Chargers Are Focused On Fourth Straight AFC West Crown

If it weren't for the AFC West, the Chargers would be looking at 2009 as a rebuilding year instead of returning as divisional champs.

Yet they'll enter training camp as the team to beat, a .500 regular season record from a year ago and another disappointing finish in the playoffs notwithstanding.

Working in their favor is a division that failed to produce a team with a winning record last season and will field four teams in 2009 that are all looking for better results, and that includes the Chargers.

For Norv Turner, he is now the dean of coaches in the AFC West as Josh McDaniels in Denver, Todd Haley with the Chiefs and Tom Cable of the Raiders all take over the reins as head coaches at their respective teams. Cable is shedding the interim tag he held for 12 games last season after taking over for the fired Lane Kiffin.

The most notable departure is Mike Shanahan, whose Broncos compiled a 138-86 record during his 14-year tenure as head coach that included seven playoff appearances, four AFC West crowns and two Super Bowl titles. It was under Shanahan that John Elway was able to shed his three championship losses and walk away from the game with a pair of Super Bowl rings.

Also gone is Herm Edwards, who guided the Chiefs over the last three seasons.

It is unlikely the Chargers will be able to make another run to the postseason by winning their last four games and erase a three-game deficit as they did last season, which was aided by a monumental Broncos collapse. Fortunately for the Chargers, though, both the Chiefs and Broncos will feature new quarterbacks while the Raiders will base their decision on the battle between JaMarcus Russell and veteran Jeff Garcia this summer.

Garcia's experience would seem to give him the edge in Oakland, but he's 39 and hasn't played a full season in seven years. Kyle Orton takes over for Jay Cutler in Denver and is coming off his best year, though only his second full season, by passing for nearly 3,000 yards and completing 18 touchdown passes while throwing 12 interceptions.

The Chiefs will counter with Matt Cassel, who came over from the Patriots as did linebacker Matt Vrabel in predraft trades. Cassel posted a more than respectable 10-5 record with the Patriots as a stand-in for the injured Tom Brady in 2008, but the question he'll need to answer is whether or not those numbers were merely a reflection of the system.

Possibly creating greater excitement in Kansas City was the hiring of general manager Scott Pioli, who held the same title in New England and has received no small credit in the Patriots' tremendous run in recent years. Pioli added an impact pass rusher in defensive end Tyson Jackson of LSU in the draft, but his bigger task will be filling the void left by the departure of tight end Tony Gonzalez to Atlanta.

The Broncos picked up top-rated halfback Knowshon Moreno in the first round of the draft to bolster a running game that finished 12th overall but one that also did not feature a back who gained more than Peyton Hillis' 343 yards.

The Raiders had the seventh overall pick in April's draft but went out on a limb to take Maryland wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, who was rated fourth at his position, and passed on top rated Michael Crabtree who ended up in San Francisco three picks later.

Optimism has dawned in the AFC West, especially with the Chargers' underachieving results from 2008, but talent should still carry San Diego into the postseason for the fourth straight season and earn the team its fourth straight divisional title, a first in franchise history.

Key to their success is quarterback Philip Rivers, the NFL's top-rated passer from last season who also matched Drew Brees with a league-high 34 touchdown passes. Rivers helped direct a Chargers attack that put 439 points on the board, second only to Brees' Saints.

It was the fifth straight year the Chargers have scored at least 400 points and 2009 isn't likely to see a drop in offensive production. Not with Rivers able to spread the ball around to Antonio Gates, Chris Chambers, Vincent Jackson and the emerging Darren Sproles, whom the Chargers locked up with a franchise tag and signed him to a $6.621 million deal for 2009.

Questions remain, though, for LaDainian Tomlinson who sat out the team's playoff loss in Pittsburgh and was slowed with a groin injury for much of the year. He rushed for 1,110 yards last season, his lowest output since beginning his pro career with the Chargers in 2001. Tomlinson's rushing totals from last season were fourth highest in the AFC, though, and he reported to mini-camp healthy.

The NFL's single-season record holder with 31 touchdowns in 2007 will turn 30 next month.

Offensive issues aside, the Chargers will have to figure a way to put teams away defensively. Seven of their eight losses were by a touchdown or less and in only one game did they allow as many as nine points. In four losses, the Chargers allowed a total of seven points. Part of the responsibility lies with Rivers and the offense taking better care of the ball, but a healthy Shawne Merriman would provide a significant boost to a pass defense that was ranked 31st.

Merriman had reconstructive surgery last September to repair two ligaments in his left knee and sat out the Chargers recent mini-camp but the linebacker is expected to be ready for training camp in July.

To add depth and casting an eye to the future, the Chargers selected pass-rushing linebacker/end Larry English from Northern Illinois in the first round.

The Chargers can further be encouraged by the guidance of Ron Rivera for a full season. After taking over midseason last year as defensive coordinator, the team allowed 347 fewer yards and gave up 51 fewer points over their last eight regular season games.

The AFC West will likely take a step forward in 2009, but the Chargers will remain ahead of the field.