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1. San Diego Chargers

Injuries potentially pose major problems. Still, this team is loaded and this division, unequivocally, is not.

2. Denver Broncos

How many damaged free agents does this team have to sign before realizing they’re setting themselves up for mediocrity?

3. Oakland Raiders

Talent isn’t lacking, but the organization is a mess.

4. Kansas City Chiefs

Roughly half of their starters should be backups. That’s the nature of the rebuilding beast.

Click cont. to see All AFC West Team

The San Diego Chargers are like a Porsche with a donut tire. They look good. They are good. Really good, in fact. But you can’t help but notice the awkward apparatus cheapening the front passenger side.

It will be a shame if this team doesn’t hoist a Lombardi Trophy sometime during this era. The talent on this roster is immense. Simply put, the Chargers have a lot of the game’s best players.

LaDainian Tomlinson, even at 29, is the NFL’s best running back. Many believe that Antonio Gates is the best tight end. Some will tell you that Marcus McNeil is the league’s best young left tackle. Fewer will say––though it could be more accurate––that the man next to him, Kris Dielman, is the game’s best guard. (This is certainly true when Dielman is on the move.)

Dielman, center Nick Hardwick and right guard Mike Goff make up the game’s best interior blocking trio. Factor in McNeil and it’s plausible that this is football’s best offensive line.

There’s more. On the other side of the ball, Shawne Merriman could be the NFL’s best pass-rusher. And if not for Richard Seymour, Luis Castillo would be the best 3-4 defensive end. When healthy, Jamal Williams is widely considered the game’s best nose tackle. And, after recording 12 interceptions in 19 games last season (in just 11 starts), you’ll soon begin hearing that Antonio Cromartie is the league’s best cornerback. (Not yet though.)

By the way, the rest of San Diego’s roster forms what could be football’s best supporting cast. And the front office features perhaps the league’s best general manager (A.J. Smith).

Yes, the Chargers are a fine looking Porsche––the type that draws the ire of motorcycle cops, the lust of materialistic women and the jealousy of nine-to-five Joes.

But there’s that donut tire. You’re not supposed to drive on those things for more than 30 miles. And high speeds aren’t recommended.

No, they’re not rebuilding. And they’re not improving. Wherever the “right track” may be, they’re at least two time zones away from it. Young franchise quarterback JaMarcus Russell? Doesn’t matter. Star rookie running back Darren McFadden? Moot point. Thirty-three-year-old head coach Lane Kiffin? Irrelevant.

Regardless of whose on the roster, the Oakland Raiders are near the nadir of the NFL. They’ve been so bad since their ’02 Super Bowl loss that not only has their motto “Just win, baby” gone out of style, but making fun of the motto has gotten old as well. It’s almost embarrassing. And we all know whose fault it is.

It’s sad to see Al Davis’s franchise wallow in decadence. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the Raiders are one of the iconic teams of the NFL. And Davis is one of the iconic characters. The man has done more for pro football than perhaps anyone alive. And for this, we owe him.

That said, football takes place in the here and now. Davis concurs, as his vision is perilously near-sighted. Problem is, it’s never encountered a mirror. Davis should have relinquished his managing control long ago. But, despite reports of failing health, the 79-year-old continues to call the shots.

Look Chiefs fans, it’s not going to be fun, okay? But understand, it’s part of life. Everyone goes through it at some point. The Germans went through it after World War II. Your friends all went through it after their first major breakup. Heck, the Florida Marlins go through it every few years. It’s called rebuilding, and it’s what your favorite team is doing right now.

The worst part of any rebuilding project is the sucker punch that precedes it. No one ever sees it coming. The Germans didn’t foresee the bombing of Dresden. None of your friends predicted the last big fight. And the Marlins….well, okay, the Marlins usually do foresee it, as their rebuilding projects are often triggered by a World Series title. But they’re weird like that.

Chiefs fans, take solace in knowing that you’ve already survived your sucker punch. It came last year. It must have hurt. Your team snuck into the playoffs in ’06, then began the ’07 season 4-3. That’s when the fortress fell, as Kansas City lost nine straight. A lot of the experts were surprised the fall didn’t come sooner. But you, Chiefs fans, you seemed surprised that it even came at all.

Okay, enough is enough. Somebody has to say something. The Denver Broncos are too fine a franchise for this. Look at them––they’re doing it wrong! This isn’t how you build a team! If someone would just go over there and tell them, we’d all be better off.

Aren’t you getting tired of the mediocrity? The people in the Rocky Mountain region sure are. It’s maddening. There’s talent everywhere, and yet, the Broncos have but one playoff victory in the past decade.

