Injuries and a difficult schedule conspired to cause difficulty for the Kansas City Chiefs in their efforts to follow an 11-5 wild card season. But the Chiefs, despite several key losses, including veteran LB Derrick Johnson and S Eric Berry, remained competitive.
Still, the team suffered some troubling losses and, at times, the offense bogged down, as Jamaal Charles would become invisible and other weapons were not able to step up.
But Travis Kelce and De’Anthony Thomas are a year older. Dwayne Bowe is gone, having been replaced as the top WR by Philadelphia’s Jeremy Maclin. And optimism may be on the rise. How good can this team be? Matt Verderame, editor in chief of Arrowhead Addict, shares his thoughts.
Zoneblitz: The Chiefs endured a lot of injuries in finishing 9-7, down from 11-5 the year before. How would you assess the season?
Verderame: The season was a mixed bag. On one hand, Eric Berry missed most of the year and Derrick Johnson and Mike DeVito missed the whole campaign. Going 9-7 on its face isn’t terrible, although losses to the Raiders and Titans are inexcusable. Kansas City blew a golden opportunity to make the playoffs. (more…)
The San Diego Chargers got off to a great start in 2014, but injuries contributed to a slide in the last 10 games. Now there are rumors that long-time QB Philip Rivers may be on the trading block and that the Chargers may be interested in a trade for Marcus Mariota.
So is this team a few healthy pieces from being a playoff contender? Or are the Chargers about to hit a semi-rebuilding cycle? Ernie Padaon, editor of Bolt Beat, shared some thoughts.
Zoneblitz: San Diego started 5-1 with a win over Seattle but slid to 9-7 and missed the playoffs. How would you assess the season? (more…)
Injuries and inconsistent play at QB from Matt Schaub led to a 2-14 finish for the Houston Texans in 2013 that meant the end of the Gary Kubiak era and the beginning of the tenure of Bill O’Brien.
And O’Brien got things turned around quickly. Improved play from the defense, including a monster season from J.J. Watt, and solid play by QB Ryan Fitzpatrick kept the team more competitive in 2014 and while a 9-7 finish did not send the team to the postseason, it did reinvigorate the fan base.
But Fitzpatrick is gone, so the QB position is likely to be manned by one of three barely proven entities in 2015. Additionally, Andre Johnson is gone to Indianapolis and Arian Foster is aging. So while there is improvement, there also are questions. So how far is this team from revisiting the playoffs and possibly making a run?
Patrick Starr, owner and editor of the blog State of the Texans, which covers the Texans independently and for Sports Talk 790 in Houston and Scout.com, shared his thoughts.
Zoneblitz: Houston went from 2-14 to 9-7, finishing 4-1 in the last five games. How would you assess the season? (more…)
With San Francisco coming off three consecutive conference championships and a trip to the Super Bowl two seasons ago, hopes were high heading into 2014. But injuries, infighting and the regression of Colin Kaepernick took the 49ers down a peg.
Now, Jim Harbaugh is coaching at the University of Michigan and Jim Tomsula is taking his place. Frank Gore is gone to Indianapolis and LBers Chris Borland and Patrick Willis have retired. Reggie Bush and Torrey Smith are newly signed. Carlos Hyde steps into Gore’s role. And, perhaps most importantly, Kaepernick has another shot to take the next step in his development.
So how does this team stack up in the NFC heading into the 2015 draft?
Zoneblitz: The 49ers fell from 12-4 and conference championship game to 8-8 and out of the playoffs. What caused the problems and how would you assess the season? (more…)
Miami was 7-5 at the three-quarters point of the 2014 season with at least an outside shot at the postseason. A promising season came to a crashing end, however, when a 1-3 finish dropped the Dolphins to 8-8 for the second consecutive season.
It was the sixth straight season on the outside of the playoffs and 10th in 11 years the team has failed to win double-digit games. But the offseason started off at a frenetic pace, with the signing of Ndamukong Suh as a free agent, the trade of Mike Wallace and the acquisition via trade of Kenny Stills. So management is not complacently sitting on its hands.
So are the Dolphins a better team now than at the end of the 2014 season? Is this the year Miami heads back into the playoffs with a chance to make some noise? Or is the Joe Philbin era on the brink of ending the same as so many of his head coaching predecessors have in Miami? Brian Miller, editor of PhinPhanatic.com, owner of Phinatics.com and co-host of Finsradio.net’s On the FinSide shares his thoughts.
Zoneblitz: The Dolphins were 7-5 at one point with a chance to at least knock on the door to the postseason before losing three of four to finish 8-8. What was your assessment of the season? (more…)
A season of high expectations fell apart quickly for New Orleans in 2014. The defense gave up 424 points and the Saints lost their last five games at home to finish a deeply disappointing 7-9.
Urgency reigned at the beginning of the new league year, as well. Stud tight end Jimmy Graham was sent to Seattle for Max Unger and WR Kenny Stills was sent to Miami – both deals netted picks in the first half of the 2015 draft. Mark Ingram was re-signed and CJ Spiller was added to give the offense a new dimension.
Can these changes bring the Saints back to postseason relevance in 2015? Travis Dauro, previously a writer at Canal Street Chronicles and now a freelance writer covering the Saints, re-joins Zoneblitz with his thoughts and observations on the 2014 letdown and the team’s efforts to recover heading into 2015.
Zoneblitz: Though the Saints were in playoff contention until late in the season, New Orleans finished 7-9 and out of the postseason in the weak NFC South. What’s your assessment of the season? (more…)
Injuries and a difficult schedule conspired to cause difficulty for the Kansas City Chiefs in their efforts to follow an 11-5 wild card season. But the Chiefs, despite several key losses, including veteran LB Derrick Johnson and S Eric Berry, remained competitive.
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