The trendy thing these days is to create your own power rakings of teams and so instead of doing an NFL preview by division like I did last year I’m going to rank the teams from first to worst and then reveal them in reverse order starting with my worst teams and finishing at the top. I’ll still do some predictions of how I see the season ending; division winners, MVP, ROY and my Super Bowl picks (pay no attention to the face that I picked Houston vs. Atlanta for the Super Bowl last year). This is all in fun and as I proved last year I know a lot about the NFL and yet my predictions can still suck. My Houston/Atlanta Super Bowl was a big miss but I also said an NFC team would finish 10-6 and miss the playoffs, Arizona did just that. I also said Bruce Arians and Carson Palmer would be a great fit but the division was really tough, total hit on that one. I missed on my Rex Ryan and Jason Garrett would be fired during the season predictions but I was right about Peyton Manning winning the MVP award. I had 4 out of the six playoff teams right in both conferences but I whiffed big time on Carolina (they won their division, I had them being terrible) Atlanta (yikes) and Washington was atrocious instead of winning the NFC East. In the AFC I had New England, Cincinnati and Denver all correctly winning their division but Houston completely blew it for me. The AFC was pretty even in the middle with San Diego and Kansas City proving to be better than I thought and only Cleveland not being competitive like I thought they might. For all my friends out there that wonder why I don’t bet on sports, this is why I don’t bet on sports. At least in Fantasy Football I have a fighting chance.
On to The Hott Read’s NFL Power Rankings
The Terrible Twosome
32. Jacksonville Jaguars (2013 Record 4-12):
I could have flipped a coin to decide which team got the bottom spot but I decided to go with the team that seems to have the least idea of what they want to do. On offense they just spent their top three picks on offensive players (a QB and two WRs) but they don’t intend to play Blake Bortles instead they are going with run-of-the-mill QB Chad Henne. I understand not wanting to throw a one-year wonder like Bortles into the lion’s den especially with a shaky (and that’s being kind) offensive line but I’m not sure putting the statue known as Chad Henne behind center is going to help. LT Luke Joeckel is a talented player but he didn’t even play a full game at LT last season before breaking his leg and missing the rest of the year. LG Zane Beadles is a nice pickup (even if he is overpaid) but the rest of the line isn’t scaring anyone, except the QB depth chart. They signed free agent RB Toby Gerhart to get younger at tailback and add a guy with fresher legs. The youth movement on offense is completely understandable for a rebuilding franchise which is what makes the defensive moves so strange.
The major defensive acquisitions on defense were the signings of DEs Chris Clemons and Red Bryant from the Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks. Head Coach Gus Bradley obviously knows these two from his days as Seattle’s defensive coordinator and while the Jaguars needed pass rushing help the signings of two guys on the wrong side of 30 is questionable. Questionable would be an upgrade at many of the defensive positions. MLB Paul Posluszny was just signed as a free agent a few years ago and is pretty good but he also turns 30 this year. OLBs Geno Hayes and Dakoda Watson are in their mid-twenties and while they are fine they aren’t exactly setting the world on fire. The secondary is of the most concern though. There is an old saying “never bring a knife to a gun fight” and the NFL passing game has become a gun fight and the Jaguars are using a plastic butter knife to defend themselves. CB Dwayne Gratz isn’t terrible but he shouldn’t be the top CB on any team. Alan Ball is probably the worst starting CB in the NFL. SS Jonathan Cyprien has loads of potential but it’s hard to see amongst the see of mediocrity. As for FS Winston Guy well I don’t think he’s keeping offensive coordinators up at night.
The past two drafts have given the Jaguars some hope in the form of some potentially good players but the drafts from 2008-2012 were awful. Signing free agents is part of the equation but look at any good team and the bulk of their rosters are drafted by the teams themselves. The Jaguars have a long way to go to dig themselves out of the hole that 5 year stretch dug them. If they hit on Bortles it would go a long way to climbing out of their perpetual rebuilding phase.
