Horse Tracks: Which Denver Broncos made PFF's All-AFC West team?

Pro Football Focus has announced their All-AFC West team for 2014 NFL season. The Broncos are well represented in this list but, there are a few surprises that may make some Broncos fans scratching their heads a little bit.

Let's take a look at which Denver Broncos players made it, and which ones who were left off the list

Offense:

Quarterback - Phillip Rivers, San Diego Chargers

Running back - C.J. Anderson, Denver Broncos

Fullback - Anthony Sherman, Kansas City Chiefs

Wide Receiver - Demaryius Thomas, Denver Broncos, and Malcom Floyd, San Diego Chargers

Slot Receiver - Emmanuel Sanders, Denver Broncos

Tight End - Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs

Tackle - Donald Penn, Oakland Raiders, and Ryan Harris, Kansas City Chiefs

Guards - Orlando Franklin, Denver Broncos, and Louis Vasquez, Denver Broncos

Center - Rodney Hudson, Kansas City Chiefs

Thoughts

The big surprise for me was them listing Phillip Rivers over Peyton Manning. Both quarterbacks started off great but had big time struggles in the second half of the season. I'm actually not too upset with them listing Rivers ahead of Manning.

Here's their reasoning behind it

Despite taking snaps from five different centers, this was the seventh year Rivers finished with a PFF QB Accuracy Rate of over 74%. He also had the highest NFL QB rating on play action passes.

I was also a little surprised to see Travis Kelce make it over Julius Thomas. Sure Thomas was injured for what seemed like the entire second half of the season but, I thought his 12 touchdowns would give him the nod there.

It was nice to see C.J Anderson get the recognition over Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles. C.J. is going to have a fantastic 2015 season under Kubiak.

No Ryan Clady did not surprise me at all. He really disappointed me this season. He was supposed to be the reason our offensive line improved this year, but he ended up being one of the big reasons why it struggled.

One final thought, I was mildly surprised to see Orlando Franklin listed. He had some growing pains early in the year but was arguably the best offensive lineman for the Broncos at the end of the season. It will be interesting to see if the Broncos decide to re-sign him this offseason.

Defense

Edge Rushers - Justin Houston, Kansas City Chiefs, and Von Miller, Denver Broncos

Defensive Interior - Malik Jackson, Denver Broncos and Terrance Knighton, Denver Broncos

Defensive Interior - Dontari Poe, Kansas City Chiefs

Linebackers - Brandon Marshall, Denver Broncos, and Khalil Mack, Oakland Raiders

Cornerbacks - Sean Smith, Kansas City Chiefs, Brandon Flowers, San Diego Chargers

Slot Corner - Chris Harris Jr., Denver Broncos

Safeties -  Eric Weedle, San Diego Chargers, Rahim Moore, Denver Broncos

Thoughts

The only surprise here is Aqib Talib not being included in the cornerbacks. While he didn't live up to his contract I thought he played alright for the Broncos in 2014. I'm not shocked he was left off though.

It's good to see Brandon Marshall get recognized. It's hard to imagine where the Broncos would be if Marshall did not step up on defense in 2014. I'm excited to see what Marshall can do in 2015.

I would have liked to see Harris included in the cornerback column instead of the slot corner column. He is a very good slot corner but, he showed this season that he is one of the better corners in the game and shouldn't just be labeled as a "slot corner".

Horse Tracks

• The New England Patriots continue to get investigated for deflating their balls.
• Colts running back Trent Richardson has been suspended for two games for "personal reasons".
• Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam says, "We've got to get a quarterback" in 2015. Somewhere Johnny Manziel is partying.
• Seattle Seahawks cornerback has said that Rob Gronkowski "is not that good". Well Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll says that Lame hasn't even watched tape on Gronkowski yet. He should probably watch that tape.
• John Harbaugh says that Bill Belichick is the "greatest head coach of our generation".
• Buffalo Bills pass rusher Mario Williams is excited to be playing linebacker again in Rex Ryan's defense.
• Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork says that Marshawn Lynch is the best running back in the game today.
• Houston Texan's defensive end J.J. Watt might see some offensive snaps in the Pro-Bowl.