Afc West

The draft will be held from Thursday to Saturday in New York. Times' NFL writer Sam Farmer examines the needs for each team by division. Today, in the final segment, the West divisions: AFC West San Diego has the 28th pick and a couple of glaring needs. The Chargers are looking for a running back who can complement Darren Sproles and pick up the slack in short-yardage situations. They like Stanford's Toby Gerhart, but he might be more of a second rounder. A good fit might be Fresno State tailback Ryan Matthews.

T he beeping you hear is coming from the AFC West champion Denver Broncos, who are moving in reverse, having lost three in a row. The bleeping you hear is coming from the Black Hole, which watched the Oakland Raiders blow a chance Sunday to get to the playoffs for the first time since 2002. How the West was won? This was more, does anybody want the West? The Broncos, who will host Pittsburgh in a first-round game, came into their finale against Kansas City in control of their own destiny.

AFC North Cincinnati Clinched division title. AFC East New England Clinched division title. AFC South Indianapolis Clinched division title and home-field advantage in AFC playoffs. AFC West Denver Clinched playoff spot. NFC North No teams have clinched playoff spot. NFC East No teams have clinched playoff spot. NFC South No teams have clinched playoff spot. NFC West Seattle Clinched division title and first-round bye. Note -- Arizona, Ravens, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Green Bay, Houston, New Orleans, N.Y. Jets, Oakland, Philadelphia, St. Louis, San Francisco and Tennessee have been eliminated from playoff contention.

For nine seasons, Matt Hasselbeck was synonymous with the Seattle Seahawks and the NFC West. But for at least one year (2001), Hasselbeck was the starting quarterback for the Seahawks when they resided in the AFC West and faced the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers on a regular basis. Hasselbeck -- who now plays for the Tennessee Titans, who welcome the Ravens to LP Field Sunday -- said he's beginning to reacquaint himself to life in the AFC. "I'm not that familiar with the personnel in the AFC," Hasselback said Wednesday during a conference call with Baltimore media.

As the Ravens close the book on their disappointing inaugural season against the visiting Houston Oilers on Sunday, they can look ahead to a 1997 season in which an old rivalry will be renewed.Baltimore vs. Washington.According to the NFL's scheduling formula for the 1997 season, the last-place team in the AFC Central will face every NFC East team except the division champion. That means the 4-11 Ravens, who have sewn up last place in the Central, will play everyone in the NFC East but the Dallas Cowboys.

A realignment plan that would take Jacksonville and Tennessee out of the Ravens' division when the new Cleveland Browns enter it next year will be discussed by the owners later this month, but it probably has little chance of passing.The plan, advocated by Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, would create four four-team AFC divisions when the expansion Cleveland team enters the AFC Central.It would shift only four teams to create a new division, taking one team each from the AFC East and West to join Jacksonville and Tennessee.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- It didn't take long for NFL owners to find out how thorny the issue of realignment will be in the coming months.Although the owners' annual meetings aren't scheduled to officially start until today, a committee studying realignment got its first look at a half-dozen proposed plans over the weekend.The simplest was a plan in which the NFC East's Arizona Cardinals and NFC West's Atlanta Falcons would switch places.The most complex would move Atlanta and the New Orleans Saints to the AFC and the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts to the NFC, with Houston and Minnesota switching divisions.

History is our guide John Altavilla Hartford Courant After programming my 2011 Super Bowl GPS for directions leading me to its eventual participants, I can tell you there is only one team that absolutely, positively, surely will not play in the game — the Cowboys. This has nothing to do with Tony Romo or Jerry Jones or the lack of speed in the secondary. It has to do with history. Never has a team played in a Super Bowl in its home stadium.

For nine seasons, Matt Hasselbeck was synonymous with the Seattle Seahawks and the NFC West. But for at least one year (2001), Hasselbeck was the starting quarterback for the Seahawks when they resided in the AFC West and faced the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers on a regular basis. Hasselbeck -- who now plays for the Tennessee Titans, who welcome the Ravens to LP Field Sunday -- said he's beginning to reacquaint himself to life in the AFC. "I'm not that familiar with the personnel in the AFC," Hasselback said Wednesday during a conference call with Baltimore media.

Turnover, upheaval, insanity. It's one thing not to have dynasties any longer in the NFL, but it's quite another when you can't even get repeat division winners. Look at the league standings today. Not one division winner from the 2002 season is in first place. The Green Bay Packers, perhaps the surest repeat division champ there was before the season started, have been bounced by the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North. Oakland won the last three AFC West titles, but the Raiders are a fading third this year.

