Tradition Tuesday: Ten Down, Six to Go

Frankly, the rough focus of this blog -- that'd be the rivalry between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos -- has become quite the embarrassment. The Denver Broncos are in first place in the AFC West, but that's no surprise; I picked them to go 10-6. The staggering truth about the scenario in this division is that the Kansas City Chiefs have lost 18 of their last 19 professional football contests. This city is brimming with anger, shame, and defeat, and so is the football team. I think. There remain, nevertheless, six splendid weeks in the NFL schedule, and that month and-a-half is tied together with promise, despair, false hope, and times of goodness. Cecil and Old No. 7 are harnessed to the promise, while I bathe in the despair, false hope, and that poster child of sarcasm, the times of goodness. It may seem unfair that I and I alone must break down the future standings of our division, but maybe, if KC ever gets that second Super Bowl, we'll even out the work load. Nonetheless, with the assistance of some lolcatness, we'll break it down after the jump.

Those beloved, frontrunner Broncos, fresh off their win at Atlanta, will return home to the friendly confines of InVesCo. It is there, in the city of Denver, that they will host the 2-8 Oakland Raiders. Said Raiders are led fearlessly by Tom Cable, who will be making his first appearance in the mile-high city as an NFL head coach. For good measure, it may be his last, as the great mystery that is Al Davis' cerebral cortex continues to cast clouds over the crystals of the soothsayers. JaMarcus Russell and his injury-plagued stars will not help this team win via ground or air, so there is win number seven for Denver. After that, the Broncos travel to the Meadowlands for a visit with the Jet Favres in New York. If I stick with my original prognosis, they win that game, then beat KC and Carolina before falling to the Bills and Chargers to wrap things up. If I were wishy-washier, I'd swap that Carolina win for a loss, and do the opposite for the Buffalo game, but I'll stick to (the latter half of) my 10-6 guns just how they are. If the season ended today, they'd face Baltimore, Miami, Indianapolis, or New England, neither of which probably looks good to BroncoNation.

On the Kansas City end of things, "dismaller" is now officially a word.



They host the Bills this Sunday, then travel to Oakland, Denver (Editor's Note: I may or may not have a pair of compactible brooms for the wife and I at this game.) before hosting San Diego, Miami, and traveling to Cincinnati for bragging rights to the first overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft. One of the many joyous topics yesterday on the local TalkRadios was just how losable each one of those games are for these Chiefs. The Bills seem to make easy work of the Chiefs, and given that they are likely a wee bit bummed by the outcome of last night's game, they'll be the hungrier squad, and happy to hand the Chiefs 19 of 20. Okay, there's a chance we could beat the Raiders. It'd be nice, and swell, and cozy for that Thanksgivingy weekend. But let's be honest: If we're going to squeak one more win out of this 'paign, let's save it for early December. Outside of that one Sunday, December 7, who cares what happens? Sure, sure. I'm jinxing it now. Whatever. There's no way we beat the Chargers; I'm sure we'll muff another P.A.T., or something. The Dolphins look listo to come alive, and the Bengals? See the above sentence about Buffalo and "easy work."

So, with all that, it's safe to say (Note: Not really.) that this will be a 2-14 season, which puts me four games off the mark, and a cool 11 contests wrong of the last two seasons. Ah...ya' win lose some, ya' lose some.