NFL Retroactive Season Preview Part 4- The Contenders

Amy Winehouse Division

No NFL team has more potential then the Eagles and yet they always seem to mess things up. Last year the team signed a bevy of free agent stars to become favourites to win the NFC. Their backup QB even claimed they were ‘The Dream Team’. Needless to say they sucked big time, starting 4-8 before winning their last four matches. This year the team remains the same and the hopes are equally high with many predicting they will get to the Super Bowl. On paper they have the team to do it. The teams ethos is to build a lead with a explosive, field stretching offence, forcing oppositions to throw and then rush with the most explosive Defensive Line (DL) and the best Cornerback (CB) combination on paper. With the NFL being a quarterback league now, in theory this should work but it hasn’t.

The reason for their comes down to the two leaders of the team- Quarterback (QB) Mike Vick and Head Coach Andy Reid. Vick is the most talented athlete to ever play the QB position. After playing his first six seasons with the Falcons he was convicted and jailed for 21 months for being involved in a dog fighting ring. After release the Eagles gave him a chance and he excelled becoming the 2010 Comeback Player Of The Year and led the team to the playoffs. However last year he really struggled with his decision making and threw a lot of interceptions. Vick tends to get hurt quite easily and ill disciplined in protecting himself by throwing away the ball.

The other big weakness and ultimately the reason why they won’t make the Super Bowl this year is their coach Andy Reid, the most frustrating NFL coach to me. His stubbornness and constant poor in game decision making continues to hamper this team. Reid made some outright dumb decisions last, none more so then turning is offensive line (OL) coach, Juan Castillo, into the defensive coordinator, despite him not coaching defence at either college or pro level before. Not surprisingly the defence was a disaster last year but Castillo remains the Defensive coordinator. Reid was almost fired for that last year alone but the late season improvement saved him. Reid is also a terrible team motivator and disciplinarian for his players who have routinely complained and not played up to expectation.  This year is certainly make or break for Reid as the Eagles owner has publicly said so. I see an improvement by the Eagles from last year, especially on the defensive side, but Vick’s propensity to getting injured and Andy Reid’s continual inept decision making on and off the field will ultimately prevent this promising team from achieving its potential.

Beast players- (Top 5 players in their respective positions, game changers)- LeSean McCoy RB,  Nnamdi Asomugha CB, Trent Cole DE.

Great players-(Top 15 in their respective positions, can be pro bowlers)- Jason Babin DE, Mike Vick QB, Evan Mathis G, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie CB, Jeremy Maclin WR, Brent Celek TE.

Bust out players-(Players who can breakout and become Beasts or Great players this year)- DeSean Jackson WR.

Retroactive look after Week 1: The frustration begins. Andy Reid decides to throw 56 times despite RB LeSean McCoy being really productive vs the Browns in the limited opportunities he was given. Vick threw 4 interceptions. Thankfully the defence and Weeden helped stop the Browns from winning. The way this team is going they aren't going to be in the hunt for the play offs. This weeks game vs the Ravens should be a cracker. They can beat them but I don't trust Reid to play call well enough to win. 

The most surprising team last year the 49er’s finished the season 13-3 and were a costly fumble away from making the Super Bowl after finishing 6-10 the previous year. First year coach Jim Harbaugh was a revelation, giving belief to a team which had struggled for the previous decade to compete. The 49er’s had the best defence and special teams last year creating turnovers and preventing teams from scoring. Harbaugh managed to make much maligned QB Alex Smith effective enough to compete. This off season they upgraded the Wide Receiver unit, adding Randy Moss  and retaining all 11 starters on defence.

However I can see them struggling more this season. They have a tougher schedule, facing the AFC North teams and playing the Packers, Saints and Patriots away. As well as that the Seahawks will be a tough team to beat in their division. The biggest question mark is still at QB. Selected ahead of Aaron Rodgers in the 2005 NFL draft Alex Smith is just not very good. Harbaugh tried to convince Peyton Manning in signing there in the off season and then lied about it, creating the awkward situation of having to resign Alex Smith when it looked like he wasn’t wanted.  If the 49er’s fall behind in games and teams stop their running game they could really struggle. The 49er’s had a really lucky run of injuries and winning turnovers last year, along with a harder schedule and tougher division rivals I see the 49er’s taking a step back despite having the best defence in the NFL. QB’s win games now though and Alex Smith is not the difference maker you need.

Beast players- Justin Smith DE, Patrick Willis ILB, Navarro Bowman ILB, Vernon Davis TE, Andy Lee P, David Akers K.

Great players- Frank Gore RB, Isaac Sopoaga DT, Mike Iupati G, Joe Staley T, Carlos Rodgers CB, Dashon Goldson S, Aldon Smith DE.

