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. Read more »

The entire country, or at least those with the NFL network in their cable package, tuned in to the beginning of Thursday Night Football this week to watch former Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn make his first professional start. What they got was a front row seat to watch one of the most disappointing offenses in the league break out of its funk and light up the scoreboard.

The Denver Broncos came out of the gates hot to start 2008. They weren’t held to under 34 points until they suffered their first loss in Week 4 to the Chiefs. In their first five games Denver’s quarterback Jay Cutler eclipsed 300 yards passing on three occasions, including games of 350 and 361.

Rookie wide receiver Eddie Royal blew up in his pro debut by receiving for 146 yards and a touchdown. The next week, in his first game of 2008, wideout Brandon Marshall followed Royal’s example and hauled in 18 passes for 166 yards and a score against division rival San Diego. Sitting at 4-1 during an AFC power-shift, Mike Shanahan and company seemed poise to grab the reins and ride the wave of success to a playoff berth and then some. Read more »