by Andy | Sep 12, 2010 | 2010 NFL Season Preview
Here it is: The final divisional preview: the NFC South, home of the defending champion New Orleans Saints.
Blogs from Carolina and Atlanta sent along some thoughts. They’ll follow mine.
Andy Tellijohn, Zoneblitz.com
New Orleans Saints
Carolina Panthers
Atlanta Falcons
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Saints won’t repeat the record they had last season but they’ll come close. The offense will still be explosive and aggressive and the defense will play off of that with its aggressive style.
There is too much firepower for any team to overtake New Orleans at the top of the South.
I think Atlanta and Carolina will compete for second place. Atlanta is the trendy pick but I’m higher on Carolina than most. I see them as a sleeper. They’ve got two fantastic running backs and Matt Moore solidified the quarterback position last season. The defense is suspect but if the Panthers can run well and control the clock they’ll be more competitive than people think.
I do expect Michael Turner to rebound and for Matt Ryan to continue progressing as a quarterback. And the Falcons could easily make me eat my words. It’ll be a good fight for potential wild card spots.
Tampa has added some interesting pieces. But they’re not close yet to knocking off any of the big three.
For the opinions of a couple team blogs click past the link:
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by Andy | Sep 12, 2010 | 2010 NFL Season Preview
The black and blue division I grew up watching has morphed into an aerial show featuring gunslingers Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, as well as hopefuls Jay Cutler and Matthew Stafford. These teams should be able to put some points on the board in 2010, with two Super Bowl contenders and two up-and-coming teams looking to improve upon dismal 2009 seasons.
Two bloggers helped us out with some comments. Their comments follow ours:
Andy Tellijohn, Zoneblitz.com
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings
Detroit Lions
Chicago Bears
I’ve been a lifelong Vikings fan. The 1998, 2000 and 2009 seasons raised and then dashed my hopes of seeing an eventual Super Bowl champion from my hometown. The team has the talent necessary to make another run in 2010. But so far it just feels like the team doesn’t have the same mojo it had in 2009.
Everything went right last year. This year Sidney Rice is out for half the season. The offensive line didn’t get a chance to play together in the preseason. And the Vikes are counting on a couple of last year’s injured, Cedric Griffin and EJ Henderson, coming back and playing well.
Meanwhile the Green Bay Packers looked like they were on fire in the preseason. Not that those games mean a ton, but the offense looks like it will score a lot of points. Rodgers has plenty of weapons. Jermichael Finley looks like a stud.
If the defense can perform at an average level Green Bay could win 12 to 13 games and compete for the Super Bowl.
That would leave Chicago and Detroit fighting for third place. I like a lot of what the Lions have done in the couple years since giving Matt Millen the heave-ho. The defense is still suspect. But the additions of guys like Nate Burleson and Jahvid Best not only give them some offensive firepower but they should allow the Lions to better utilize the talents of Calvin Johnson, one of the league’s best receivers when healthy and perhaps Millen’s only real draft success.
I’m not convinced with the Bears yet. The offensive line has a great coach in Mike Tice but not a ton of talent. The receivers are unproven. And Jay Cutler hasn’t looked like he’s going to be worth the price the Bears paid for him. It’s no lock, but I’ll go out on a limb and say the Lions sneak past the Bears for third place.
A win out of the gates today would help them achieve that goal.
To see what a couple bloggers have to say, click past the jump:
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by Andy | Sep 12, 2010 | 2010 NFL Season Preview
Most of the NFC West teams have a representative among the blogosphere. Our thanks to them for playing along. Their picks follow a brief writeup written by me.
Andy Tellijohn, Zoneblitz.com
San Francisco 49ers
Arizona Cardinals
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams
The NFC West includes a team with five Super Bowl rings, a Super Bowl participant from 2009 … and two teams that promise to be among the league’s worst this year.
The retirement of Kurt Warner already makes this division interesting. The addition of several key personnel, including two first-round draft picks on the offensive line, gives the 49ers upward momentum.
On the other hand, the lack of Warner – and the subsequent cut of Matt Leinart – means the Cardinals will take a step back this year.
They’ll still beat the bottom feeders though, as Seahawk management tries to figure out why it chased after college’s best coach and as the Rams implement their new players – including exciting new quarterback Sam Bradford – into the mix.
The Seahawks and Rams both have some promise but not enough to overtake the top two teams.
For the opinions of several bloggers, click past the jump:
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by Andy | Sep 12, 2010 | 2010 NFL Season Preview
Dallas is favored to win the NFC East and at least one Cowboys blogger thinks that’s the right pick. He responded to our query for assistance with not just a few paragraphs but a complete report on why he thinks the Silver and Blue will head strongly into the playoffs. His picks follow mine.
Andy Tellijohn, Zoneblitz.com
Dallas
New York Giants
Philadelphia
Washington
The NFC East generally is as competitive a division as there is, with several long-standing rivalries dominating television coverage and piquing the interests of football fans. This year those individual games might be big but I don’t think there will be as much suspense as in some years.
