Around the AFC West

I sort of abandoned this post after the Chiefs were eliminated from playoff contention, but it's actually been a very busy offseason and playoff run for the rest of the AFC West teams. Let's catch up:

Tim Tebow did something last week that no quarterback in Kansas City has done since Joe Montana: win a playoff game. Say what you want about Tebow (most people do), but he has more playoff wins than Matt Cassel, Kyle Orton, Trent Green, Elvis Grbac, and Steve Bono. The Denver Broncos might have lost three straight games to enter the playoffs, and had to rely on the Oakland Raiders to choke to enter the playoffs, but they are making the most of their opportunity.

The Broncos won in overtime against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the number one defense in the NFL. Now they go on the road today against the New England Patriots. Being a Chiefs fan, it's hard to want the Broncos to succeed, but they sure do make for entertaining television.

As joyful as the last week has been for Denver, it's been equally matched by turmoil in Oakland. After hiring Reggie McKenzie as their new GM to replace the late Al Davis, his first move was to fire Hue Jackson as Head Coach. Jackson went 8-8 in his only year as HC in Oakland, and has turned the Raiders offense around since joining the staff in 2010. The reasoning, though, might be because of the amount of control Jackson took over in the Raiders front office after Davis's passing. He gave up a lot for Carson Palmer, and probably grabbed the reigns too quickly and too firmly.

"Sometimes people can take things and run with them," Jackson told NFL.com. "I've seen so many things said about me being power hungry, that I want to be the GM. I've never said that. I don't know many coaches in the National Football League that don't want input on his team, his coaching staff or how to go about conducting practice."

Jackson's firing puts him near the top of the list for available offensive coordinators. Could the Chiefs be interested ...?

Meanwhile, in San Diego, both GM A.J. Smith and HC Norv Turner survived another disappointing season, even though rumors were circulating during the season of the demise. While I think that Turner has drastically underachieved since coming to SD and probably should have been fired, I don't think getting rid of Turner would have been a good idea. The reason Turner is perceived as having underachieved is because of the teams and rosters Smith has assembled since arriving with the Chargers. He's made some risky personnel decisions, but he has also built a perennial contender. 

And for some Chiefs news: Romeo Crennel said in an interview Thursday on Sirius XM's NFL Radio with Adam Schein and former Chief Rich Gannon, that he would not relinquish the defensive play calling duties. It's a little bit of a risk by Crennel (look at Todd Haley's first season when he called the offensive plays), but he's done it for two seasons in KC, knows the defense better than anyone, and the team had success under his playcalling. Don't fix what's not broken. 

Also, according to a report that came out today, Chiefs "receivers coach Richie Anderson and assistant offensive line coach Pat Perles will not return." Even with Crennel being promoted, it was just a matter of time until some of the coaching staff was shaken up.