31. Oakland Raiders (2013 Record 4-12):
The only team that could give the Jaguars a run for their money on cluelessness would be the Raiders and their draft futility extends even farther back than the Jags’. I’m not sure if the Raiders actually knew what they were doing this year or they just lucked into a solid draft class to build on but it finally looks like they get it. Khalil Mack, Derek Carr, Gabe Jackson, Keith McGill and Justin Ellis could all contribute eventually but this team is still trying to build. QB Matt Schaub was brought in to bring stability to the position but his immobility and propensity for turnovers could become a problem given the lack of talent on offense. Free agent WR James Jones was a big play guy in Green Bay but he’s going to find it a lot harder without Aaron Rodgers throwing his way and without Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb taking all the coverage away. Signing RB Maurice Jones-Drew is a great idea, if this were 2009, but a RB that turns 30 next year and has over 1800 carries in his career is not an investment in the future. The Raiders offensive line is laughable with free agent castoffs Donald Penn at LT and Austin Howard at RG. LG Kevin Boothe is a journeyman and RT Menelik Watson is inexperienced and was bounced around a lot last year.
The Raiders defense has two pieces I absolutely love in OLBs Khalil Mack and Sio Moore other than that I’m not impressed. DT Pat Sims is solid and on this team that makes him look fantastic but it’s a mirage. Old guys LaMarr Woodley and Justin Tuck were brought in to help the pass rush, again not a bad idea if this were 2009 but not going to help as much now. CB DJ Hayden has talent but can’t seem to stay on the field and somehow Charles Woodson is still starting in the secondary for the Raiders. I had to double check to see if that was the same Charles Woodson from Michigan or if he had a son in the league now. There are a lot of people that want to judge head coach Dennis Allen on how this team performs but there is only so much a coach can do when he doesn’t have talent on his team.
Derek Carr has the potential to be the franchise QB this team has been looking for since Rich Gannon retired and I understand the impulse to not subject him to playing behind a bad offensive line. No one wants to see Derek Carr’s career take the same shell-shocked path his brother David’s did but Carr is a better fit than Matt Schaub. Schaub holds the ball too long and makes questionable decisions while Carr may make a bad decision here and there he’ll make them quicker and get the ball off a lot faster. A quick release QB can save a few sacks every game and make an offensive line look better than it is, just look at the Denver Broncos last year (well except for the Super Bowl).
Hoping we aren’t as bad as they are.
30. Tennessee Titans (2013 Record 7-9):
This is the first team on my list without a coach looking to save his job and that’s because last year’s 7-9 record already cost Mike Munchak this job and now Ken Whisenhunt is in charge. Munchak wasn’t completely to blame for the Titans never moving forward but he certainly seemed in over his head as the head coach. Whisenhunt proved he could coach when he took the Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl and he did a magnificent job as offensive coordinator in San Diego last year. Here’s the problem, he doesn’t have Kurt Warner or Phillip Rivers behind center in Tennessee and rolling the dice on Jake Locker seems like a losing proposition. I really like Tennessee’s offensive line especially with the addition of rookie Taylor Lewan because he brings depth and competition at tackle. The skill positions have potential but someone needs to step up as the star and whether it’s WR Kendall Wright or RB Bishop Sankey (my two choices) it would help if they had a good QB running things. Locker doesn’t lack for athletic talent but he hasn’t proven to be durable or all that capable. Whisenhunt brought in Charlie Whitehurst from San Diego to be the backup and that’s not bad but he hasn’t ever proven to be starting material either. Former LSU standout Zach Mettenberger is rehabbing a knee injury and sitting third on the depth chart but he might have the brightest future at the position especially under the tutelage of Whisenhunt.
Whisenhunt did a great thing in hiring Ray Horton to be his new defensive coordinator but that means the Titans are going to be transitioning from a 4-3 to a 3-4 and that transition is never easy when you don’t have the right personnel. The Titans don’t have natural 3-4 defensive ends and even though they signed OLB Shaun Phillips from Denver they lack the pass rushers needed to make Horton’s attacking style work. Derrick Morgan will transition from DE to OLB, he wasn’t exactly lighting it up from his DE spot and moving him farther away from the QB is probably not going to solve the problem. The breakout performer on last year’s squad was DT Jurrell Casey and he is going to be moving from his natural DT spot to DE and that might compromise the progress he made last year. The secondary took a hit in free agency with the loss of CB Alterraun Verner and while Blidi Wreh-Wilson should be able to step in the depth in the secondary is thin.
