For much of 2012, Washington Redskins fans probably figured things were finally headed in the right direction, after rookie QB Robert Griffin III had a tremendous season in leading the team to a playoff berth for the first time since 2007. But a torn up knee suffered in Washington’s wild card loss meant rehab took up an offseason that otherwise could have been spent building further wrinkles into the team’s offense.
As the 2013 season got underway, several things became clear. Griffin was not the same player he was as a rookie. And his relationship with coach Mike Shanahan was not progressing either. The team got off to a rough start and never fully recovered, ending the season dead last in a weak NFC East.
After the season, Shanahan was fired, replaced by Jay Gruden. Griffin is clearly “the guy,” but the team needs to put some pieces in place around him – and must do so without its first round pick, having sent it to St. Louis as part of the trade that allowed Washington to acquire its franchise QB.
So where does Washington go from here? Kevin Ewoldt, managing editor of Hogs Haven, shared his reflections on 2013 and hopes for the year ahead.
Zoneblitz: After a positive 2012 season that ended with a playoff berth, 2013 went in the other direction. What happened? (more…)
The Houston Texans entered the 2013 season riding high hopes off of two postseason appearances. Some called them one of the top contenders to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. They looked the part for two weeks, with wins over San Diego and Tennessee. Then QB play went south and the wheels fell off, resulting in a 14 game losing streak to end the season.
So, change is rampant. Gary Kubiak is out, Gary O’Brien heads south from Penn State to replace him. The QB position is in flux and aging superstars Arian Foster and Andre Johnson are enduring more upheaval as they head into the twilights of their respective careers.
So what do the Texans have to do to get back on track? Patrick Starr, owner and editor of the blog State of the Texans, joined us and shared his thoughts.
Zoneblitz: Houston went from 12-4 to 2-14. What happened? (more…)
I fully recognize there might be those out there who don’t want Peyton Manning to win another ring or who aren’t crazy about Pete Carroll or Jim Harbaugh or Bill Belichick.
I’m curious about what story lines you’re looking at or what reasons you have for picking the match-up you’d like to see?
Tell us below – who would you like to see in the Super Bowl and why?
There were a lot of interesting match-ups in the conference semifinals this past weekend and many different results would have created compelling conference championship games this weekend.
But at the end of the day, isn’t the final four probably the most interesting pair of games you could have hoped to watch?
Some may be tiring of the Peyton Manning/Tom Brady rivalry, I suppose. But not me. And this year’s is made more compelling by how many times New England has had to evolve throughout the season in dealing with the losses over time of Aaron Hernandez, Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski and, for a chunk of the season, Danny Amendola — and that’s just on offense.
And in the NFC, this is the game I’ve wanted to see all along. I pegged San Francisco and Seattle as the top two teams in the conference heading into the season and, though it didn’t play out exactly how I expected it would, in the end that was the result.
Okay, most of the pretenders are now done for the season. It’s time for my favorite football weekend of the year.
Actually, Wild Card weekend was really, really good this year. There were some epic games, with three of the four being decided in the final minutes.
But normally it’s the divisional round during which I am most excited and interested. By the this weekend comes along you’ve usually narrowed down the contenders to eight top notch teams. That would seem to be the case this week. There are some great games on the slate.
Before we get to our picks, let’s do a quick review of last week’s.Tony had the best week, getting two of the four games correct. Anthony and I both got San Francisco’s win over Green Bay correct, but missed on the other three — though it’s hard to feel too bad. Both Saturday games could have gone either way.
So, yeah. Playoffs start today. You’ll be inundated with info on the games, so we’ll keep it brief. Here’s what we think.
Saturday, January 4
Kansas City at Indianapolis
3:35 central, NBC
Line: Kansas City by 1.5
Over/Under: 46.5
Earlier in the week I picked Kansas City. Then I had a chance to watch some of the NFL Network replay of the game these two teams played two weeks ago in Kansas City and I feel much less confident. The Colts went through a rough stretch after losing Reggie Wayne. But Andrew Luck in the last month has pulled a Peyton Manning and started finding unsung receivers with whom he can distribute the ball. Meanwhile the Chiefs finished 2-5 after a 9-0 start and blew an opportunity to capitalize on Denver’s sloppy play toward the end of the season. I’ll stick with Kansas City because Jamaal Charles should have a solid day and the defense is legitimately one of the league’s toughest. But I don’t feel as good about this as I did at the beginning of the week.
Picks: Kansas City -1.5, Under 46.5
New Orleans at Philadelphia
7:10 central, NBC
Line: Philadelphia by 3
Over/Under: 53.5 (more…)
the right direction, after rookie QB Robert Griffin III had a tremendous season in leading the team to a playoff berth for the first time since 2007. But a torn up knee suffered in Washington’s wild card loss meant rehab took up an offseason that otherwise could have been spent building further wrinkles into the team’s offense.
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