Bust out player- Kendall Hunter RB.

Retroactive look after Week 1: Well this already looks pretty bad for my predictions. The 49er's went into Green Bay and destroyed the best regular season team from last year. Their defence was utterly dominant and their run game was unstoppable. They look like the favourites to win the NFC already. I still think that Alex Smith is going to struggle to win games when he has too but the defence is going to keep them in every game this year. The Lions despite having Stafford at QB don't stand a chance this week.

There aren’t many teams being hyped this off season as the Falcons. The Falcons have had some great regular seasons as of late but haven’t translated that into the play offs. Last year they were embarrassed 2-24 against the Giants in the wildcard round unable to score a point on offence. After several years of running a conservative running game the Falcons are looking to throw it a lot more. Offensively big things are being expected from their QB Matt Ryan and their pro bowl calibre WR’s Roddy White and Julio Jones. Jones especially is hyped to have an outstanding season after struggling last year-his rookie season-with injury and unfamiliarity with the system . The OL was really bad last year, failing to give Ryan much time to throw, it needs to improve for the offence to work especially since they are throwing more.

The defensive side of the ball was even more of a concern last year has they failed create sacks and pressure on opposition QB’s. John Abraham at 34 years old was their best pass rusher last year but he can’t carry on forever. The team traded for former pro bowl CB Asante Samuel which should help in the backfield but questions remain to whether the defence can create enough turnovers. This team has the parts to do well and their new offensive schemes should help them score more points but their defence has to step up and Matt Ryan needs to show that he can carry this team through the play offs.

Beast players- none

Great players- Roddy White WR, Brent Grimes CB, John Abraham DE, Sean Weatherspoon WLB, Matt Ryan QB, Michael Turner RB.

Bust out players-Julio Jones WR,  Jacquizz Rodgers RB.

Retroactive look after Week 1: A really good start to the season for the Falcons going to the Chiefs and winning convincingly. The passing offence looks very strong and Julio Jones looks like the breakout player of the year. Unfortunately they lost their best CB Brent Grimes for the season in the game and now they face the Broncos at home. This should be a good litmus test for whether the Falcons should be considered as one of the top teams of the NFL this year.

In the NFL depth is key, injuries always occur and you need good reserves to make sure your team keeps playing well. The Bears failed to do that at two of the most important positions and ended up costing the General Manager is job. Starting the season 7-3 the Bears lost starting RB Matt Forte and then starting QB Jay Cutler for the season. They had no suitable replacements and the team self destructed, finishing 8-8 and missing the playoffs. This year the team has made sure of providing talented backups at those positions as well as upgrading their average WR unit by trading for former pro bowler Brandon Marshall from Miami. Marshall and Cutler played together in Denver in their early careers and should be a successful pairing this year.

There are several weaknesses on this team though which could affect their ability to make the playoffs again. The first is their OL, which has ranked as consistently as one of the worst in the NFL over the past couple of years. Why they don’t address this in free agency is beyond me as it helps contribute to the frequent injuries that Cutler gets. Cutler also has to do a better job of not turning the ball as much. He has a gunslinger mentality which can produce a lot of interceptions.

The other weakness is perhaps the middle of their defence where their best player of the last decade, Bryan Urlacher, just had knee surgery before the start of this season. He has reported that his knee will be the same again. This could turn out to be a bug problem as he is the unquestioned leader and playmaker of the defence. If the Bears can somehow keep Cutler healthy and not turning over the ball they will be in the thick of the playoff hunt by the end of the year.

Beast players- Julius Peppers DE, Devin Hester KR.

Great players- Matt Forte RB, Henri Melton DT, Charles Tillman CB, Brandon Marshall WR, Lance Briggs ILB.

Bust out player- Alshon Jeffrey WR

Retroactive look after Week 1 &2: 2 games and two different results. In Week 1 they dominated the Colts on both sides of the ball and looked like one of the best teams in the NFL. In their second game vs division rivals Green Bay the defence once again looks formidable but the offensive was downright offensive. The OL allowed seven sacks and Cutler threw 4 interceptions. Forte was injured as well with a hih ankle sprain which may knock him out for a while. Cutler boasted about the way his WR's were going to get open before this game and they didn't. Cutler was seen chastising his LT after a sack and he really didn't take responsibility for his terrible decision making. If the Bears can't protect Cutler he is not going to survive a year but he has to do a better job himself. The Bears defence looks tremendous though.

