2015 NFL Season Preview

These Season Preview’s are becoming less and less.  I used to try and do a whole magazine on each team.  Now, I feel like 1 or 2 sentences are the max I want to do!  And I have much more to say on each team than that, but it gets so exhausting!  All the typing, my poor fingy’s (yes, fingy’s).  So if you don’t like this and prefer the old way….piss off, it ain’t coming back!

AFC East

New England Patriots – Defending champs, no Revis and Browner will hurt, but they’ll still run away with the division after yet another boring offseason with no drama…

Miami Dolphins – They had a good offseason, I still don’t think they’re anything great or ready to compete for the division though.

Buffalo Bills – The D is going to be amazing, and I expect an initial boost from Rex Ryan’s arrival.  But over time he will fail because he doesn’t know how to build an offense.

NY Jets – Todd Bowles has his work cut out for him.  Great D just like the Bills, but no offense just like the Bills.

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens – They look REALLY solid yet again.  Lost in all the NFL offseason talk was that they really should have gone to the Super Bowl in the AFC had it not been for a 2nd half collapse against the Pats.

Cincinnati Bengals – So much talent, too much Andy Dalton.  I don’t know what else to say, other than along with everyone else I’m just waiting for this team to stop making the playoffs every season and release Dalton.

Pittsburgh Steelers – They’re right there with the Ravens and Bengals, but that secondary could get lit up bad all season.

Cleveland Browns – They don’t rent this spot in the division, they own.

AFC South

Indianapolis Colts – They don’t rent this spot in the division, they own.

Houston Texans – Solid all around…except where it matters most.  Brian Hoyer is better than Cleveland treated him, but I don’t think he’s good enough to get this team over the hump.

Jacksonville Jaguars – The Jags are going to play hard, and Blake Bortles has the tools to become a top 15 QB in the league.  But they still are likely a 6-10, 7-9 team.

Tennessee Titans – I could see Mariota giving them a jolt initially, I think out of the gate he’s going to be much better than Jameis Winston, but over time I honestly see him going more the way of Kaepernick/RGIII than Russell Wilson.

AFC West

Denver Broncos – Don’t over think this.  They’re still the class of the division.  Their problems are in December and January, not September or October.

Kansas City Chiefs – The Chiefs are getting some buzz this offseason but I don’t really get it.  2013 they were in the playoffs, last year they just missed, they’ll be in that race again this season and might get in, might not.

San Diego Chargers – I like them, but I worry the “moving to LA” talk could be a distraction this season.  Getting the Rivers extension done was huge though and I do think Melvin Gordon is going to give them an elite running game.

Oakland Raiders – I could use the “they don’t rent, they own” line again here, but they are massively improving.  Carr has a lot of really intelligent football people excited, not just homer fans.  Fans and media also forget that Jack Del Rio built some damn good teams in Jacksonville.

Wildcard Winners

Cincinnati – I just think there is no reason to believe they won’t still be a good regular season team.

Kansas City – Like I said, they’ll compete for it, and this year I believe Alex Smith has some improved weapons to get them back in.

AFC Title Game

Indianapolis vs Baltimore

I’m not that sold on the Colts, but they play in such a soft division that I see them as the top seed, then they win the divisional game at home.  The Ravens are just damn good and proven in big spots.

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys – I have them first, but while they were very smart for letting Murray walk, virtually not replacing him is scary and they brought in a lot of head cases which almost never works.

Philadelphia Eagles – 10-6?  I’ll say 11-5 or maybe even 12-4 should Sam Bradford stay healthy.  But man…that is such a big IF.  They’ll be damn interesting to watch.  I fully trust Chip Kelly though.

NY Giants – The O-line is improved which is so key for them.  When Manning has time to throw, he can pick a D apart.  Don’t let the INT’s fool you, it’s a result of trying to do too much, not being an inept QB.  But I still think they only go 8-8 or 9-7.