I don’t think that it’s a given that the Dallas Cowboys will win the NFC East this year but it seems pretty clear that they’re the favorites. They finished strong last year, shed some dead weight this offseason and added some strong talent, including wideout Dez Bryant. If the offensive line can keep Tony Romo upright it should be another good year as the Cowboys attempt to become the first team to host a Super Bowl on their home field.
The Giants are my pick over Philadelphia for second place, though I’m not a real believer in either team this season. Both have question marks. Philly is breaking in a new quarterback. New York has to show that the defensive woes that plagued the team the second half of last season are past them. I like Kevin Kolb’s upside, but in the early going I’ll take Eli Manning’s experience, which will allow the Giants to squeek past the Eagles for second place.
Washington has a new direction but Mike Shanahan hasn’t fully had an opportunity to bring in his people. Donovan McNabb will help, but an aged collection of running backs and internal strife with regard to Albert Haynesworth will be just a couple reasons the Redskins need a year or two before they can emerge from the cellar.
My picks are pretty close to Randy Maltz, who writes for the Silver and Blue Report. To read his thoughts click past the jump:
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by Andy | Sep 11, 2010 | 2010 NFL Season Preview
The AFC East was dominated by the New England Patriots so long that it became almost an afterthought for awhile. But the New York Jets have become the fashionable favorite this year and the Miami Dolphins should be in the mix as well.
None of the bloggers we contacted followed up with us on this project. So I’m standing alone with my predictions for this one.
Andy Tellijohn, zoneblitz.com
New York Jets
New England Patriots
Miami Dolphins
Buffalo Bills
Entering training camp I felt confident that the Jets had made themselves the team to beat in 2010. As we head into the season I’m sticking with the pick but I feel less solid in my convictions.
I like Rex Ryan and how he’s building the team. And I love teams that run the ball and play defense. Check and check for the Jets. But I also think teams that voluntarily put themselves in the crosshairs of other teams run the risk of getting hit in the mouth. And if the team suffers a couple tough losses the bravado could turn to doubts. Let’s keep in mind that this was a 9-7 team that barely made the playoffs before making the playoff run last year. And they’re minus Thomas Jones as well. I think they win the East. But it will be a dogfight.
When I looked at New England’s roster before training camp it looked old and tired. I wasn’t putting the team out to pasture by any stretch but I did think the team looked vulnerable. Then I saw Tom Brady lead the Pats down the field at will in an early preseason game and it hit me that a team with Brady, Randy Moss and Wes Welker on offense and Bill Belichick at the helm was still going to be tough to knock off, even if they are on the downside of the Super Bowl dynasty.
Rumor has it Bill Parcells is disappointed in Chad Henne’s development. What I saw last season led me to believe that he has what it takes to be a winner in this league. And the addition of Brandon Marshall will nicely complement a solid, two-headed running game and solid defense. I think they finish third but there’s no reason this team couldn’t jump up and take the division if things broke right.
Buffalo … there are some bright spots. I think CJ Spiller is going to be good. But they’re still a distant fourth in this division.
To see Zoneblitz’ AFC North preview, click this link.
To see Zoneblitz’ AFC South preview, click this link.
To see Zoneblitz’ AFC West preview, click this link.
by Andy | Sep 11, 2010 | 2010 NFL Season Preview
The AFC West is about as weak as it gets this year. There’s a good likelihood this one will be wrapped up by Thanksgiving, if not sooner. We didn’t get a lot of interest from bloggers in this division, in part, perhaps, because they may be bored with their own teams. But thanks to Nathan Mason from Kansas City for taking part anyway.
Andy Tellijohn, Zoneblitz.com
San Diego
Oakland
Kansas City
Denver
I think San Diego isn’t as good this year as they were last year. But they’re still the class of this division and it isn’t close. Ryan Mathews could be a stud in replacing L.T., but losing Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeill for chunks of the season will hurt. But Philip Rivers will get the team to the playoffs and once there anything can happen.
The Raiders are a ways off yet. But they’ve finally had a good offseason. The big move was acquiring Jason Campbell, a competent quarterback. And we saw last season how competitive the Raiders became even after upgrading from JaMarcus “Purple Drank” Russell to the ultimate journeyman, Bruce Gradkowski. With what should be a decent running game and a stud defensive back whose name I always struggle to spell, much less say, the Raiders could become the second best team in the division.
I don’t know what to think of Kansas City or Denver. Ultimately it just feels like Kansas City has some positive mojo coming off of the emergence of Jamaal Charles and the acquisition of Thomas Jones. Denver, on the other hand, has lost Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall in successive offseasons and lost Elvis Dumervill for the season during training camp. I think that has a chance to make them one of the league’s bottom feeders this season.
For our blogger’s thoughts, click to the jump:
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