The questions at QB, the lack of elite playmakers on offense, an entirely new coaching staff and a massive transition on defense are going to make for a tough year in Tennessee. The Titans are lucky enough to play in a division with the Jaguars and the Texans so they may win more games than they should but year 1 for Whisenhunt could be tough and a high draft pick may mean big changes, like new QB big. I think Whisenhunt is going to want to get a look at Mettenberger at some point unless Jake Locker pulls a miracle out of the air and actually plays like a franchise QB.
29. Minnesota Vikings (2013 Record 5-10-1):
I am as big a fan of Teddy Bridgewater’s future as anyone and I like the fact that he has Adrian Peterson, Cordarrelle Patterson and Kyle Rudolph around him but he isn’t getting the call right away and the Vikings have other issues. Matt Cassel won the job coming out of camp and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing because the Vikings offense has a long way to go. New offensive coordinator Norv Turner is great but trying to get all of the pieces to fit together is a challenge and so will playing outdoors in the Minnesota Golden Gophers stadium while their replacement stadium is being built. New head coach Mike Zimmer will certainly bring a different attitude than former coach Leslie Frazier but all that attitude isn’t going to make up for the deficiencies this team has on the defense.
The defense wasn’t exactly stellar last season and I don’t think it is going to get markedly better this year. LB Chad Greenway has been a stalwart and LB Anthony Barr may be the future but Greenway can’t play forever and Barr is making a move to an OLB spot he isn’t going to be completely comfortable in. DE Everson Griffin was re-signed and while he played well last year he now has to produce like a starter because now he is one. Jared Allen may have lost a step last year but he still had to be accounted for in the pass rush. I love the signing of DT Linval Joseph and pairing him with Sharrif Floyd up front should help the front line tremendously. The Vikings need health in the secondary, especially Harrison Smith, and Xavier Rhodes and Captain Munnerlyn have to prove to be a solid duo at CB. The defense lacks overall depth and any injury would hurt them but the linebacker corps and the safety positions are especially thin.
If Bridgewater can build a rapport with Patterson and Rudolph it would be a very good sign for the future of the passing attack. The biggest problem on offense is can the passing attack get good soon enough to take advantage of having one of the best RBs in the NFL. The defense has all kinds of problems and while Barr has massive potential he isn’t going to be enough this year and the Vikings might be out of games too early to use Peterson the way they should.
28. Cleveland Browns (2013 Record 4-12):
A team coming off a 4-12 season bringing in a new coaching staff (again) and not quite sure who their QB is going to be this year. That doesn’t sound promising. Oh and their best offensive is suspended for the year, sounds like the Cleveland Browns to me. I’m having a hard time getting behind the Mike Pettine hire and it’s not because I have something against Pettine it’s just that I have that little faith in a team that has fired its last two coaches after a single season on the sidelines. Pettine is known to be a fiery kind of guy and that will work for a while but if the losses pile up that style will wear thin quickly with his players. Of course the season will most likely be defined by the Johnny Football and how quickly he takes over. Kyle Shanahan’s offense should be able to accommodate some of Manziel’s gunslinger style but Manziel is going to have to find a way to run the offense without running around all the time. RB Ben Tate was a nice pickup in theory because he fits Shanahan’s preferred style of running behind a zone blocking offensive line. However, Tate is injury prone and it won’t surprise me at all if rookie Terrance West ends up with more yards on the year than Tate, he is tailor-made for this offense.
Cleveland’s defense was better than its numbers showed last year because the offense was so inept the defense struggled at times. The loss of coordinator Ray Horton hurts but luckily for the players Pettine will bring in a similar scheme and the same attacking mentality they had before, now they just have to execute it better. The Browns have to get more than the roughly five sacks apiece they got from their three top pass rushers Jabaal Sheard, Barkevious Mingo and Paul Kruger. Their starting defensive line can be quite good at holding the point of attack and keeping the linebackers clear but these three have to get to the QB. Rookie ILB Christian Kirksey should pair nicely with free agent addition Karlos Dansby and the inside linebacker play should be much improved. The drafting of Justin Gilbert seriously upgrades the coverage in the secondary and bumping Buster Skrine to nickel corner helps too. Joe Haden is a legitimate top flight CB and he finally has a worthy running mate. The safety play needs to be better but not having to help out as much in coverage will help.
