NFC Preview
Added on Aug 23, 2009 by sbworld in
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NFC East:
New York Giants (12-4)
This is one of the best divisions in football but the Giants stand just a tick better than their other NFC East adversaries. They played last season without their best defensive player in “Osi” Umenyiora and still managed to finish with a 12-4 record. Their defense was the huge question mark heading into the season but they managed to rank 5th without their leader while the offense sported the best running game in the entire NFL. Eli Manning and company are one of the biggest threats amongst NFC teams.
Philadelphia Eagles (9-7)
Philadelphia has a ton of speed on their team and it won’t be easy to gameplan for the likes of Donovan McNabb, Brian Westrbrook, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Michael Vick this year. The Eagles should show us some crazy formations on offense but I call for them to fail to meet the lofty expectations that have resulted from the NFC Championship game loss last season. The offensive line is working some new players in after regular stalwarts Jon Runyan and Tra Thomas left the team and the defense has to find a way to replace safety Brian Dawkins and cornerback Lito Sheppard in the secondary.
Dallas Cowboys (9-7)
Dallas is another NFC East team that is working on replacing some big names after wide receiver Terrell Owens moved on to Buffalo in the offseason. Roy Williams was a disappointment after being traded to the Cowboys from the Lions during the 2008 season and he’ll have to step up his game in a big way now that he is Tony Romo’s go-to guy in the passing game. Dallas also has some new faces being worked into the secondary so it will be interesting to see how they do in that area of the game. This is a solid team but they could miss the playoffs if the Eagles do well.
Washington Redskins (6-10)
Owner Daniel Snyder is still trying hard to make his club a winning one but all the free agent signings have not brought this team much success and the Redskins finished at .500 last year. The big name coming in this season is defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth who is an amazing player but doesn’t really fill a glaring need for Washington since the defensive line was solid last year. Jason Campbell is the starter at quarterback but he’ll have to up his level of play if he wants to be the main guy at year’s end. This could be his last shot in Washington.
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NFC North:
Minnesota Vikings (10-6)
Hey, did anyone hear about that Brett Favre guy? If you think the preseason has been overblown with Favre stories, just wait until we get going in week 1. The Vikings are a very complete football team and could be the most talented overall in football but the one thing they’ve always lacked was a veteran quarterback with the passing skills to get them to the next level and Minnesota fans think #4 is just the man for the job. The defense looks great and Favre won’t have to do much since he’ll be handing the ball off to superstar running back Adrian Peterson as much as possible so it will be interesting to see if Brett is the Super Bowl answer for this squad.
Green Bay Packers (9-7)
Green Bay barely lost or added anyone in the offseason and the fact that this team is familiar with each other and has experience will be a huge help as the Packers look to jump toward the top of the division after a disappointing 6-10 year in 2008. New coaches are trying some new things and the new and aggressive defensive scheme should be successful in an NFC North division that really hasn’t seen teams attack in that fashion in recent years. Matt Forte was an incredible draft pick out of Tulane and is one of the elite young running backs in the league today.
Chicago Bears (8-8)
Chicago has been plagued by poor quarterback play for the last decade or but that should be a thing of the past after the offseason trade for disgruntled former Bronco Jay Cutler. Cutler has one of the best young arms in the game today and this Chicago offense won’t resemble the predictable run-first unit of seasons past. The issue facing this squad is that the dominant defense they’ve relied on to win ballgames in recent seasons isn’t getting any younger and showed a noticeable drop off last year. Look for Chicago to blitz more this season in an effort to help the lack of top tier talent in their secondary.
Detroit Lions (4-12)
The good news for the four remaining Detroit fans out there is that you will win a ball game this season after going winless in 2008. The bad news is that you still won’t be very good and it’s going to take a few seasons to turn things around. There were huge roster shakeups on both offense and defense in the offseason and new coach Jim Schwartz has a good football philosophy that will eventually get the Lions turned around. They look to be run-heavy on offense but that doesn’t mean blossoming wide receiver Calvin Johnson won’t be able to make a run at the NFL lead in receiving yardage. 1st overall draft pick Matthew Stafford might not start right away but him and Johnson should put up big numbers together over the next decade.
NFC South:
New Orleans Saints (9-7)
This is a really tough division to call but I think Drew Brees and the offense will be enough to get this squad the postseason nod despite the lack of a top tier defense. New defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has promised to shake things up with an aggressive blitz scheme and it might be just what the doctor ordered considering how strong this team is along the defensive line. The pressure should be applied properly and will force the other run-first teams in the divisions to do something different than they are used to.
Atlanta Falcons (9-7)
Atlanta managed 9 wins last season and they should be able to do about the same this season but they are far from a top tier team because of their below average defense. It’s pretty much defensive end John Abraham and a bunch of average or below average players on that side of the ball and one man can’t do it all himself so I’d look for a downgrade and for the Falcons to not get the lucky breaks they got last year. The offense should make up some of the slack however as young quarterback Matt Ryan gets another year of experience and explosive running back Michael Turner again looks to vie for the rushing yardage crown.
Carolina Panthers (8-8)
Many are picking the Panthers for first place in the NFC South after Carolina claimed the crown last year with a 12-4 record but there are some glaring holes on defense that will expose them as a .500 team this year. They have a new defensive coordinator in Ron Meeks and I just can’t see his 4-3 scheme working out. He likes to play a cover-2 defense that relies on the front four to apply pressure and plug the holes in the running game but his lack of blitzing will come back to bite him when he realizes that the Panther offensive line is not good enough to do all the work. Julius Peppers is a talent for sure but the training camp season-long loss of big defensive tackle Maake Kemoeatu will kill their ability to stop the run. This is the wrong defense for what the Panthers will be working with along the D-line.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-13)
This season’s current leader in the sweepstakes to tie the Detroit Lions in NFL futility is none other than the Tampa Bay Bucs. They scrapped most of the players that have made his franchise good over the last 5-10 years in the offseason and 3 or 4 wins might be a high-end expectation for this rebuilding club that is learning new schemes on both sides of the ball. Tampa Bay is too young to be expected to do anything this season and it’s going to be an ugly season for fans of the Buccaneers.
NFC West:
San Francisco 49ers (10-6)
What? I’m predicting someone other than the NFC championship winning Arizona Cardinals to take home the NFC West this season? Am I crazy? The 49ers played like a playoff team down the stretch last season and have all the pieces in place to make a playoff run if they get just average quarterback play. Shaun Hill flat out wins ball games but Alex Smith is in an open competition with him for the QB spot in the preseason due to his physical skills and the fact he’s owed a ton of money by San Francisco. The defense looks to be improved with linebacker Patrick Willis leading the way and the 49ers should do a large amount of successful running for fiery coach Mike Singletary. They’ll give him a reason to keep his pants on at halftime this season.
Arizona Cardinals (9-7)
It’s easy to look at the Cardinals’ playoff run and automatically pencil them in as the champion in this lesser NFL division but the fact of the matter is that there is a reason this team lost 7 games last season while scoring only a single point more than they allowed while ranking 28th in points allowed. Larry Fitzgerald might be the best receiver in the game today and Kurt Warned will find him in the endzone plenty but it’s not going to be enough to be anything other than slightly above average in 2009.
Seattle Seahawks (7-9)
The Seahawks have some solid veterans who are on the decline and I don’t think they’ll do all that well in the first year of coach Mora’s reign in Seattle. It’s never easy to teach an old dog new tricks and the talent level simply isn’t there for another playoff run after Seattle dominated this division in recent seasons. They are still skilled enough but I’ll call for the new schemes on both sides of the ball enough to make the learning curve outweigh any existing talent from the glory years.
St. Louis Rams (5-11)
Steven Jackson might be the best running back in the NFL today but that won’t matter much when he has nowhere to run thanks to the patchwork offensive line the Rams will field this year. Future Hall of Fame Orlando Pace is gone and relying on top draft pick Jason Smith to play at the same level is just asking too much. Jackson will lack the running spaces he is used to getting and Marc Bulger’s play in recent years seems to indicate he’s likely on the backend of his career. The defense should show improvement but is still only an average unit at this point
