2017-2018 NFL PREVIEW

NFC NORTH: It is the Packers division until Aaron Rodgers retires. He has a talented trio of receivers in Jordy Nelson, Randal Cobb and Devante Adams.

They also have Super Bowl Champion and former Bear in TE Martellus Bennett, along with hybrid player Ty Montgomery at RB, who is also a receiver. That alone is the best group of weapons in this division with the best QB makes them a surefire for a bye week for the playoffs. The Vikings on the other hand probably has one of the most talented rosters as a whole.

Mike Zimmer is always known for having a good defense and this team is no exception with the likes of CB Xavier Rhodes, LB Anthony Barr and NT Linval Joseph, to name a few. They added a starting RB in Latavius Murphy, which should improve the run game and take pressure of QB Sam Bradford, who will be in year two with his receiver duo of Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs. They will be a wild card team contender. The Lions  will not be in last place as the Bears are in total rebuild mode.  Detroit has one of the most talented offenses behind QB Matthew Stafford with multi talented RBS in Theo Riddick and Ameer Abdullah, which will be their strength. Golden Tate and Marvin Jones are more like #2 receivers; which are where Riddick and Eric Ebron come in to give Stafford more passing options.

The defense hasn’t been the same since Suh and Fairly left them, but it’s good enough to keep them in games. Chicago  has started the rebuild with drafting a QB with the 2^nd pick. This season will be all about if Mitchell Trubisky plays or not since they paid Mike Glennon money to start. He only has one full season under his belt so they should give him the chance. They need to wait till their defensive and offensive lines get better before they throw the rookie out there, and get him more weapons.

RB Jordan Howard is the best player on offense on the team, but with no WR options the defenses are going to load the box to try to stop him. While Leonard Floyd will turn heads if he stays healthy, being a top 10 sacks leader. Prepare for another top 5 worst record year for them. 

NFC SOUTH:  This division could be won by any of the three teams not named the Saints. The Falcons may prove history right about teams that lose the Super Bowl that wind up not making the playoffs or having a losing record. The Panthers after losing the Super Bowl two years ago didn’t make the playoffs last year and finished last. The Falcons may have one of the best offenses led by QB Matt Ryan with a dual running threat of Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman and WR stud Julio Jones, but they also lost their offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan who is now the head coach in San Francisco.

So history and losing OC might prevent them from winning the division this year. That might leave the door open to Carolina to rebound from last year with their top tier QB in Cam Newton, and their veteran defense lead by LB Luke Kuechly. They also improved their offense through the draft with RB Christian McCaffrey and WR Curtis Samuel, to pair with RB Jonathan Stewart and WR Kelvin Benjamin.

But wait the young impressive defense and improving offense of the Buccaneers could surprise everyone and win the division or at least be in the wild card hunt. This will be Jameis Winston’s third year so he will keep improving from year to year especially since he has veteran WR in DeSean Jackson to help take the load off Mike Evans.

Their defense has some of the top players at their positions as with Gerald McCoy and Brent Grimes leading the defense. New Orleans will continue to be a last place team till they fix their defense. QB Drew Brees keeps them in games since he is a future Hall of Famer and top 5 QB in the league. Their running game could be intriguing with future hall of famer Adrian Peterson splitting carries with Mark Ingram. 

NFC West: The Seahawks are going to run away with this division and compete with the Packers for the top seed. They are Super Bowl contenders and one of the best two way teams in the league with one of the top QBS in Russell Wilson, who should have a more consistent running game this year unlike last year when all 3 staring RBS got hurt. This will take pressure off of Wilson.

They added Eddie Lacy to pair with Thomas Rawls which will make the passing game better for Doug Baldwin. The defense is still elite with Earl Thomas, Michael Bennett, Richard Sherman, and Kam Chancellor. The Cardinals will be the default 2^nd place team since they have one of the most talented and intriguing rosters but not good enough for even a wild card this year. Their QB and top WR are on the downside of their careers and their star defensive players like Tyrann Mathieu can’t stay healthy.  The best player is stud RB David Johnson who can be a passing and return threat.  

The Rams will not stink on offense this year which will help take some pressure of their good defense. 