The Browns are trying once again to catch lightning in a bottle at QB because everyone knows the quickest way to turn around a franchise is to get a franchise QB. Manziel might be the answer eventually but throwing him out there with Miles Austin and Andrew Hawkins as his top two WRs is not going to turn things around. Tate and West should provide a solid running game and the offensive line should be better but a major turnaround off a 4-12 season with a new coaching staff just doesn’t seem likely. At least Johnny Football sells jerseys, tickets and should be fun to watch.
27. Houston Texans (2013 Record 2-14):
My 2013 pick to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl started last season with back-to-back wins and then proceeded to lose 14 straight games. That is why Gary Kubiak is now the offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens and Bill O’Brien is back in the NFL. The Texans have loads of talent on their roster, WRs Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins, RB Arian Foster, DE JJ Watt, OLB Jadeveon Clowney, ILB Brian Cushing, CB Jonathan Joseph, LT Duane Brown (one of the best in the league) so why am I picking them this low in the power rankings? The one position you don’t see listed is QB. As of right now the starting QB for the Houston Texans on opening weekend is Ryan Fitzpatrick. By all accounts Ryan Fitzpatrick is a great guy, a hell of a teammate and an extremely smart man but I’ve seen him play before and Bill O’Brien is a coach not a magician. The alternative is Case Keenum until this weekend when they finally pulled off the rumored trade for QB Ryan Mallet from the Patriots. This move would have been much better before camp because now Mallet is coming in without any reps with the team. He should be able to pick up the offense pretty quickly because it’s similar to the one he ran in New England. Mallet wasn’t very good in the preseason and that’s why he was available. Rookie Tom Savage should get a shot at some point but he just isn’t ready yet and by the time he is the season may be beyond repair.
The QB is the major problem and truthfully maybe the only problem on offense if Arian Foster can stay healthy at RB (a big if). There are more than a couple of questions on new defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel’s defense. Watt is a star and a difference maker or at least he was under the previous regime. Will Crennel get the best out of him? Jadeveon Clowney is an athletic freak and a QB’s worst nightmare but can he make the transition to OLB from DE? Jonathan Joseph is a great CB and DJ Swearinger has great potential at SS but will Kareem Jackson finally step up opposite Joseph? And who is going to be the FS? When there are questions at every level of the defense and you are dealing with a new coaching staff all of the answers rarely come out positive. Oh and if the defense plays lights out their QB is still Ryan Fitzpatrick.
We wish we were better.
26. New York Jets (2013 Record 8-8)
After going 11-5 in 2010 the Jet’s last three records have been 8-8, 6-10, and 8-8 and honestly it’s probably about where they will end up again. While 8-8 probably won’t be the eighth worst record in the NFL this year the Jets are just treading water because they just can’t help themselves. Their offense was atrocious last year and their solution was to go out and sign QB Michael Vick (just to make their QB competition that much more complicated) RB Chris Johnson (because Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell weren’t enough average RBs for the roster) and WR Eric Decker (a fantastic #2 WR when Peyton Manning was his QB but now he’s Geno Smith’s #1 WR). The term middling means medium, average or in the middle and that is what the Jets are and it looks like they plan to stay that way. If the Jets believe that Chris Johnson is going to have some sort of rebirth in New York after several below average years in Tennessee than I have a bridge in New York I’d like to talk to them about selling.
The defense played very well last year and that’s the reason they won 8 games and it’s because Rex Ryan is a fantastic defensive coach. The problem for the team is that while Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson proved to be fantastic defensive linemen in the 3-4 defense and they are young the rest of the defense is still questionable. OLB Calvin Pace was good last year rushing the passer but he’s 33 years old. CB Dee Milliner can’t seem to stay healthy and their secondary isn’t exactly brimming with talent. Rookie safety Calvin Pryor is going to be asked to do a lot on the back end. This defense was better than the sum of its parts last season and Rex Ryan is going to have to pull that off again to keep his team in games.
