As the 11th consecutive non-playoff season ended in Oakland, rumors floated indicating that the jobs of General Manager Reggie McKenzie and Head Coach Dennis Allen’s may be in jeopardy. Cooler heads prevailed, however, as ownership decided to acknowledge the salary cap hell Oakland has been recovering from since the duo arrived.
The training wheels likely come off in 2014 though. The Raiders are back in the ball game with significant cap space and the ability to begin adding talent. So how far is this Oakland team that is coming off of consecutive 4-12 finishes from being relevant again?
Depends on how the offseason goes, says Chase Ruttig, editor of Just Blog Baby. If all goes well, he thinks it’s not out of the question the long-struggling Raiders might be a factor in 2015. Here’s what Ruttig has to say.
Zoneblitz: The Raiders were competitive in a number of games early before slumping over the last month or so. What happened and how would you characterize this season? (more…)
Nobody has had a weirder offseason so far than the Cleveland Browns. The drama started just hours after the season ended, when head coach Rob Chudzinski, having just finished his first season at the helm, received his walking papers.
Then, following a highly ridiculed search that ended up netting Mike Pettine as Chudzinski’s replacement, the duo that ran the search got axed by owner Jimmy Haslam.
But maybe things aren’t as bad as they seem? Peter Smith, editor of Dawg Pound Daily says in Cleveland the removal of Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi was met positively by the fan base. Smith joined Zoneblitz to talk about the front office upheaval and how the Browns look heading into the 2014 season. Here’s what he had to say.
Zoneblitz: Cleveland finished 4-12, but there were signs of life on both offense and defense in 2013. What is your overall assessment of the 2013 season? (more…)
The Jacksonville Jaguars have not won more than five games in a season since 2010, nor have they made the playoffs since 2007. The 2013 season, the team’s first under new coach Gus Bradley, snowballed early, as the team got off to an 0-8 start.
But what the Jaguars lacked in talent, the team made up for in persistence. The Jags won four of five to start the second half of 2013 before losing the last three. This team still has some gaping holes, most notably the absence of a long-term answer at quarterback. But the 4-4 finish lends hope that the team has the right leadership in place to start heading in a positive direction.
Shane Clemons, head writer for The Jaggernaut, stopped in to offer his thoughts on the season just finished and the work that needs to be done for a 2014 turnaround.
Zoneblitz: Jacksonville got off to a brutal 0-8 start but improved to 4-4 in the second half of the season. What’s your assessment of 2013? (more…)
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…)
As a matter of course, I like to provide a year-end wrap-up of our picks and bets. It’s a good reference for the future and it provides a level of accountability.
So … after a pretty decent regular season of straight up picks, things were less stellar in the playoffs. I guess that makes sense, as most of the teams that make the postseason are pretty good (for now – but just wait until the playoff field inevitably expands).
As for the Super Bowl, coin flip my backside. A game that on paper looked like one of the more intriguing match-ups in quite awhile turned out to be a snoozer.
The Seattle Seahawks made all of us at Zoneblitz look like fools by getting a quick lead on the Broncos and then teeing off on Peyton Manning, making the future Hall of Famer look downright ordinary in the first blowout Super Bowl in awhile. I was not at all surprised Seattle won. I was stunned at the ease with which the Seahawks dispatched Denver.
Each of us picked the Broncos in a close game. Each of us was wrong. That gave Tony the postseason win for correctly predicting seven of the 11 outcomes straight up. Anthony Maggio and I both hit six.
Throughout the entire regular season and into the playoffs I was abysmal against the spread this season. I’m going to have to do some reading during the offseason in order to improve on that in 2014. What an embarrassment. After a 27-38-3 debacle during the regular season, I nailed the line just 3 of 11 times during the playoffs, including botching the Super Bowl — switching to Denver after entering the season having picked Seattle to take home the Lombardi Trophy. Disappointing choice.
I saved face a bit going 6-5 in over/under picks during the postseason, but I’d still be getting killed in Vegas if this were anything more than hypothetical.
And so, with that, we’re heading into the post-season. We’ll have some more thoughts on the Hall of Fame class in the days ahead. We’ll also start looking ahead at fantasy football in 2014 and at the draft. Stay tuned.
Manager Reggie McKenzie and Head Coach Dennis Allen’s may be in jeopardy. Cooler heads prevailed, however, as ownership decided to acknowledge the salary cap hell Oakland has been recovering from since the duo arrived.
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