NFL Regular Season Preview 2013

OnTheSidelines’ NFL Regular Season Preview 2013

By Aidan Geraghty @1895Aidan

The 2012 NFL Season culminated with the Baltimore Ravens winning their second Super Bowl in the franchise’s 17 year history. Although the Ravens reached the AFC Championship game in 2011, the general consensus was that the Pittsburgh Steelers would return to supremacy in the AFC North and Baltimore would have to settle for a wildcard berth. However, Ray Lewis and Joe Flacco led their team to the promised-land in the former’s final season in the league after beating the NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers in New Orleans.

“Enough about last year”, you say? Alright then, let’s get down to business. As alphabetical order dictates, we’ll start with the AFC.

AFC EAST

1. New England Patriots (12-4)
2. Miami Dolphins (8-8)
3. Buffalo Bills (5-11)
4. New York Jets (5-11)

Nobody will be surprised to learn that Tom Brady and Co. are still top-dogs in the AFC East, despite the young-guns in South Beach starting to make some noise. The Dolphins have a bright future with Ryan Tannehill and Mike Wallace forming a dangerous quarterback-wide receiver combination but it will be another few years before they overtake the Pats for supremacy in the East. Buffalo have cut their losses with Ryan Fitzpatrick (now in Tennessee) after sustained mediocrity but CJ Spiller is still an explosive running-back and they drafted EJ Manuel from Florida St. to replace Fitzpatrick. The season won’t be a total disaster but they have to play the Patriots twice, the Saints and the Steelers so it’ll be another tough season for the tortured Buffalo fanbase. The Jets’ problems are well-documented with the Tebow experiment not working out but Mark Sanchez has some healthy competition in rookie quarterback Geno Smith and the return of Santonio Holmes from injury they should be able to get them 5 wins with teams like Oakland in their schedule.

AFC NORTH

1. Cincinnati Bengals (10-6)
2. Baltimore Ravens (9-7)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (8-8)
4. Cleveland Browns (4-12)

After signing Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco to a long-term contract, the Ravens had to cut ties with some stars like Ed Reed and Anquan Boldin. Cinci may be the most improved team in the league over the past few years; Andy Dalton is making a name for himself under center and he has an ever-growing arsenal around him with names such as AJ Green, Brandon Tate and rookie Tyler Eifert. The Steelers are starting to get old and aren’t much more than a .500 team, Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu are both the wrong side of 30 and the latter missed a lot of last season through injury. The Browns found their quarterback last season in Brandon Weeden but they’re still a long way away from competing in this talented division.

AFC SOUTH

1. Indianapolis Colts (11-5)
2. Houston Texans (10-6)
3. Tennessee Titans (6-10)
4. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-13)

Andrew Luck brought Indy to the playoffs in his rookie season after the Colts were the worst team in football the year before. Expect the Colts to improve even more this year as Luck gets to know the league better and wins his first division title. Houston is still an exceptional defensive team and has offensive weapons in Matt Schaub and Arian Foster. They will win 10 games to get the first wildcard and the 5^th seed in the playoffs. Tennessee have acquired Ryan Fitzpatrick from Buffalo and they will be hoping a change of scenery will see the Harvard alum improve his game. Jacksonville is one of the worst teams in this league and will win no more than 3 games. They will have the number 2 draft pick. Again.

AFC WEST

1. Denver Broncos (12-4)
2. Kansas City Chiefs (7-9)
3. San Diego Chargers (5-11)
4. Oakland Raiders (2-14)

The AFC West is the worst division in football but in it is the best team in football. The Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning will win 12 games, rolling over their division in the process and getting the number 1 seed in the AFC. Every other team will be below .500. Andy Reid and Alex Smith have brought some life into Kansas City, who had the first pick in this year’s draft but they’re still not a playoff team. The Chargers are a mediocre team whose players don’t do a lot to help quarterback Philip Rivers. Oakland is an organisation in complete disarray and will have the worst record. That’s right, worse than the Jaguars!

So, the AFC playoff picture looks like this:

1. Denver (12-4)
2. New England (12-4)
3. Indianapolis (11-5)
4. Cincinnati (10-6)
5. Houston (10-6)
6. Baltimore (9-7)

Now, we’ll switch over to the NFC. Expect this to be a lot more competitive with the lower seeds in the playoffs being wide open right until week 17.

NFC EAST

1. New York Giants (10-6)
2. Washington Redskins (9-7)
3. Philadelphia Eagles (8-8)
4. Dallas Cowboys (8-8)

The NFC East is probably the most competitive division in the NFL. Therefore, it’s the hardest division to predict. Last season, Robert Griffin III led his Redskins past the reigning Super Bowl champion Giants to win the division in his rookie season. Then, he got injured in the wildcard round against the Seahawks and it’s unlikely that he’ll be ready to start the season. The extra break will give Tom Coughlin’s team the opportunity to get a headstart and take the division back to The Big Apple. Philly have replaced longtime coach Andy Reid with Chip Kelly, whose read option offense will confuse NFL defenders in the first few weeks of the season. However, Philly don’t have the roster for a winning season in this division and will have to settle for a .500 season. Dallas will also be stuck at .500 as Tony Romo will collapse down the stretch as per usual.

NFC NORTH

1. Green Bay Packers (11-5)
2. Chicago Bears (9-7)
3. Detroit Lions (7-9)
4. Minnesota Vikings (6-10)

As they have done for years, the Packers will continue to dominate the NFC North. The Bears’ O-Line will continue to hinder Jay Cutler’s potential. They will win 9 games but fall short of the wildcard. Detroit has the best receiver in football in Calvin Johnson who could score points all day but their defense is leaky and can’t they can’t outscore every team they play. Minnesota has Adrian Peterson but Christian Ponder is an awful quarterback and they’ll never be more than mediocre until they sort that problem.

NFC SOUTH

1. Atlanta Falcons (12-4)
2. New Orleans Saints (9-7)
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-10)
4. Carolina Panthers (5-11)

Atlanta will have the best regular season record in the NFC behind the arm of Matt Ryan. He has weapons such as Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez from which to pick, so they should win this division comfortably. New Orleans will be a better team this season with the return of Sean Payton and they’ll take the second wildcard spot. Tampa Bay will be better defensively after acquiring Darrelle Revis from the Jets but they won’t challenge the big two in the South. Carolina is too dependent on Cam Newton’s running style but they lack a passer. They won’t raise any eyebrows this season.

NFC WEST

1. San Francisco 49ers (11-5)
2. Seattle Seahawks (10-6)
3. St. Louis Rams (8-8)
4. Arizona Cardinals (4-12)

The 49ers and the Seahawks both opened some eyes last season with scrambling rookie quarterbacks. Seattle reached the second-round of the playoffs and San Fran was beaten in the Super Bowl. Many are tipping Seattle to win the division, but I believe they are an overrated team who will win 10 games and take the first wildcard berth. St. Louis is an improving team and Sam Bradford now has some legitimate threats out wide. This division is too tough for them, though, and they’ll have a .500 season. Arizona has yet to supply Larry Fitzgerald with a good quarterback and until that happens, they’ll be a bad team.

The NFC Playoff picture will look like this:

1. Atlanta (12-4)
2. San Francisco (11-5)
3. Green Bay (11-5)
4. New York (10-6)
5. Seattle (10-6)
6. New Orleans (9-7)