Michael Vick might be a better QB than Geno Smith but Geno is the future and Vick wouldn’t last four games behind the Jets offensive line. Decker is a talented WR but they have no one to pull coverage away from him. Stephen Hill just got cut and Jeremy Kerley is a nice 3rd WR but he isn’t scaring anyone. The Jets are just treading water until they figure out if Geno really is the franchise QB they need him to be and the defense is good enough to keep them in games in the meantime. I’m not sure they are giving Smith a fair chance with below average skill position players like TE Jeff Cumberland (good blocker but no threat in the passing game). They are hoping rookie TE Jace Amaro gives them another weapon but he’s a fairly one dimensional TE at the moment. The running game is going to be average at best unless Chris Johnson can miraculously pull one last great season out of his…legs. The only way this team gets better is if they hit the jackpot at #12 or so in the draft next year or Geno tanks and the season goes down the tubes and they actually start a rebuild next year. Middling is not where you want to be in the NFL it’s harder to get out of than being terrible.
25. New York Giants (2013 Record 8-8)
The other New York team is in the same boat as the first New York team. The Giants actually have a Super Bowl winning coach and QB combo so their reasoning for not going for a total rebuild is understandable (if you figure out the Jets’ reasons let me know). QB Eli Manning and WRs Victor Cruz, Rueben Randle and Odell Beckham are a nice start on offense but the rest of it is suspect. The biggest problem last year was their abysmal offensive line and while they didn’t ignore it their attempts to fix it were the proverbial band-aide on a bullet wound. Rookie C Weston Richburg is a talent and he’ll be starting eventually but the Giants still don’t know if it will be at C or OG, not a great position for a rookie to be in. Geoff Schwartz and John Jerry are veterans at OG but neither of them is making the Pro Bowl any time soon. OTs William Beatty and Justin Pugh are being counted on to make strides on their own and Eli has his fingers crossed. The big free agent addition was RB Rashad Jennings from the Raiders, no offense to him but he’s been in the league for six years and has never been a full-time starter. Last year he filled in admirably for Darren McFadden in Oakland but counting on Jennings to carry the load is foolish. Unfortunately RB David Wilson’s career is over at 23 because of a neck injury and the Giants are hoping Jennings is the answer. Jennings is 29 years old and the next 29 year old RB to breakout will be the first 29 year old RB to breakout. Rookie Andre Williams out of Boston College is a far better candidate to breakout in the backfield for the Giants and they need it. Williams is one of the worst pass catching RBs I’ve ever seen but he can carry the load on first and second down and he knows how to find the end zone.
The good news on defense is that Jason Pierre-Paul can’t possibly have as many injuries and be as ineffective as he was last year and at 25 years old he should bounce back. The bad news is that the Giants still have to start 11 on defense like everyone else and they weren’t very good last year. DE Damontre Moore, DT Jonathan Hankins and CB Prince Amukamara are young guys that have promise but older players like DT Cullen Jenkins, LB Jon Beason, SS Antrel Rolle and FS Quintin Demps aren’t getting better at this point. Beason is flanked by Spencer Paysinger and Jameel McClain to form the worst LB corps in the league and while free agent signee CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is in the prime of his career it may be wasted on this defense.
The Giants got a new offensive coordinator in Ben McAdoo who comes over after being QB coach in Green Bay. The offensive philosophy is going to change and that’s good news for Eli Manning because it means getting the ball to the playmakers quicker. McAdoo saw what Aaron Rodgers did with a supreme WR group and a solid running game and if he can coax a running attack out of Jennings or Williams it would go a long way towards helping the Giants get back into contention. I think the Giants defense is going to let them down but they may still end up in the middle of the pack if their offense gets straightened out.
24. Washington Redskins (2013 Record 3-13)
This team can’t possibly be this bad again can it? The tension plaguing QB Robert Griffin is gone now that the Shanahan’s are gone which should make for a more harmonious locker room. New head coach Jay Gruden (yep Jon’s brother) made Andy Dalton into a solid NFL starter (in the regular season anyway) so what can he do with a talent like Griffin. Washington went out and got WRs DeSean Jackson (the headliner) and Andre Roberts (underrated) to add to Griffin’s offensive weapons. WR Pierre Garcon was pretty good last year but with Jackson and Roberts as his new running mates he should be even better. TE Jordan Reed showed he could be playmaker and RB Alfred Morris is as solid as they come. So Washington has the skill positions in order but that wasn’t their main problem last season, the offensive line was terrible. Free agent LG Shaun Lauvoa and 3rd round draft pick RT Morgan Moses were the only new additions and they probably won’t be enough. LT Trent Williams is very good but he needs more help and at this point Moses hasn’t even beaten out incumbent RT Tyler Polumbus, that’s bad news for Griffin.