They hired an offensive coordinator to be the head coach and traded for WR Sammy Watkins, who when healthy is a #1 WR. That should prevent teams from focusing all of their attention on RB Todd Gurley who as a chance to show off his talents.  QB Jared Goff in his second year will be better off with Sean Mcvay and having Watkins and rookie WR Cooper Kupp. The 49ers will be one of the bottom feeders of the league. They still don’t have a viable QB option, sorry Brian Hoyer, even if having a real WR in Pierre Garcon, he is a #2 not a #1. Teams will focus all of their attention on RB Carlos Hyde not helping the team since they will be down in most games, so they will be forced to pass. 

Their defense isn’t what it used to be as this will be a rebuilding/getting a gauge on how to be a head coach for Kyle Shanahan known for offense but doesn’t have a good offense either. First year GM Jon Lynch has a lot of work to do and getting a top 5 pick will help them maybe get the QB for Shanahan, so a trial and error season and last place for awhile.

NFC EAST:  The Giants are going to win the division this year with the Ezekiel Elliot suspension and the tougher schedule for the Cowboys this year. The Giants have Odell Beckham JR who now has a former #1 receiver to be his tag partner in Brandon Marshall and Sterling Sheppard as the #3.

They can’t run for anything but they should have many leads with a good defense even if Jason Pierre Paul is missing some fingers. They spent so much money on defense last year for players like DE Oliver Vernon, CB Janoris Jenkins, to go with players they have drafted in SS Landon Collins and CB Eli Apple. Dallas needs to worry about the up and coming Eagles with 2^nd year QB Carson Wentz.

He has weapons on offense to help him in WRS Alshon Jeffery, Torrey Smith, and Nelson Agholor who is now the #3 receiver, and TE’s Zach Ertz and Brent Celek, with RB’s Darren Sproles and LeGarrette  Blount. Philly has an improving defense of DT Fletcher Cox and FS Malcolm Jenkins causing havoc. Dallas might finish third if Elliot’s time missed hurts them with the tough schedule, and if QB Dak Prescott struggles without an elite RB even with the best offensive line in the league.

Washington will be in last place for a very long time no matter if they sign QB Kirk Cousins to a long term deal.

That will be the theme of the season, will he stay or will they keep franchise tagging him? They lost their top receivers in DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon, but they did negate one of the losses with Terrelle Pryor, but that will not be enough in this loaded division on offensive talent even if TE Jordan Reed stays healthy. 

AFC NORTH:  The Steelers will win the division this year and compete with the Raiders for the 2nd best record in the AFC.  They probably have the best trio on offense in QB Ben Roethlisberger, RB Le’Veon Bell and WR Antonio Brown. 

They also have back, one of the best young receivers in the game who has missed time due to marijuana suspension with one being for a full year. He is out to prove he is still the same he was a few years back. The Bengals like always will be a playoff contender and win a lot of games in the regular season, with their talented roster from top to bottom on both sides of the ball. If TE Tyler Eifert is healthy to pair with stud WR AJ Green along with rookie Joe Mixon, this offense can be lethal.

But due to the teams in the West and South it will prevent them from making a deep run in the AFC. The Ravens still have a good team just not a great team despite having a good QB in Joe Flacco, They also added Danny Woodhead at RB to fix the hole they had last year, and WR Jeremy Maclin who now has a QB who throws deep balls to use his talents.

  But again the AFC is too deep and they are behind two teams in their division. The Browns will not be the worst team in the league but still are going to be bad despite having a talented trio of RBS in Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson JR. They hope they finally have their QB in Deshone Kizer. They hope! 

AFC WEST: The Raiders will win the division but it will be tough since the Chiefs are one of the best teams in the league with a strong defense. Oakland has one of the best set of WRS in the league in Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree to help support an up and coming QB in Derek Carr, whose season was cut short to injuries.

He has something to prove to take his team far in the playoff this year. They also added veterans in RB Marshawn Lynch and TE Jared Cook to make this offense even better. They also have one of the best defensive players in DE Khalil Mack leading their defense. The Chiefs lost their starting RB Spencer Ware so they will have to rely on rookie Kareem Hunt and lead WR Jeremy Maclin in the offseason. They have TE Travis Kelce and a WR name Tyreek Hill who can get passing, running and return TDS.