If the Texans had stayed healthy last year they might have made it to Super Bowl. Not bad for a team’s first time to the playoffs and relying on their rookie third-string QB after their top two QB’s received season ending injuries. The teams remarkable rise to amongst the great teams of the NFL comes down to the transformation of their defence. New defensive coordinator Wade Phillips created an aggressive 3-4 defence which created turnovers. On the offensive side they had the most under rated OL in the NFL which allowed the Arian Foster and Ben Tate to wreck havoc. The team has young talent at the most important positions and are primed for a Super Bowl run this year.

There was cause for concern during the off season as they let go their starting RG and RT but the team believes they have the players to replace them, time will tell. The big IF is whether QB Matt and WR Andre Johnson can stay healthy. If they can then the Texans will have a deadly duel threat on offence. Playing in the weak AFC South division they are one of my favourites to go all the way.

Beast players- Arian Foster RB, Duane Brown LT, Chris Myers C, Andre Johnson WR, Jonathan Joseph CB, J.J Watt DE, Brian Cushing ILB.

Great players- Matt Schaub QB, Owen Daniels TE, Ben Tate RB, Daniel Manning S.

Bust out players- Brooks Reed OLB.

Retroactive look after Week 1: A rusty start for the Texans offence as the running game was not the dominant unit we have seen. It may have to do with a solid Dolphins defence and the right hand side of the OL being new. The defence looks great though and this team should be one of the best teams in the AFC this year. It's good to see Andre Johnson healthy, hopefully he can stay on the field this year.

U2 Division-

Not one team had more of a tumultuous off season then the Saints thanks to ongoing Bounty Gate saga. After their head coach was banned for one year and their next in charge coach was banned for half the season the odds seem against the Saints. Fortunately they have Drew Brees at QB who is one of the best on the field leaders in the NFL. He should keep the top ranked passing offence running smoothly.

On the defensive side they should be better hiring Steve Spagnuolo as defensive coordinator. Signing linebacker Curtis Lofton from division rival Atlanta was smart as well as the signing of David Hawthorne from Seattle. The pass rush needs to improve and the secondary needs to stop taking risks when it comes to going for interceptions. The good thing is that the defence just  has to be average as their offence should score more points than the opposition in most games. I do think the loss of head coach Sean Peyton will have an impact but the team should still make the playoffs, as long as Drew Brees is healthy.

Beast players- Drew Brees QB, Jahri Evans G, Jimmy Graham TE.

Great players- Darren Sproles RB, Curtis Loften MLB, Marques Colston WR, Ben Grubbs G.

Bust out players- Lance Moore WR.

Retroactive look after Week 1: A terrible start for the Saints at home as they took RGIII and the Redskins  

for granted. They got behind really early and it forced Bree's to throw. This team is better then the way they played and they should beat the Panthers away this week. The defence must improve to give Bree's a chance.  

Baltimore were literally one catch away from going to the Super Bowl but unfortunately Lee Evans couldn’t hold onto this ball and then this happened. This year’s team should be just as competitive. Unfortunately for the team it lost arguably it’s best player, Terrell Suggs, to an Achilles injury during the off season. The defence has always been the strength of the Ravens but for the first time in the organisations short history the offence may actually be better. Led by the supposed elite QB Joe Flacco the offence is going to apparently going to become a lot more open and less conservative under offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. Flacco has several weapons around him so he should do well, the OL could be a weakness though as they lost one of their best players Ben Grubbs in free agency. The defence is what I’m most worried about though. 

Centred around ancient stars Ray Lewis (37)and Ed Reed (34) as well as losing Suggs to injury I can see the defence struggling, especially against the run. I think they will easily win the AFC North but whether they can beat New England and Houston is another matter. If Flacco is indeed elite as he says he is then perhaps the Ravens are the team to beat this year.

Beast players- Ray Rice RB, Haloti Ngata DT, Ed Reed S, Michael Oher RT, Ladarius Webb CB, Vontae Leach FB.

Great players- Ray Lewis MLB, Marshall Yanda G.

Bust out players- Torrey Smith WR, Joe Flacco QB.

Retroactive look after Week 1: A dominating first up win as they allowed Flacco to throw it. He looked good but this week vs the Eagles defence should tell us whether it is for real or not. The defence looked good vs the pass but I have still some concerns when it comes to the run defence. The Suggs injury will hurt them sooner or later and the secondary is not going to stay healthy all year as well. 

Has there ever been a quieter hype for the defending Super Bowl champions then this year’s Giants? Thanks to Tim Tebow being traded to the Jets the Giants have gone largely unnoticed which is what they want. The Giants scraped into the playoffs last year with a 9-7 record and being outscored by 7points in the regular season. The Giants are the best single elimination team in the NFL as they save themselves for when it matters. The problem is whether they can get to the playoffs in the first place. The Giants are incredibly inconsistent, losing to bad teams and demolishing good ones. This year I expect them get to double digit wins at least. With Eli Manning at QB they have the leader to take them all the way. 