The Redskins lost the heart and soul of their defense when London Fletcher retired in the offseason. OLBs Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan are the two bright spots left on an otherwise aging depth chart. CB David Amerson may have a bright future but at this point he gambles too much and gets beat too often. The two big free agent additions on defense were 32 year old DE Jason Hatcher who joins 30 some things Barry Cofield and Stephen Bowen on the three man line and 34 year old FS Ryan Clark who joins 30 some things DeAngelo Hall and Brandon Merriweather with Amerson in the secondary. You would think a veteran laden defense would be better than this but you would be wrong.
The Redskins are another team that can’t figure out if they are going up or down. The offense has young exciting players in Griffin, Morris, Jackson, Garcon, Reed and Williams but the defense hardly has anyone in their prime or still looking to grow and get better. Griffin is the X-factor for this team because if he stays healthy he could carry them on his back but his style of play lends itself to getting injured and while Kirk Cousins is a solid backup he can’t carry this defense to many victories.
Injuries already derailed us.
23. Atlanta Falcons (2013 Record 4-12)
Out of all of the teams that had injury problems last year no one had more key ones than the Falcons…okay sorry the Packers actually win that title but the Falcons were a close second. They already sustained their first major injury so they are trying early to win the title this year. LT Sam Baker was lost during a preseason game and while losing your starting LT isn’t good news in the long run it might be for the best. Baker has never been a dominate player at the position and rookie OT Jake Matthews, who was slated to start at RT, can now move over right away and stake his claim to what was supposed to be his future spot. The offensive line was a disaster last year and having Matthews take over the cornerstone position is for the best. WR Julio Jones was off to a stellar start last year until an injury took him out early. QB Matt Ryan is going to be happy to have him and Roddy White back healthy this season. Steven Jackson’s age finally caught up to him and while Jacquizz Rodgers has been around for a few years look out for rookie Devonta Freeman when Jackson goes down again, and yes I meant when not if.
The defense is getting a whole new look as they are changing from a 4-3 to a 3-4 look. Newly signed DE Tyson Jackson and NT Paul Soliai fit the new scheme but they are hardly difference makers. This transition wasn’t made any easier when LB Sean Wetherspoon went down for the year early in camp (they really are getting a jump on that injury trophy). Osi Umenyiora and Kroy Biermann are making the transition to OLB and that might not be pretty. Rookie CBs Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford showed a lot of promise last season but they aren’t getting a lot of help from the front seven.
The AFC South division has a history of teams going from worst to first and the Falcons tied for worst in the division at 4-12 with the Buccaneers. The Panthers will struggle to retain their division title but if I were a betting man I’d wager on the Bucs making the turnaround not the Falcons.
22. St. Louis Rams (2013 Record 7-9)
The Rams play in the toughest division in football and they still managed to go 7-9 without their starting QB for a long stretch. Their problem now is that that QB just went out for the season with a torn ACL again. Sam Bradford’s ACL’s are made out of tissue paper yet the Rams rolled the dice again and it came up snake eyes. The new starting QB is 34 year old Shaun Hill and while he will be better than what they had last year after losing Bradford there is a reason why he’s only started 26 games in his 13 year career. WR Tavon Austin was drafted to be a major playmaker and the Rams still have high hopes even though he didn’t exactly set the world on fire in his first year. They brought in Titans castoff Kenny Britt because he is still young and has loads of physical ability. Jeff Fisher knows Britt well and Britt’s best years happened under Fisher. Zac Stacy was a revelation at RB as a rookie and carried the offense when Bradford went down; guess what Zac you’re up again.
The best front four in football resides in St. Louis. DEs Robert Quinn and Chris Long complement each other very well and DTs Kendall Langford and Michael Brockers are very good. The addition of rookie DT Aaron Donald takes this unit to a new level. LB Alec Ogletree had a good rookie year and he will just get better. The CBs are solid with Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson starting and Lamarcus Joyner adds nice depth as the nickel corner. MLB James Laurinaitis is a good leader and makes sure everyone knows where to be, he is the unsung hero of the unit and while he doesn’t get the credit he deserves his coaches and opponents know his value.