Washington Redskins – Bring your brooms, cause it’s…a mess!  Solid movie, awful character who said that line, but it’s very apt here.  I honestly feel bad for Redskins fans, but at least the mess has distracted the media from their nickname.

NFC North

Green Bay Packers – No Jordy Nelson, no problem.  Having James Jones pop available was so perfect for them, I don’t think they’ll skip a beat on offense.

Detroit Lions – The D line isn’t as good but they were a completely different team under Jim Caldwell, after I thought it was an awful hire.  Shows how much I know…

Minnesota Vikings – This seasons offseason darlings.  They made a lot of noise, they now have a lot of weapons, everyone is gushing over Teddy Bridgewater, there is a team like this every year.  They’re on the right path, but they aren’t a playoff team yet.

Chicago Bears – They’re in the middle of a rebuild.  This in no way looks like a John Fox team right now, so it’ll likely be 2 or 3 seasons before they’re back to competing with the Pack.

NFC South

New Orleans – Most years I pick them based on Sean Payton being the best coach, Drew Brees being top QB.  I still think that, but I think they’re going to benefit big time from the Jimmy Graham trade.

Carolina Panthers – I never like them, but I give them credit.  Ron Rivera gets the most out of his teams.  No Kelvin Benjamin is going to hurt a lot this season.

Atlanta Falcons – Improved O-line and a much overdue (in my opinion) coaching change should help a lot, but I still have a tough time saying they’ll compete for the division.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – I believe Winston will make a lot of big mistakes which will hurt their win totals, but I do think he’ll put up pretty big numbers.  Lovie will eventually turn this mess around like he did with the Bears.

NFC West

Arizona Cardinals – If Palmer had stayed healthy they were going to win this division last season.  Well coached, well quarterbacked, great D.

Seattle Seahawks – Still going to be dominant for at least 1 more season, but I think it’ll be tough to sustain the regular season success they’ve had with this division being so tough.

St. Louis Rams – Is Nick Foles legit or was it Chip Kelly?  Spoiler alert, it was Chip Kelly.  But Foles might be solid enough to finally get this team to the next level.

San Francisco 49ers – What a difference a year makes.  They were 1 play away from their 2nd straight Super Bowl appearance in January 2014, with a really young group.  Now, I think they’re going to be one of the worst teams in football.

Wildcard Winners

Seattle – Easy Seahawks fans who seemingly jump down my throat any time I don’t think they’re the greatest team of all time.  Still going 11-5 or so.

Detroit – 2nd year in a row they’ll be the 2nd wildcard team, and this year I believe they may do some damage in January.

NFC Title Game

Green Bay vs Seattle

Same time, next year.  Only this time the Seahawks will travel to Wisconsin.  The Packers have the best QB in the league in his prime, and enough weapons and D to push the Pack to this spot.  The Seahawks again I state will have a bit of a down year in the regular season, maybe will take a while to find their swagger like last season, but come January they’ll be a beast yet again.

Super Bowl

Baltimore vs Green Bay

I believe this is the same as Peter King has, but trust me I’m not looking to copy anyone.  I just can come up with reasons why the rest of the teams won’t make it to the Super Bowl, and can’t find many to support the Ravens and Packers not getting there.

Super Bowl 50 Winner

Baltimore

More balance than the Packers.  I’ll let you in on a little secret…I’m a pretty big Packers fan.  I don’t really have a team but the Packers are probably as close to “my team” as it gets.  But the Ravens are just a much more balanced team.  WR core is a little shaky coming into this season, but I believe they’ll get that figured out, the D is fully rebuilt since Ray Lewis and Ed Reed retired, John Harbaugh is maybe the most underrated coach in the league, and Joe Flacco might be boring but the guy isn’t intimidated by any moment.  Ravens win their 2nd Super Bowl in 4 seasons.

Ok, so those predictions will proven wrong by about week 3.  So let’s get this party going!

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