With five weeks to go in the NFL season, here's a look into the crystal football at what will happen: Deja (powder) blue The Chargers will run the table and win their remaining five games to claim their fifth consecutive AFC West crown. We've seen this movie before: The Chargers are a disaster to begin the season — this year they got off to a 2-5 start — before hitting their stride and powering into the playoffs. As we know, that's when they've hit the wall.

Chargers Big questions: How will they adjust to two big contract holdouts, left tackle Marcus McNeill and receiver Vincent Jackson? Can the team finally get off to a good start under Norv Turner? How much of a difference will it make swapping LaDainian Tomlinson for first-rounder Ryan Mathews? Can Philip Rivers turn some unknown receivers into stars? Big moves: Letting Tomlinson go was huge, and initial indications are both the Chargers and Jets will benefit.

History is our guide John Altavilla Hartford Courant After programming my 2011 Super Bowl GPS for directions leading me to its eventual participants, I can tell you there is only one team that absolutely, positively, surely will not play in the game — the Cowboys. This has nothing to do with Tony Romo or Jerry Jones or the lack of speed in the secondary. It has to do with history. Never has a team played in a Super Bowl in its home stadium.

Sunday's battle for first place between the Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals comes as the AFC North is undergoing a personality change. The punishing running games that long defined the division have gone with the likes of Jamal Lewis, Jerome Bettis and Corey Dillon. This new era in the AFC North has seen teams flex their muscles in a different way - with the strong arms of their quarterbacks. The emergence of Joe Flacco, Carson Palmer and Ben Roethlisberger has transformed the offensive philosophies of their teams.

AFC North Cincinnati Clinched division title. AFC East New England Clinched division title. AFC South Indianapolis Clinched division title and home-field advantage in AFC playoffs. AFC West Denver Clinched playoff spot. NFC North No teams have clinched playoff spot. NFC East No teams have clinched playoff spot. NFC South No teams have clinched playoff spot. NFC West Seattle Clinched division title and first-round bye. Note -- Arizona, Ravens, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Green Bay, Houston, New Orleans, N.Y. Jets, Oakland, Philadelphia, St. Louis, San Francisco and Tennessee have been eliminated from playoff contention.

One quarter through a season that gets more tantalizing - if not bizarre - by the week, we are left with more questions than answers today. Is this how it ends for the New England Patriots - with a laundry list of casualties and a lineup of unknowns? Is there anything that can bring down the unflappable Philadelphia Eagles, who already have persevered through a season's worth of misery? Are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as good as they seem to be lucky? Most shockingly, do we really see the making of Air Coughlin?

One quarter through a season that gets more tantalizing - if not bizarre - by the week, we are left with more questions than answers today. Is this how it ends for the New England Patriots - with a laundry list of casualties and a lineup of unknowns? Is there anything that can bring down the unflappable Philadelphia Eagles, who already have persevered through a season's worth of misery? Are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as good as they seem to be lucky? Most shockingly, do we really see the making of Air Coughlin?

Sunday's battle for first place between the Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals comes as the AFC North is undergoing a personality change. The punishing running games that long defined the division have gone with the likes of Jamal Lewis, Jerome Bettis and Corey Dillon. This new era in the AFC North has seen teams flex their muscles in a different way - with the strong arms of their quarterbacks. The emergence of Joe Flacco, Carson Palmer and Ben Roethlisberger has transformed the offensive philosophies of their teams.

AFC East New England Patriots 1. PREDICTED FINISH 2004 record: 14-2, first place, won Super Bowl. Coach: Bill Belichick (sixth season with Patriots, 62-27; 11th season overall, 99-72). Key stat: Dillon carried 21.6 times a game. Schedule: The first-place schedule is rough all the way to January. 2005 opponents 9-8 Oakland, 9 p.m. 9-18 at Carolina, 1 p.m. 9-25 at Pittsburgh, 4:15 p.m. 10-2 San Diego, 1 p.m. 10-9 at Atlanta, 1 p.m. 10-16 at Denver, 4:15 p.m. 10-23 Open date 10-30 Buffalo, 8:30 p.m. 11-7 Indianapolis, 9 p.m. 11-13 at Miami, 1 p.m. 11-20 New Orleans, 1 p.m. 11-27 at Kansas City, 1 p.m. 12-4 N.Y. Jets, 4:15 p.m. 12-11 at Buffalo, 1 p.m. 12-17 Tampa Bay, 1:30 p.m. 12-26 at N.Y. Jets, 9 p.m. 1-1 Miami, 1 p.m. They've lost coordinators Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel, and LB Tedy Bruschi is out for the season after suffering a stroke.