NFL Season Preview: NFC Wildcard

September 10th, 2010 admin

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Green Bay Packers (11-5)

Last year the Green Bay Packers were overshadowed by Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings, but even though they were unable to win the NFC North division or get past the first round of the playoffs, their record would just one win less that their division rivals.

It could be argued that the Green Bay Packers have the better all around team than the Minnesota Vikings, but chances are they will finish second in the division once again with Brett Favre coming back for one more run at a Super Bowl (or so he says).

Much like the New England Patriots in the AFC East, the Packers will most likely fly under the radar this season and ultimately cruise into the playoffs through the NFC Wildcard for a second straight season.

Atlanta Falcons (9-7)

Despite sharing the NFC South division with the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, the Atlanta Falcons could be a serious force to be reckoned with this season as they will have their three best players healthy (Matt Ryan, Roddy White and Michael Turner) and ready to get back to playoff contention once again.

If they can stay healthy this season, the Falcons might even have a shot at contending for a Super Bowl title, but chances are they will end up finishing second in the NFC South and start their playoff run at the through the NFC Wildcard.

Philadelphia Eagles (11-5)

This season will be the beginning of a new era of football in Philadelphia as the Eagles made a drastic move in the offseason by trading their face of the franchise away in six-time Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb to the division rival Washington Redskins.

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Even though when teams make a move like this it takes a few years to rebuild and get back form, the Eagles will be poised to make a playoff run this season regardless as young gunslinger Kevin Kolb will be under center and ready to become a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback in this league.

Along with Kolb taking over as the number one guy under center, Philly has some good young prospects in the form of wide receiver DeSean Jackson and running back LeSean McCoy.

Chicago Bears (7-9)

Last season was an absolute nightmare for the Chicago Bears as they got off to a rough start in the season opener and lost arguably their best player in perennial Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher to a season ending wrist injury.

As if losing Urlacher for the season wasn’t bad enough, the Bears were also breaking in a new franchise quarterback in Jay Cutler and the results weren’t pretty as the former Denver Broncos gunslinger threw a league-high 26 interceptions.

Fortunately, the Bears did end the season on a high note as Cutler finally looked comfortable running the offense and gave the team high hopes for next season.

There is no way this team will be able to compete with the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North division, but they might be able to clinch a playoff spot when it is all said and done.

NFC Wildcard Prediction: Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons

NFL Season Preview: AFC Wildcard

September 9th, 2010 admin

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New England Patriots (10-6)

The New England Patriots are no longer the dominant team they once were a few years ago, but despite no longer have that intimidation factor that used to scare opposing teams, Tom Brady and company could surprise some people this season as they might fly under the radar with all the attention that the New York Jets are getting in the AFC East division and slowly, but surely turn into Super Bowl title contenders once again.

Houston Texans (9-7)

Being in the shadow of Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South can be frustrating, but this season people might start to take notice of the Houston Texans as they could be very well on their way to punching their ticket to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

Even though they will have to beat out some of the teams on this list and the rest of the AFC Conference, Matt Schaub and arguably the best wide receiver in the game in Andre Johnson might be up to the task.

Tennessee Titans (9-7)

Last season the Tennessee Titans looked like a mess in the first half of the season (0-6) and arguably the worst team in the league, but with the help of one of the best running backs in the NFL in Chris Johnson and the return of quarterback Vince Young, Jeff Fisher’s squad was able to turn things around and threaten to make the playoffs by winning eight of the last 10 games of the regular season.

Unfortunately, the Titans just missed out on the postseason, but this year they will have some much needed confidence and momentum as they charge forward with one of the best running games in the league and a quarterback getting back to Pro Bowl caliber form.

Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7)

A few years ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers were considered to be one of the elite teams in the NFL as they had won two Super Bowl titles and had arguably one of the best leaders under center in quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

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Even though they still have their championship squad still relatively intact, minus wide receiver Santonio Holmes (New York Jets), the Steelers could be in for another long season of disappointment as they will be without Big Ben for the first four games of the season and will face some stiff competition in the AFC North division, but they will have be a legitimate playoff team.

Cincinnati Bengals (10-6)

Last year the Cincinnati Bengals just dominated the AFC North division as they finished with a perfect 6-0 record in division play, but even though they have added perennial Pro Bowl wide receiver Terrell Owens into the mix, the Baltimore Ravens are looking like Super Bowl title contenders this season which leaves Carson Palmer and company shooting for a playoff spot through the AFC Wildcard.

Even though I think that the Cincinnati Bengals will challenge the Baltimore Ravens within their division, ultimately they will have to settle for a playoff berth through the Wildcard.

Prediction: New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals

What does the return of Revis mean for the Jets?

September 8th, 2010 admin

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Darrelle Revis has finally come to his senses and finally signed a contract with the New York Jets. He signed a four-year deal worth a reportedly $46 million. He held out just enough to skip all of training camp so head coach Rex Ryan doesn’t know what kind of shape he’s in.

It doesn’t matter to Ryan because he knows that for his teams’ secondary to be one of the best in the league, he’s going to need Revis shutting down the league’s best receivers. Revis can play the best receivers one on one.

With Revis’ contract, he is now the highest paid corner back in the league. He deserves it but why did it take so long for the Jets to offer him an acceptable contract.

Ryan joked, “I do think we may play Revis, I’m not sure,” coach Rex Ryan quipped. “I think he might need to practice for several weeks before we play him, but don’t be shocked if he’s out there.”

Ryan played a part in the negotiation to bring Revis back.

The Jets did okay during the preseason without Revis. With the exception of Giants free agent wide receiver Victor Cruz running circles around the Jets secondary New York’s defense handled pretty well.

