This could’ve been the year for so many teams out in the west.

It was one more chance for Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren to gracefully ride off into the sunset after a playoff appearance. It was a fresh start for Raiders coach Lane Kiffin who acquired college sensation Darren McFadden in the draft. It was Mike Nolan’s time to finally get his 49ers over .500 and back to glory.

This list goes on and on for almost all eight of our teams in this focus (Arizona, Denver, Kansas City, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and St. Louis). Yet the sad reality is that, although the talent level may not have dropped, the efficiency in winning games has fallen substantially.

Take the two current division leaders: Denver and Arizona. The Broncos were sitting right at 4-4 with a road matchup in Cleveland staring them in the face. Yes, they won the game 34-30 thanks entirely to the offense, but are they really a playoff team after struggling to hold Brady Quinn and company in check?

The Cardinals may be the only respectable team out of the lot of them. A three-game lead in their division will be almost impossible to cough up to the three 2-6 teams struggling below, but then again we’ve seen stranger things with this franchise.

So why are almost all of these teams so bad in 2008?

A team-by-team outlook should explain all the weaknesses out west:

Like we said above, Arizona seems to be the only legitimate team that could do damage in the playoffs. Fantasy gods Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald have been money all season, and the D has been fairly solid. Our problem is that this team has no playoff experience together, with only one postseason win in 61 years. Besides, outside of the NFC West, the Cardinals can’t win on the road.
Chances of reaching playoffs: 85 percent

Denver also has some of the most coveted fantasy weapons in Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall. While the Broncos have the potential to put up numbers, they have been hampered by injuries to just about every running back on the team. That and the fact that their defense couldn’t stop a high school team from scoring at will makes us feel that even if Denver gets lucky and reaches January, they won’t last long.
Chances of reaching playoffs: 55 percent

The Chiefs basically had no expectations this year, so any victories will be more than welcome. At 1-7, their season is only important to develop their young players for next year. Larry Johnson is on his way out of Kansas City, and the Chiefs just can’t decide on which mediocre quarterback they want to throw to the wolves every week. They have young talent, but it’ll be a while before they have a meaningful game past October.
Chances of reaching playoffs: 5 percent

The Raiders are a bitter disappointment, mostly because Al Davis is sucking the life out of the organization from the inside. His questionable “investments” in players and the axing of Lane Kiffin has left the team without an identity or a soul. There is no chemistry in Oakland; the defense is worse than last year, and McFadden is injured while Russell shows no signs of improvement. DeAngelo Hall is gone, Javon Walker will be soon, and Tommy Kelly sure isn’t worth $18 million.
Chances of reaching playoffs: 5 percent

The Chargers are the only real team that can challenge Denver for the AFC West title. Philip Rivers is  in the league in passing yards and has played well. The bad news for San Diego is that injuries have erased the team’s killer mentality: Shawne Merriman played only one game and LaDainian Tomlinson has been invisible this season. The team overall lacks consistency to win consecutive games; maybe that botched call by the referee against Denver has something to do with it?
Chances of reaching playoffs: 35 percent

San Francisco hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2002. Frank Gore and Patrick Willis are on their way to brilliant careers, but they are surrounded by average players. The 49ers just can’t settle on a quarterback for Mike Martz’s system; J.T. O’Sullivan has been horrible, and Shaun Hill isn’t a long term solution. The defense hasn’t stopped anybody in years, and San Francisco already has four losses at home. New coach Mike Singletary needs to give this team a spine.
Chances of reaching playoffs: 20 percent

Seattle is off to its worst record in six years, and Mike Holmgren will most likely not make another playoff appearance as head coach of the Seahawks. The ‘Hawks may be the one team hit hardest by injuries: Matt Hasselbeck has missed most of the season and any healthy receivers have been hard to find. Seattle’s only two wins came against St. Louis and San Francisco, while playing miserably against everyone else. Even with Hasselbeck’s return, it’s probably too little, too late in the Emerald City.
Chances of reaching playoffs: 10 percent

St. Louis was back in it after Scott Linehan was shown the door, but quickly fell back to earth as losers of its last two. Steven Jackson, Torry Holt and Marc Bulger are the only fantasy performers keeping the Rams afloat, but a tough schedule the rest of the way is not too promising. St. Louis needs a few more pieces before they can compete, especially with Bulger and Holt getting up there in years.
Chances of reaching playoffs: 15 percent

So maybe this is just one fluky bad season for nearly eight teams in two divisions that just happen to be geographically similar. Then again, it may not surprise anyone: last season only produced two teams out of the eight with winning records (Seattle, San Diego).

While the Chargers made the AFC Championship Game last year, it’ll be hard to imagine any of 2008’s west teams coming anywhere close. With more than half a season gone by, it’s not hard to see the futility in these two divisions, and how the west is clearly below the rest.