Denver Broncos starting to look ugly

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have looked horrible all year, but at least they looked as outstanding as Buccaneers cheerleader Marlana Aref (see above) with Sunday’s win over the Seattle Seahawks.

What team has gone from beautiful to horrible this season?

Try the Denver Broncos.

The Broncos are trying hard to become the first team ever to start 6-0 and not make the playoffs. Losing to the Oakland Raiders ... and JaMarcus Russell of all people ... was certainly a major embarrassment.

All of a sudden, the team with Kyle Orton, Brandon Marshall and Elvis Dumervil doesn’t look quite so sexy anymore.

After all, any team that could blow a three-game lead with three to play as the Broncos did to the San Diego Chargers last year is capable of any choke job.

On the other hand, the Chargers continue to look like the team most capable of eventually knocking the currently undefeated Indianapolis Colts out of the playoffs.

Not only have the Chargers booted the Colts out of two straight playoffs (and beaten them four of the last five times), the Chargers are no longer under the radar with nine straight wins.

Philip Rivers should be joining the MVP conversation. Vincent Jackson should be gaining much respect as a wide receiver, and Antonio Gates is hard to overlook at tight end.

As much as the Broncos have gone from beautiful to ugly this season, the Chargers have been just the opposite. Look out for them in January ... and maybe the Super Bowl in February!

Oakland Raiders: Commitment to Failure?

A friend of mine in Blythe, Calif. is surrounded by Oakland Raiders fans (fortunately, he’s not one of them.)

He says that most Raiders fans say the team will be good again only when Al Davis leaves the scene.

The Raiders once had a “Commitment to Excellence.” These days, they appear to have a “Commitment to Failure.”

How else do you explain the Raiders arguably being the worst team in the NFL since they last played in a Super Bowl seven seasons ago?

It all starts on the field with JaMarcus Russell, the worst/laziest starting quarterback in the NFL today. (Yes, he was Al Davis’ choice to be a No. 1 draft pick.)

It doesn’t help that he’s working with his third offensive coordinator in three years, two rookie wide receivers and a horrible offensive line. (Heck, the Raiders are averaging a whopping 8.9 points per game.)

Richard Seymour has brought solidarity to the defense up front, but don’t you think he would rather be back in New England where another Super Bowl is a real possibility this season?

The Raiders have lost 12 straight to Sunday’s opponent, the San Diego Chargers. At one time, the Raiders used to beat the Chargers with their collective eyes closed.

Oakland only had 39,354 home fans for last week’s 38-0 loss to the New York Jets, the smallest home crowd since 1968. Yes, people in the Bay Area have caught on.

The Chargers? They aren’t exactly a juggernaut yet this season, but playing the Raiders is always a way to cure what ails them.

Prediction:
Chargers 27, Raiders 14

Chargers' GM needs to step it up

General Manager A.J. Smith is rarely full of surprises, so give him credit for living up to his reputation in his “State of the Chargers” address.

The biggest shock is that linebacker Marques Harris will be allowed to test the market as an unrestricted free agent.

Harris made a lot of big plays on defense when he spelled the outside backers … most of all the sack in Week 4 at Oakland where he stripped the ball from QB JaMarcus Russell and turned the game around as the Chargers recovered from a 15-3 deficit.

It is basically yesterday’s news that DE Igor Olshansky, and OL Mike Goff and Jeremy Newberry aren’t coming back.

Speaking of the O-line, it’s a revelation that Marcus McNeill is going to take five months to rebound from neck surgery (but should be healthy by training camp.)

No wonder he had such a poor season in 2008.

And lest any of us should be surprised; Smith danced around questions concerning LaDainian Tomlinson and his status with the Chargers.

His strongest statements concerned that fact he hasn’t done so well himself the last two years (duh!) and that lots of players need to step it up.

“We've got some people who need to get their act together,” Smith said. “They know who they are.”

Certainly, the general manager should put himself at (or near) the top of that list.