Denver loves to trumpet the fact that they did not have a losing season from 2000-06. That changed last year when they underachieved immaculately and finished 7-9. And besides, who cares about “non-losing seasons”? Deadbeat teams champion their “non-losing seasons”; the Broncos are a franchise that, just 10 years ago, hoisted the first of their back-to-back Lombardi Trophies. Give us a break.

1. Minnesota Vikings

The league’s best rushing attack and run defense. Their postseason fate rests in the hands of Tarvaris Jackson.

2. Green Bay Packers

Sorry Pack, it’s just too big a change in one year.

3. Chicago Bears

Defense is very good and special teams are beyond excellent, but where is the talent on offense?

4. Detroit Lions

They overachieved early last season, which builds unrealistic expectations for 2008. Seven or eight wins would be a good year.

Click cont. to see All-NFC North team and division awards.

1. Pittsburgh Steelers

They return essentially the same defense that ranked No. 1 last year, plus they have several promising new weapons on offense.

2. Cleveland Browns

The trendiest pick in football this season. A division title is within reach, but what happens if Jamal Lewis or one of the defensive backs goes down?

3. Cincinnati Bengals

It’s nothing but chaos here. There’s enough talent for a playoff run, but that hasn’t seemed to matter the past two seasons.

4. Baltimore Ravens

Too much transition taking place for a team with this kind of quarterback situation.

Click cont. to see All-AFC North team and division awards

The Minnesota Vikings are taking a vacation in 2008. Their destination: the top of the NFL. It should be a lot of fun. It’s a place they used to travel to fairly often; they maybe even had family over there. But they haven’t been back since 2000 (the last time they posted a double-digit win total).

They’re just getting set to leave. It will be good for them to get away. In recent years, the Vikings have stayed busy at home, bickering with the local government about a new stadium (have you seen the Metrodome? It’s a dump), putting out PR fires (remember the Love Boat scandal? Or the way the Randy Moss/Daunte Culpepper era ended?), and changing coaching staffs (Brad Childress replaced Mike Tice three years ago).

The Vikings pondered the idea of taking a trip last season but ultimately decided that they couldn’t get away (they were 8-6 but lost their last two and missed the postseason). Things have not completely eased up at home––they’re still haggling with the Twin Cities about a new stadium, despite being the lowest revenue-producing franchise in the NFL. And they’ve had an off-the-field problem or two––mainly left tackle Bryant McKinnie. But they feel good enough to sojourn out in 2008.

Owner Zygi Wilf is funding the trip; Childress and front office execs Rick Spielman and Rob Brzezinski are planning it. They’re going all-out. Minnesota is bringing along new defensive end, Jared Allen, who they’ll need in order to get to where they’re going.

Hey come on, take it easy. You know, it would take the Egyptians 20-30 years to build a pyramid. And that was with some 7,000 people working. Things can’t simply be built––or rebuilt––overnight. This isn’t Dubai. This is America. More specifically, Detroit.

The good news is that William Clay Ford’s Lions are actually making progress this time. This is technically Year Eight of the Matt Millen rebuilding project (Year Eight….that’s hard to believe), but really, the wheels have only been churning in the right direction for the past two.

That’s how long the Lions have been under the guidance of throwback head coach Rod Marinelli. The longtime Bucs defensive line guru took over in 2006. Like a true Lion, Marinelli led the team to a 3-13 record his first season. But last year, Detroit finished a respectable 7-9. The promising, or discouraging, part––depending on how you look at it––is that the Lions started 6-2.

What happened down the stretch?

You can’t find a more distinct contrast. It’s like a Smart ForTwo parked next to a Hummer H2. Or an albino Irishman standing beside a tribal African. All the ups and downs, fats and thins, blacks and whites, and lefts and rights in the world don’t compare to the juxtaposition that is the Chicago Bears.

The Bears have two divisions: the one they share with Green Bay, Detroit and Minnesota, and the one between their offense and defense. It’s the second one that kills their chances in the first.

Chicago’s defense is as sturdy as the Sears Tower. The offense is as shaky as a Jenga tower. Each Sunday, defensive leader Brian Urlacher makes crowds gasp and cheer. Offensive leader Rex Grossman makes them gasp and boo. Or laugh. Urlacher’s fellow linebacking partners (Lance Briggs and Hunter Hillenmeyer) smother the flats; Grossman’s fellow backfield mates (Jason McKie and Matt Forte) are liable to get smothered.

The Bears defensive line features an interior presence, Tommie Harris, who moves the pile and blows up plays in the backfield. The offensive line boasts an inside force, Terrence Metcalf, who enlarges the pile and, also, blows up plays in the backfield. The D-line is deep enough for diving; the O-line is shallow enough for kindergarten swim lessons.