2011 NFL Preview (What 2 Watch 4)
It’s summertime, fantasy football draft kits are up, The Manning Brothers are doing commercials, and Kenny Britt is getting arrested. It must be time to start thinking about football. According to experts, the lockout will end in the next few weeks, and a rushed, but on schedule pre-season will lead into the euphoria that is NFL Sundays in the fall. Hopefully this is what actually happens and the lockout becomes a distant memory, replaced by playoff hopes and fantasy trade questions. If all goes according to plan and there is a season, there will be plenty of story lines all over the NFL and ideally none of them involving Brett Favre or his cell phone. Below is a division by division breakdown of where some of those story lines may come from, and which teams will be the most interesting to watch this season.AFC East – New England Patriots
The Patriots were a scary team last year. They won fourteen games with a young defense, two running backs nobody has ever heard of, and their best skill position player besides Tom Brady wearing a Vikings, Titans, and Rhein Fire jersey (only one of those is made up). With all that happening they still managed to lose only three games all year and were arguably the most dominant team throughout the 2010 season. The scariest part of last year’s Patriots team though is that they were playing for this year. Last season was supposed to be a practice round. The defense was young and untested, and Brady had mostly fresh faces around him on offense. Youth was supposed to keep New England from winning last year but the alliteration combination of Brady and Belichick wouldn’t let that happen. This off-season most of the Patriots take the step up from young and inexperienced athletes to NFL players entering their prime. Combine that with the machine-like production of The Two B’s over the last decade, and New England should somehow be even better than last year.
AFC North – Baltimore Ravens
There is a clear little brother-big brother rivalry going on in the AFC North, and unfortunately for the Baltimore Ravens, they are not the Steelers. By all accounts Baltimore has had a very successful decade of football. They went to the playoffs seven times and won the whole thing in 2001. The only problem is their primary rival has won two Superbowls, and last year the Steelers grabbed the Black And Blue Rivalry title belt by knocking Baltimore out of the playoffs. This year, expectations are as high as they can be in Baltimore and for the veterans on their roster and the fans in their stadium, the “superbowl or bust” cliché certainly applies. The Ravens have the quarterback, the leader, and the coach necessary to make a run in the NFL, and this year they will get a chance to unseat their big brother and take back the AFC North. The best rivalry in football should make the Ravens one of the more interesting teams in football this season. At the very least, November 24th will be exciting when San Fransisco visits and Jim and John battle for the title of best Harbaugh in the NFL.
AFC South – Houston Texans
For Gary Kubiak and the Houston Texans, it’s time to get it done. The Texans have been on the verge of being a good team the last few years, but inconsistency and a defense that couldn’t stop me has kept them out of the playoffs. Last year they went 6-10, and their defense gave up an average of 30.4 points per game in their last eight losses. The struggle between good offense and bad defense made their games exciting, but also made them tough to win for Houston. This off-season they hired Wade Phillips to come run the defense and drafted the phenom JJ Watt (cut to me adjusting my University of Wisconsin hat) to help improve their d-line. These changes should help shore up a defense that only needs to be average playing alongside one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL. If the defense doesn’t improve and Houston gets off to a slow start, Gary Kubiak will be the one worrying about a shortened season.
AFC West – San Diego Chargers
The Texans learned how to be inconsistent from the Chargers. Over the last few years, no team has been more up and down than San Diego. Last year, the Chargers led the league in total offense and total defense but still managed to only win nine games and miss the playoffs. This has been the story out of Southern California for three or four years. At times, the Chargers look unstoppable with play makers all over the field on offense and on defense. They have good athletes at every position, not to mention Philip Rivers who can spin it as well as anybody in the league. Recently, they keep finding ways to shoot themselves in the foot by making mistakes at the worst possible time. Just like Houston, this makes for exciting, but very difficult to win games and has left Chargers fans consistently disappointed. There is plenty of reason to be optimistic this year, however, with Vincent Jackson coming back for a full season along with a healthy Antonio Gates. But it will be intriguing to see if they can avoid the blow-ups that have plagued them in the past. Of course, if they can’t, it will probably make for an even more exciting season.
NFC East – Dallas Cowboys
All eyes will be on Dallas this year as they try to bounce back from one of the more eventful seasons North Texas has ever seen. After being picked by no shortage of people to win the Superbowl last year, Dallas has to be considered one of the most disappointing teams from the 2010-2011 season. There is always a certain buzz around Dallas, but last year a slow start, followed by Tony Romo getting hurt, followed by Wade Philips getting fired, garnered the usual attention for all the wrong reasons. Last year had people questioning whether this group of Cowboys has what it takes to get it done and whether the entire franchise is simply over-rated. So 2010 was chalked up as a loss, and this year Jason Garrett will get a chance to show what he can do. As usual, he will have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL at his disposal along with all the hype that comes with it. If he can right the ship he will be a hero in Dallas, but have another year like last year, and Jerry will be looking to make some big changes in Big D.
NFC North – Green Bay Packers*
The Packers have to be the most interesting team in the NFC North simply because (and as a Vikings fan I’m shaking while typing this) they might be the best team in football. Last year they won the Superbowl despite being the most injured team in the NFL. This year they bring everybody back, and if they can cut down on some of the injuries from last year, they will be better than the team that already got a ring. Along with the best team, Green Bay may also have the best quarterback in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers is helped by an outstanding group of wide-outs, but there is no denying his ability to flat out throw a football. In his fourth year as the starter, Rodgers is entering his prime with essentially three consecutive 4,000 yard seasons under his belt and a QB rating of over 100 the last two years. He is quickly becoming the man in Green Bay and people are starting to wonder who Brett Favre’s Steakhouse outside of Lambeau field is named after.
*The Lions receive honorable mention in this division simply because a defensive line with Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley is likely to lead to several deaths.
NFC South – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
For the first time in a long time, there is hope in Tampa Bay. Everybody thought Raheem Morris was crazy when he guaranteed a ten win season last year. But a 10-6 record and a young core of players has silenced the critics and brought a level of optimism to Tampa that hasn’t been around since the Gruden era. At the heart of Tampa’s youth movement is Josh Freeman. Last year, the 6 foot 6 inch 248 pound quarterback established himself as the Buccaneers leader and best player. He earned the coveted label of a winner by pulling out games late against more talented teams and along with the ten victories, was able to throw for 3,500 yards and earn a quarterback rating of 95.9 for the year. Freeman also helps his team with his legs, and though he lacks the speed of Michael Vick, he showed a good sense of the moment by running for 29 first downs last year. His size and style of play lead to comparisons to Ben Roethlisberger and if Freeman can continue to improve, he should be able to close the gap between the two next year.
NFC West – St. Louis Rams
In 2007, 2008, and 2009, St. Louis managed to win three, two and one games respectively, and appeared to be on a crash course with the 2008 Detroit Lions and NFL history. Then, with the first pick in the 2010 NFL draft, the Rams turned water into wine by selecting Sam Bradford and saving football in St. Louis. Last year, the Rams won more games than in all three previous years combined. Season ending injuries robbed Bradford of his two best receivers but the young quarterback showed veteran-like poise and guided his team to a 7-9 record anyways. At this point, Bradford is everything the Rams drafted him to be. His physical talents were on display all of last year, and anybody who can amass over 3,500 yards throwing to Danny Amendola and Brandon Gibson has to be doing something right. On top of his throwing ability, Bradford has shown the on-field leadership a young, downtrodden team like the Rams needs to succeed. This year, meaningful football will once again be played in St. Louis and in an appalling NFC West, the Rams may just make the second season.