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The preseason showed that the Jets can succeed without Revis in the line-up. This is good because it means that Revis’ secondary teammates are also improving. Against the Colts last year, Revis was the only one who had a spectacular game. The rest of his teammates played bad and allowed Peyton Manning to pick them apart.

Revis is the heart and soul of the Jets and without him, opposing teams don’t fear them as much. Revis is the best corner in the game, proving time and time again that he can reduce the best receivers in the league to just going through route motions.

His teammates welcomed him to the field not with disdain but with open arms. Even they realize that he’s talent is appreciated.

“It was kind of funny,” safety James Ihedigbo said. “A bunch of guys started the Rudy clap, that nice slow clap, as he came out. We welcomed him with open arms.”

Revis was humble when asked about the shape he’s in. “I haven’t had pads on and I haven’t had contact,” he said. “So that’s something I have to get back into and just take it slow in the process.”

The Jets are one of the teams that can win the Super Bowl this year and with Revis recent contract signing you’d be dumb not to believe it.

It’s the Jets offense that should raise some concerns.

NFL Season Preview: Pittsburgh Steelers

September 7th, 2010 admin

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Just two seasons ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers became the top dogs in the NFL once again as they won their second Super Bowl title of the decade, but last season in their title defense, Mike Tomlin’s Steelers really struggled to get back to championship form.

Even though the Steelers championship team was relatively intact, Pittsburgh just could get any kind of consistency going on the football field as they seemed like they were still recovering from a long NFL season the year before. Not only were the Steelers struggling on offense, but they were missing a huge part of their defense in the form of superstar safety and perennial Pro Bowler Troy Polamalu.

With Polamalu battling a knee injury all season long, the Pittsburgh Steelers defense seemed to be exposed on the defensive side of the football and the once dominant AFC giant started to get beat by some of the worst teams in the league like the Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns.

Despite losing to some of the worst teams on their schedule, the Steelers did have one highlight last season by handing Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings their first loss of the year in week seven just before they went into their bye week, but other than that, it was a pretty disappointing year to say the least.

Not only did the Pittsburgh Steelers fail to make the playoffs in their Super Bowl title defense, but in the offseason their superstar quarterback Ben Roethlisberger got into trouble off the field once again as he was accused of sexual assault.

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Ultimately, the charges were dropped against Big Ben and the two-time Super Bowl champion could take a sigh of relief, but his
punishment was forth coming as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced that he would suspend the Pittsburgh Steelers gunslinger for the first six games of the regular season for violating the person conduct policy.

Even though the suspension seemed a bit steep for a player that hadn’t been convicted of anything, Roger Goodell still felt that it was warranted, but there was a chance for the quarterback to redeem himself as the commissioner has said that he is willing to cut the suspension from six games down to four if he feels that Big Ben has made an effort to correct his life off the gridiron.

Fortunately, it appears that Big Ben has impressed Goodell with his behavior over the rest of the offseason and into the preseason as they are set to meet in New York soon to discuss a possible reduction in suspension.

In the meantime, head coach Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers have to plan for life without their starting quarterback for at least the first four weeks of the season in which they will face off against the Atlanta Falcons (week 1), Tennessee Titans (week 2), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (week 3) and Baltimore Ravens (week 4) before heading into their bye week in week 5.

Even without Big Ben under center the Pittsburgh Steelers look pretty good with some veteran backups like Byron Leftwich, Charlie Batch and lightening quick youngster Dennis Dixon.

NFL Season Preview: Philadelphia Eagles

September 5th, 2010 admin

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This season marks the beginning of a new era of Philadelphia Eagles football as they have finally decided to move without six-time Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb by trading him to the rival Washington Redskins and go with promising young gunslinger Kevin Kolb under center.

Even though McNabb is still considered one of the best quarterbacks in the game, there is no question that the fans in Philly have been asking for his head over the past couple of years as their perennial Pro Bowl quarterback has failed to win a Super Bowl title as the leader of the Eagles franchise.

So despite having 11 successful years in Philly, McNabb has moved on to the nation’s capital to try his luck under two-time Super Bowl champion head coach Mike Shanahan.

With McNabb no longer under center in Philly, the Eagles will try their luck with Kevin Kolb and even though he hasn’t started more than a couple games in his NFL career, a lot of people believe that he is the future face of the franchise and with great potential to lead this team to the promise land.

Last season Kevin Kolb was impressive in his two starts under center for the Philadelphia Eagles as he racked up Pro Bowl caliber
numbers with 741 yards and four touchdowns. These numbers may have been impressive and Kolb was able to lead the team to a big win over the Kansas City Chiefs in week three, but he did have a problem with his turnovers as he threw three interceptions against the New Orleans Saints.

Even though Kolb did struggle against the eventual Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, his two starts really impressed the Philadelphia Eagles brass and may have convinced head coach Andy Reid and company that now was the time to move Donovan McNabb and get some Kevin Kolb under center as their starter from here on out.

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Along with Kevin Kolb being their number one guy under center, the Philadelphia Eagles have arguably the best backup quarterback in the league in former NFL MVP Michael Vick. Some people say that he has lost a step or two after serving 18 months in jail for his role in a dog fighting ring, but the more time he gets under center, the more he is starting to look like his old self again.

Obviously, the Eagles have decided that Kolb is their new starting quarterback, but if he starts to struggle in the regular season and there is a good chance that he might, Andy Reid won’t hesitate to get Vick under center.

Needless to say, the Philadelphia Eagles are in the middle of a transition phase right now and the upcoming regular season could go one of two ways as they might struggle to compete with the best of the best in the NFC Conference or they could be much improved and give the Dallas Cowboys a run for their money in the NFC East division.

No matter what happens this year, the consensus around the league is that the Philadelphia Eagles will be much improved in the near future, but the timeline is uncertain.

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