47 over/under.
Broncos vs. Chiefs
Broncos QB Peyton Manning
For the Chiefs, they’re just trying to get through this horrible season but a second win would be nice.
The team has undergone a quarterback battle and this week they’ll look for a jumpstart with Brady Quinn as their field general. He’ll be reunited with his old team where he spent two seasons as a backup.
In his two starts this season for the Chiefs, he completed 24 for 42 passes, 181 yards and three interceptions.
But why Quinn for this game? Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel said via ESPN, “I like his leadership qualities and he’s had experience with a couple of different teams and he’s seen a couple of different things. I think that will bode well for him.”
For the Broncos, there’s no question on their starting quarterback and that’s Peyton Manning. He is having a good season with his new team and some have said he’ll either get the Comeback Player of the Year award or MVP.
But he’ll have to play without one of his top offensive weapons for the rest of the regular season, running back Willis McGahee.
They’ll have hard shoes to fill but rookie Ronnie Hillman, Lance Ball and Knowshon Moreno, with their combined 82 carries for 297 yards and two touchdowns, will step up in his place.
Fortunately for Denver, they have a great defense to help them, as they’re ranked at the top for its 312.8 yards allowed per game, including 93.8 rushing and its 35 sacks. Linebacker Von Miller, who is in the conversation as a Defensive Player of the Year, has been a beast this season.
It’s always hard to bet against Manning and this week, the bettors aren’t doing so, giving the Broncos the win at -11.5 with a 44 over/under.
Oakland vs. Cinncinnati
Bengals QB Andy Dalton
Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer will be reunited with his former team this week and with his 3-7 team record, the Bengals have to think they made a good trade.
Palmer will try to avoid a four-game losing streak on Sunday but he’ll need to play better than he did last week against the New Orleans Saints as he threw two touchdowns and two picks. He is ranked No. 3 with 3,035 yards but he has 11 picks with two pick-6s.
The quarterback’s running backs, Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson, are injured but he’s found a good replacement with fullback Marcel Reece, who has 33 carries for 151 yards in the last two games.
The player sits as No. 2 on the team with his 37 receptions.
For the Bengals, they’re happy with quarterback Andy Dalton. He had a good rookie season in 2011 with his 3,398 yards, 20 touchdowns and a visit to the playoffs. In his sophomore season, he’s still playing well and in his last two games, he has thrown six touchdowns and no interceptions.
To-date, he has 20 touchdowns and a 92.7 passer rating which places him at No. 11 in the league.
One of his favorite weapons is wide receiver A.J. Green. He has 64 receptions for 911 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Running back  BenJarvus Green-Ellis is also having a good season and last week, he had a season-high 101 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The Bengals are a complete team and should get the win at -9.5 with a 49 over/under.