The RB and WR positions have skilled players and should score points. The Giants have a formidable pass rush which causes headaches for most OL’s. The secondary and the OL are the weakest points but they should be overcome by the elite play of Manning. Overall this team will have it’s up and downs in the competitive NFC East but it should still win it thanks to the inconsistencies of the other teams.

Beast players- Eli Manning QB, Chris Snee G, Jason Pierre-Paul DE.

Great players- Justin Tuck DE, Osi Umenyiora DE, Mathias Kiwanuka LB, Hakeem Nicks WR, Ahmad Bradshaw RB.

Bust out player- Prince Amukamara CB.

Retroactive look after Week 1: Another average performance by the Giants. This team will do better but they really struggle to be consistent in the regular season. The secondary was injury riddled last week and desperately needs its best players back. Their pass rush was very disappointing vs the Cowboys considering the players they have. They will bounce back vs the Bucs this week at home.

Jimi Hendrix Division

The Packers seemed destined to win the Super Bowl last year, going 15-1 in the regular season before losing to the Giants at home in an off game. There flaws were exposed, a non-existent run game and defence which couldn’t stop the pass. This year they are looking to get back to the Super Bowl after a solid but unspectacular off season. They acquired pass rusher Nick Perry in the draft and added veteran RB Cedric Benson to shore up the run game. The best QB in the NFL, Aaron Rodgers leads the most explosive passing offence in the NFL  and Charles Woodson, the future Hall of Fame CB/S, still leads a solid defence. 

The Packers need to create more of a pass rush for them to contend but any team with Rodgers as their QB will always be in any game.  It also helps they face one of the weakest schedules in the NFL as well.

Beast players- Aaron Rodgers QB, Greg Jennings WR, Charles Woodson S, Josh Sitton G.

Great players- Jordy Nelson WR, Jeff Saturday C, Bryan Bulaga RT, Tramon Wiliams CB, Clay Matthews OLB, B.J Raji DT.

Bust out player- Randall Cobb WR/KR.

Retroactive look after Week 1 & 2: One loss and one win after 2 games this season and there are warning signs that all is not well with the Packers. Aaron Rodgers has struggled to find his receivers and the OL is not doing the best job protecting him. Greg Jennings has been injured which makes a huge difference to the passing game. To be fair they have played maybe the two best defences of the NFL so far so it can't get any worse. The defence has to keep stepping up like did vs the Bears to make this team a Super Bowl contender. 

Most losers of the Super Bowl tend to struggle the year after. The Patriots are in fact better than they were last year going into this season. Last year they had one of the worst pass defences in the NFL, they couldn’t stop any quarterback. The Patriots drafted two Defensive players in the 1^st round who should help remedy that. Both DL Chandler Jones and linebacker Dont’a Hightower have the skills to rush the passer and help the secondary. 

On the offensive side they added the deep threat they have been missing since Randy Moss, signing Brandon Lloyd. This should make an already formidable pass attack with Brady, Welker, Gronkowski and Hernandez that much harder to stop. New England will also try and run the ball now they two young, explosive backs in Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen. The biggest question mark apart from the defence is the OL. Injuries and retirement have turned the strength of the team into its biggest weakness. It may take a few weeks into the season for the OL to gel together.

The Patriots have also been gifted with the easiest schedule with the toughest games being against the Ravens and Texans but not much else. If they deal with those two teams then who should be plain sailing to the playoffs. Then it will all come down to whether the OL can protect Tom Brady and whether the DL can put enough pressure on the opposition QB to stop him exploiting a weak secondary.

Beast players- Tom Brady, Logan Mankins G, Vince Wilfork DT, Rob Gronkowski TE, Aaron Hernandez TE.

Great players- Wes Welker WR, Jerod Mayo ILB, Sebastian Vollmer RT, Brandon Lloyd WR.

Bust out players- Chandler Jones DE, Dont’a Hightower ILB.

Retroactive look after Week 1: A sloppy but dominating performance vs the Titans was a good start for the Pats. The run defence was spectacular, completely shutting down Chris Johnson, it could be the best in the NFL this year. The pass defence was OK. Chandler Jones had a great debut, creating constant pressure and stripping the ball off Locker which turned into a touchdown. The offence was more balanced then we have seen the Pats play over recent years with Stevan Ridley rushing for 125 yards and a score. The OL was adequate but it certainly looks like the weak point of the team. However they are still one of the favourites to win the AFC and will be hard to beat this season especially with an improved defence.