Plus, they have one of the best defenses in football with SS Eric Berry, OLB Justin Houston, and OLB Tamba Hali. Both of them will make the playoffs this year. The LA Chargers will be one of those average teams with talent but with better teams in front of them. They still have QB Phillip Rivers, TEs Antonio Gates and Hunter Henry with Melvin Gordon at RB, with WR Keenan Allen back from injury. 

They also have two studs on defense in OLBS Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. The Broncos have fallen from two Super Bowl appearances and one win to being a last place team. They have 3 QBS which means they don’t have any QB. Paxton Lynch looks like he’s a bust while Trevor Siemian is a good backup and they brought back Brock Osweiler. This means they will basically waste the talents of Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. But they still have a stout defense with the likes of OLB Von Miller, CBS Chris Harris, and Aqib Talib. 

AFC EAST: The Patriots will certainly be back in the Super Bowl; run away with the division and the whole conference, the question is will they go undefeated in the regular season? They did lose WR Julian Edelman for the season, but were without Gronk for most of the year and still won it all. But they added WR Brandin Cooks and RBS Mike Gillislee, and Rex Burkhead to their already talented group of RBS James White and Dion Lewis to support QB Tom Brady. 

Plus, their defense is still tops in the league. The Dolphins are going to be competitive but not make the playoffs in the deep AFC.  They have a talented amount of skill players in WRS Jarvis Landry and DeVante Parker, with RB Jay Ajayi to make it easier for QB Jay Cutler, who’s filling in for injured Ryan Tannehill.  Along with a talented defense lead by DT Ndamukong Suh and DE Cameron Wake to name some.

The Jets and Bills are fighting for last place/a top 5 pick in the next draft with the moves they made to basically tank their seasons.  The Jets have no real threat on offense after losing WR Quincy Enuwa for the season with an injury, while the Bills traded their WR Sammy Watkins.

They both have quality RBS in Bilal Powell and LeSean McCoy but with no passing game it will mean the defense will focus in on that. 

AFC SOUTH: This division will be a 3 horse race for 1st place if QB Andrew Luck returns from injury to his old form. The certainty is that the Titans are the young team on the rise with the ascension of Marcus Mariota to a top fleer QB since he already has a top RB in DeMarco Murray and TE in Delanie Walker.

They also have good stable of WRS in Rishard Matthews, Eric Decker and rookie Corey Davis.  They a deep defense led by OLB Brian Orakpo and CB Logan Ryan. Their biggest threat is the Texans with their deep defense led by DES JJ Watt and Jadevon Clowney. They also have a stud WR in DeAndre Hopkins and a dependable RB in Lamar Miller. The biggest question mark is QB since the incumbent Tom Savage hasn’t thrown a TD in his professional career, and the other is a rookie named Deshaun Watson who won a college championship and was the runner up for the Heisman Trophy.

It’s a question of when not if Watson starts this year and for their sakes they should start him as soon as possible if they want to be a playoff team in a deep AFC.  The Colts are one of those teams where the QB masks the weaknesses of a team, and if you take that QB out the team is last place team.

They are lucky they have the Jaguars beneath them to prevent that.  They have a talented WR in TY Hilton and TE in Jack Doyle, they would be wasting it if Scott Tolzien is out there for more than a few games. Outside of CB Vontae Davis the defense is one of the worst defenses and has been for awhile. Yes, they have future Hall of Famer Frank Gore their best RB since Joseph Addai, but it’s not enough to make up for the loss at QB. The defense will key in on their running game since the passing game isn’t a threat. The Jaguars don’t know who their QB is since Blake Bortles hasn’t been good and the other option is Chad Henne which is worse.

New head coach Doug Marrone and Tom Coughlin have a lot of work to do fix the offense no matter if they stick with Bortles or draft a new one next year. Rookie RB Leonard Fournette is the leader to win rookie of the year; but if the QB can’t get the ball to talented WRS Allen Robinson and Hurns,  Fournette will have a hard time making an impact if they stack the box.