Black Monday arrives in the NFL

By Dave Brown | dave@nflen.com | Tweet #NFLEN

English: Norv Turner, the former coach of the San Diego Chargers American football team. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There is one annual rite of passage in the NFL that coaches and front offices around the league fear. After the final game of the regular season, owners make changes, and this is known as Black Monday.

This is going to be a long list, I'm going to look at teams that have made changes first.

AFC West Will Be Competitive Division Once Again

The AFC West has been viewed as that of a ‘weak’ division the past few years. This is mostly attributed to the fact that the division hasn’t made it far into the playoffs in the last couple years.
This may be a common misconception held by NFL fans around the league. The AFC West may in fact be the most competitive division in football today.

Last year, there was a three-way overall record tie for first place in the West at 8-8 (Denver, San Diego, And Oakland) with Kansas City not too far behind at 7-9. Beyond that, every team in the west finished with an even 3-3 divisional record.

Chargers division losses were determined by no more than 7 points.

With the teams in the West maintaining their team for another year, the competition will be pretty much the same as last year.

San Diego went through a huge makeover of their team, adding several new expected starters on both sides of the ball. Where do the Chargers stack up with these teams?

The Denver Broncos will be the Chargers main problem this year I believe, adding free agency gem and Hall of Fame Quarterback Peyton Manning. Manning will no doubt elevate the young and talented Bronco offense.

However, the Chargers main focus this offseason was to improve defensively, adding much needed depth and speed to their defensive line and linebacker core.

This will cause a lot of issues for Manning. Manning has dealt with pressure from teams like the Houston Texans with Mario Williams, but Manning will experience a new kind of pressure this year.
Nevertheless, expect the Broncos and Chargers to battle for the AFC West title and spot for the playoffs.

This doesn’t mean I’m discounting the viability of Oakland or Kansas City winning the division, just based on the talent and coach’s, I think it will come down to Denver and San Diego.

Jammer opposes new NFL policy

by Ryan Ebert

San Diego Chargers' CB Quentin Jammer does not like the new policy the NFL has brought up that all players are required to wear leg padding.

"There'll probably be a lot of fines in 2013," Jammer said about the year that the rule is expected to go into effect. "A lot of guys won't wear them."

He clearly stated "No," when a newspaper asked him if he is going to wear the leg padding.

On Tuesday league owners voted to have all players be required to wear hip, thigh, knee pads during games this next year. Though the NFLPA is against it.

"It's dumb," Jammer, an 11-year veteran, said. "Ridiculous to me. I don't think anybody should be required to wear (them). I don't get hit, so I don't need to worry about pads. Offensive players should wear them because we hit them, but I don't think it should be mandatory."

Jarrett Johnson, a LB for the Chargers, said that the change was insincere and that it won't improve player safety.

"The repetitive amount of hits we take, day in and day out -- this, to me, is a PR stunt. ... If you get hit in the legs, you're doing something wrong," Johnson said. "You're either getting cut or standing there. Usually, when guys are aggressive and they're hitting back, the legs aren't usually getting hit."

Quite a few players are against wearing pads because they believe that they play faster without them on. Roger Goodell said that NBA players now wear more padding below the hip than do NFL players. Mike Parker ,Nike's CEO, is the one who gave Goodell this piece if information.

"You play this game because you want to play this game, and the risks you take are the risks you take," Jammer told the newspaper. "If you don't want to wear hip pads, knee pads or thigh pads, you shouldn't have to. It should be a choice."

Making it required for players to wear leg padding is, showing that every level of football require the pads but the NFL.