John Berger
Senior Editor
After a short summer hiatus, your favorite College and Professional sports blog is back. The return to school means that the NFL is about to start up again. Recent data has shown that the NFL is America’s most popular pro sports league, especially popular in the Northeast, which means it’s pretty popular at NCHS.
Last summer brought us the NFL lockout, which dragged on for 130 days. This summer has brought us the referees vs NFL labor dispute. The lockout last year ended in time for the preseason to begin on time, but the NFL will start the season with replacement refs, something that nobody wants. NFL players association head DeMaurice Smith has even threatened to have the players go on strike, but that looks doubtful.
Other than the referee lockout, the NFL offseason was fairly uneventful. Although, Chad Johnson(formerly Ochocinco) managed to get married and divorced, cut from two teams, and arrested, all in the span of a few months. Unfortunately, the general public will not be able to witness Chad’s antics this season, although his always entertaining Twitter account is worth a follow.
Ok, let’s get to the predictions:
NFC East
1. New York Giants
I really wanted to put another team here. But realistically, who am I going to put in this spot? The Eagles? The Cowboys? Those teams haven’t shown anything that lends me to believe they’ll be better than the Giants. The Giants aren’t as good as the team that ran through the playoffs and won the Super Bowl last year, but they aren’t as bad as the team that struggled to finish 9-7 last year. They return most of their key pieces, and the defense will start out healthier than they were a year before. The Giants are a 10 win team at least.
2. Dallas Cowboys
Tony Romo is one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the league. He was a top 5 quarterback statistically last year, with a 3:1 touchdown to interception ratio. He gets a lot of abuse thanks to an offensive line that has historically struggled to protect him, and because he plays for the Cowboys. I think this is the year that it comes together for Romo and I think the ‘Boys will make the playoffs as well, provided they stay healthy.
3. Philadelphia Eagles
There just seems to be a weird dynamic for the Eagles. For one, Coach Andy Reid’s son died tragically at training camp at Lehigh back in the beginning of August. Also, Michael Vick barely played in the preseason thanks to a ribs injury. It feels like the Eagles could either have a great season or they could completely tank. I don’t think Vick will stay healthy all season, so I’m going to lean towards them having a season more or less like last year, which would be disastrous for them.
4. The Redskins are in a tough division and having a rookie quarterback won’t do them any favors in the short term. I think Robert Griffin III will have a “Cam Newton lite” kind of season, where he makes a lot of big plays but also makes his fair share of mistakes as well. The ‘Skins will have a tough time avoiding the cellar in the NFC East.
NFC North
1. Green Bay Packers
For full disclosure, I am a Packers fan. So I am inherently biased with this prediction. The Pack went 15-1 in the regular season a year ago, thanks to an absurdly efficient passing attack and the ability to hold leads. However, the defense was atrocious, giving up more than 300 yards a game, which is an absurd number. Part of that was because opponents were passing the ball a lot as a result of having to keep up with Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ offense. Another reason was that the team just could not generate any pass rush, which left the secondary prone to being picked apart. They had the worst sack rate in the league, at just 4.8%. Rookies Jerel Worthy and Nick Perry should help out in that area, and cornerback Tramon Williams should be back to 100%. The Packers outperformed their pythagorean win total last year by three games, and with a tough schedule this year, I think they should end up with 12 or 13 wins.
2. Chicago Bears
The Bears could just keep their key players on the field last year, which was the main reason why they were only 8-8. One could even argue that before Jay Cutler went down, they were the second best team in the NFC. The defense continues to age and lose its old dominance, but Alshon Jeffrey and Brandon Marshall form a great receiving duo for Cutler, and the team is talented enough to go toe to toe with the Packers. It will be a fun divisional race to follow.
3. Detroit Lions
The Lions were actually in the top 10 last season in both offensive and defensive efficiency, but by the end of the season it was painfully evident that their secondary was a major weakness. Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson will be a great pass-catching duo for years to come, but the Lions need to hope that their secondary improves after giving up more than 800 yards through the air in the last two games of last year.
4. Minnesota Vikings
The schedule isn’t terribly difficult, but it’s tough to forecast a ton of wins for a team that only won three a year ago. Adrian Peterson is still recovering from a torn ACL, and Christian Ponder is still learning how to be a starter in the NFL. The defensive line will still be good, but they need help.
NFC South
1. Atlanta Falcons
I think that Falcons are a little underrated coming into this season. A big part of that is probably due to their poor showing in their playoff game last year against the Giants, but this is still a pretty talented team. Matt Ryan and Michael Turner form a dangerous combination, and Julio Jones and Roddy White are pretty good too. The offense and defense were both good last season, but they need at least one unit to be great if they want to go far in the playoffs.
2. New Orleans Saints
Even with a new coach and several players suspended thanks to the bounty scandal, everything I’ve read so far has told me that the Saints will still be very good. But I’m going to go with my gut instinct on this one, and my gut is telling me that the Saints will certainly be competitive, but they won’t be one of the top 4 teams in the conference. I just don’t think they’ll be able to hold up consistently over a 16 game season.
3. Tampa Bay Bucaneers
Like many others, I questioned the hiring of Greg Schiano as Tampa’s head coach. He was really just average at Rutgers, and it’s a big leap to go from the Big East to the NFL. But Schiano is in a good spot in Tampa, where a young roster needs his hands on approach. Remember, they won 10 games in 2010, so this team is still pretty capable. Unfortunately for them, they’re in a division with the Saints and the Falcons.
4. Carolina Panthers
Cam Newton is always entertaining to watch, and you know that Ron Rivera will have this team playing well defensively. But they’re just in a tough spot being in the NFC South, and it will be an uphill battle all season long.
NFC West
1. San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers had freaky good health last year, something they most likely won’t be able to sustain this coming season. Still, their defense is tremendous, and the offense does enough to win games. In a relatively weak division, there is no reason to think they won’t win 13 games again.
2. Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks get the nod here because they made the playoffs in 2010, so you know they’ve done it before under Pete Carroll. They were good defensively last year, it’s just hard to know how they’re going to score points. I’m not really sure that Russell Wilson or Matt Flynn is the guy to lead this team.
3. Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals have had their own little quarterback controversy out in the desert between John Skelton and Kevin Kolb. Neither is a world beater and the Cardinals’ talent level is down considerably across the board from their Super Bowl team a few years ago. They may surprise some people and pick up a few wins in bunches this year, but I don’t think they’ll have prolonged success.
4. St. Louis Rams
The worst record in football over the last five years belongs to the Rams, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Chances are that Sam Bradford bounces back after a rough sophomore season, but the Rams will still struggle. Jeff Fisher is a good coach, but he doesn’t have a lot to work with.
Predicted playoff seeding:
1. Green Bay Packers
2. New York Giants
3. San Francisco 49ers
4. Atlanta Falcons
5. Chicago Bears
6. Dallas Cowboys
Check back Friday for my AFC predictions.