A division with the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks, the returned to glory San Francisco 49ers and a 10-6 Arizona Cardinals team with a chip on their shoulder because they didn’t make the playoffs is going to make improvement very tough for the Rams. The Rams couldn’t help themselves and they went with Bradford again and he again proved he’s made out of glass. A healthy season out of Bradford might have given this team a chance to compete but with Shaun Hill they are just mediocre and in their division that guarantees six losses. The Rams will have to cut bait with Bradford now and start over at QB their biggest problem is that they probably are too good everywhere else to be completely terrible. They can always hope a good QB falls in the draft.
If these two teams could combine they might be good but that’s not allowed.
21. Dallas Cowboys (2013 Record 8-8)
An offense that features Tony Romo with a healthy DeMarco Murray in the backfield and receiving threats like Dez Bryant, Jason Witten and Terrence Williams will put points on the board. The Cowboys finally stopped ignoring the offensive line and have invested first round picks in Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin over the past several years so what was once a major liability is becoming a strength. Tony Romo and Jason Witten aren’t getting any younger but they both still have some game left and Bryant, Murray and Williams are just coming into their prime. The offense is not the problem for the Cowboys but it seems like they forgot they have to play defense too. Their game plan must to be to outscore every opponent and while that isn’t much of a long term solution it is the only one they have at the moment.
The Dallas defense was terrible last year and they proceeded to lose DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher in free agency and then Sean Lee was lost for the season to a knee injury. Losing the three best players off of what was an awful defense doesn’t bode well for the upcoming season. The only big free agent addition was DT Henry Melton and that won’t be enough to make up for the losses on the defensive front. Rookie Demarcus Lawrence was supposed to be the guy to come in and bring some pass rushing help but he sustained a foot injury that he is trying to come back from so no one knows how much help he can provide or when that might happen.
The Cowboys offense is going to be good but they might crumble under the pressure of having to score 30 points a game just to have a shot to win. Barring the Cowboys having a record setting offense (and they would need to shatter the scoring record) this team will be lucky to get coach Jason Garrett another 8-8 season. While an 8-8 season might be enough to convince Jerry Jones to stubbornly keep Garrett like he has the past two off seasons if the Cowboys go 4-12 or 5-11 Jones is going to have a really hard time justifying Garrett’s job. Of course if there is one thing we can count on from the Cowboys it’s Jerry Jones’s stubbornness.
20. Carolina Panthers (2013 Record 12-4)
The Panthers are the first team I’m choosing to take a huge step back this season. After going 12-4 and winning their division I see this team slipping which is something that happens a lot in the NFC South. They are the inverse of the Dallas Cowboys in the fact that they have a fantastic defense but their offense looks incredibly bad especially on paper. The Panthers lost their top 4 WRs from last season (Steve Smith, Brandon LaFell, Ted Ginn Jr., Dominik Hixon) and their offensive line lost stalwart LT Jordan Gross. The offensive line wasn’t exactly a strength last season anyway and losing Gross means moving Byron Bell to LT and slotting Nate Chandler in at RT, Cam Newton can’t be happy about these moves. C Ryan Kalil is the only player on the offensive line that rates as above average so not only is Newton going to be in a hurry to throw the ball but he’s working with an entirely new and underwhelming WR corps. Rookie Kelvin Benjamin has to step up and become the go-to guy because veterans Jason Avant and Jerricho Cotchery are not going to scare anyone. RBs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart are decent backs that are going to struggle behind this offensive line.
The good news for the Panthers is that there defense will keep them in games. They have arguably the best defensive line in the league with DEs Charles Johnson and Greg Hardy flanking DTs Kawann Short and Star Lotulelei. Reigning Defensive Player of the Year Luke Kuechly backs them up at MLB and tackles everything in sight. The secondary wasn’t great last year and many of their problems were masked by the fantastic front four but the Panthers are hoping that the addition of a new safety tandem in Roman Harper and Thomas DeCoud will help on the back end.
The Panthers offense looks like a mess and it could really set Cam Newton’s development back if the offensive line is as bad as it seems and if Kelvin Benjamin doesn’t step up as they hope. TE Greg Olsen is going to be Newton’s only reliable target in the passing game and that only helps if Newton stays on his feet. This team takes a major step back as both Atlanta and Tampa Bay take steps forward in the division and New Orleans is still tough.
The Hott Read 