@BrewMastrJoe on twitter
1. New England
Yes, they lost Super Bowl earlier this year and the defense wasn't at its best performance. But when a HOF head coach and QB are entering their 13th season as a tandem: advantage New England.
The bean town juggernaut improved it's struggling defense through the draft, drafting a defense end and linebacker in the first round. They bolstered their deep receiving corps with the addition of Brandon Lloyd, and hope Dan Woodhead and company can produce the a healthier run game. The offense ranked 2cd in the passing attack, and if "Yo Soy Fiesta" boy and Brady match what they did last year, look out NFL.
The Patriots regular-season schedule also seems to favor them as well. They won't face an elite QB until week 5 (Manning) and really won't see another QB challenge them until week 14 (Schaub).
2. New York Giants
I'll be honest here. The Giants are 1 of 2 teams in this top 10 that I've found to be over-rated. They finished the season with a 9-7 record, good enough to get to the playoffs, and started playing ball at the right time. But will that translate into next season? Doubtful. Second year rookie star corner back Prince Amukamara upgrades the defense, but the team did not address the defense in the draft, instead opting to add depth to an aging offensive line. The Giants 5th ranked passing attack will carry this team, but I don't expect this team to match last year's success.
Instead, we will most likely watch them implode against their own division. I picked this team to be a .500 team last year, and I'm basically sticking to that prediction for this year. They will fade out of the Top 5 by the end of week 2.
3. Green Bay
15-1 in the regular season doesn't mean much if you can't get past the 2cd round. The Packer's spent most of the regular season in shoot-outs with their opponents masking their deficiencies on defense. The team had mediocre success when it came to stopping the run, but the secondary couldn't stop the pass ranking 32cd and giving up an average of 300 yards a game. The Packer's are built for the regular season, but not the playoffs. The lack of run game has surprisingly not hampered this offense's potential, but this is a copy-cat league and the Giants did leave a blue print. But with Aaron Rodgers under center with his various weapons (which posted the 5th ranked passing offense) this team is still poised to take the NFC by the balls.....again.
4. Ravens
The Raven's aging defense put up impressive numbers last year leading the league in rushing yards against and fourth in passing yards against also. The team addressed some defensive depth needs via free agency and the draft. The defense has aged another year, but it doesn't look to be slowing down soon. The aging offensive line was addressed in the off-season, but if this team is going to rely on Joe Flacco's arm (which is mediocre at best) it's going to be a long season. Most of its success came through the ground game via Ray Rice. The stats say it all. When the Ravens pass 50+ times, they have yet to win. When rice has 25+ carries, they have a higher percentage at winning the game. Good thing they signed Ray Rice to a 4-year deal.
5. Steelers
Has anyone ever noticed Tim Tebow's arm beat the Steeler's number one ranked passing defense? OK, yes, he did it without the starting safety, but he still had 10 other guys to beat. The Steeler's offense has received an overhaul bringing in Todd Haley as the new offensive cordinator. The offense will suffer a huge blow if they can't retain vertical threat Mike Wallace (holdout), as he is in a bitter contract dispute after being franchise tagged this past off-sesaon. It's going to be another great battle for the AFC North division crown this year, but the success of both offense/defense on this team is going to come down to health. Troy Polamalu and Ben Roethisberger are a few that come to mind.
6. 49ers
Meet the second over-rated NFL team on this list. Playing in one of the worst divisions in football, half of the 49ers wins came from the lackluster NFC West. Rookie head coach Jim Harbaugh did lead this team to an astounding 13-3 record with a horrendous QB and the 8th best rushing offense. What really kept this team afloat was the defense. Easily one of the best rushing defenses in the league last year, San Francisco would punish their opponents for rushing the ball, and turn them into a one dimensional passing offense. It remains to be seen if the Golden Gate team can recapture last year's magic. They've got a pretty tough schedule ahead of them (outside of their division) and Alex Smith isn't known for his consistency (Urban Meyer QB's never translate well to the NFL) and the 49ers showed that by trying to recruit Peyton Manning. Funny how most 49er fan's seem to have forgotten that.
Newly hired general manager Phil Emery made some bold moves this past off season and has made it clear that he wants this team to win now. Bringing in Brandon Marshall through trade, drafting a solid defensive end, a second wide-out threat, and figured out a way to pay Matt Forte. He has set them up with a revamped wide receiver corps, depth at the running back position, added depth to the defensive line and secondary. The older and solid defense needs a consistent pass rush on opposing QB's, and most importantly, it needs to create turnovers. The defense struggled against the pass (according to statistics), but that's a little misleading because the scheme they run allows short passes underneath the linebackers allowing opposing teams to rack up pass yards, but not points. The Bear's enter this season with a lot of optimism and added talent. Now they just need to execute and stay healthy.
8. Texans
Ground and Pound. The Texans posted some pretty impressive defensive numbers last year while they rushed their way into the playoffs. Injuries to the team derailed their playoff success as they lost to the Ravens with Matt Schaub on the sidelines and T.J Yates taking snaps under center. The Schaub-Johnson-Foster tandem only played 3 1/2 quarters together, in total, last season. As the 2012 season approaches the healthy trio looks to dominate the AFC South again and lead the Texans to another division title.
9. Saints
The Saints organization is in disarray. Plagued with a drama filled off season that led to a year long suspension for head coach Sean Payton and middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma, the defense now finds itself in transition after Greg Williams left the team for the Rams(then was banned from the NFL). Saddled with the 3rd worst passing defense, the Saints former all-star defense struggled against pure passing NFL QB's. The off-field issues and departures is why the Saints find themselves on this side of power rankings. When you have Drew Brees as a QB and 2 strong NFL drafts over the last two years, expect to see this team make its way back to the top 5 by the end of week 1 of the regular season.
10. Falcons
The Falcons climaxed in the 2011 divisional playoffs when they went one and out being eliminated by the Green Bay Packers. Since then, despite the talent they've added, the Falcons seemed to have plateaued. The offense is explosive and has weapons with a solid running game, but the defense struggles against the pass, and has never been consistent. The Falcons play in a competitive division, facing the Drew Brees and the Saints twice, with a visit from Josh Freeman, and Rookie of the Year Cam Newtown.
I imagine Mike Smith will be smelling the hot-seat if they fail to make the playoffs this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment