1) Washington
Redskins
The Redskins were relevant last year for the first time in a
while. A 10-6 record and playoff
appearance gave fans a reason to be excited, but spending the offseason
following the medical reports of their franchise QB as well as the back and
forth sniping between said QB and Mike Shanahan tarnished that a bit.
RGIII had a spectacular first season and topped Andrew Luck
for the annual top rookie honor, but I’m sure he would trade that award to not
be rehabbing a torn ACL as he heads into his sophomore campaign. He was held out of preseason action but is
reportedly ready to go; a fact that received a bit of media attention this
preseason. Unless he changes his style
of play (namely knowing when to give up on a play) I worry that the volume of
hits he takes will limit his explosiveness and possibly cost him games. I think we’ll see a good bit of Kirk Cousins
this season, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Alfred Morris goes under the radar, but all
he did as a rookie was finish second in the league in rushing behind Adrian
Peterson as leader of the league’s most productive ground game. Roy Helu is more than capable of taking over
the load should he be needed. I don’t
love their receivers as a group, but I do think Pierre Garcon is in line for a
really big year. He’s finally over his
foot issues and is unquestionably RGIII’s primary target. Behind him Josh Morgan, Leonard Hankerson,
and Santana Moss are containable. Fred
Davis is back from his Achilles injury and looked good this preseason. He could end up RGIII’s second favorite
target behind Garcon.
I saw what the Shanahans did with a rookie QB, a rookie RB,
and without their best pass rusher. It
would be foolish to think they won’t be able to handle adversity, such as RGIII
missing some time (which I think will happen).
The Redskins repeat.
MVP – RGIII
Breakout – David Amerson
Disappointment – DeAngelo Hall
2) Dallas
Cowboys
With three straight third place finishes, Jerry Jones has to
be as antsy as ever for his investment to start paying dividends. As a result, Jason Garrett enters the season
on a hotter seat than any other coach in the league.
I don’t think there’s a QB in the NFL that draws as much
“hate” as Tony Romo. You’d think he was
Sanchez or Locker with the amount of criticism the guy gets. He’s easily the best QB they’ve had since
Troy Aikman, but being winless in the postseason since ’09 almost always comes
back to (fairly or unfairly) the guy under center. Speaking of center, first round reach Travis
Frederick is the only addition they’ve made to a poor offensive line. Tyron Smith didn’t progress last year, and
Doug Free regressed even more, if that’s possible. Give Tom Brady and Peyton Manning this
protection, and they’ll start hearing boos too.
Jason Witten may still be Romo’s favorite target, but Dez Bryant showed
late last season that he’s on his way to becoming one of the game’s elite
receivers by totaling 50 receptions and 10 TDs in his last 8 games. Miles Austin has become a forgotten man as
hamstring issues have limited his explosiveness the last couple of
seasons. You could do a lot worse than him
as your #2 receiver. In Dallas , the running game
takes a back seat to the passing game.
That will continue to be the case if DeMarco Murray can’t put together a
complete season. There’s talent but no
experience behind him on the depth chart.
Monte Kiffin returns to the NFL as the Cowboys defensive
coordinator. With Kiffin comes a switch
to a 4-3 front, but much of last year’s base personnel returns. How will they adjust to the new scheme? How aggressive will this scheme be? DeMarcus Ware is a factor in any scheme, so
he should have no trouble adjusting.
Anthony Spencer on the other hand will be one to watch. Will he reach double digit sacks again? Jason Hatcher is a force in the middle, but
Jay Ratliff has been in a decline both on and off the field. Bruce Carter should thrive at WLB being able
to show off more of his speed and pursuit in that role. Sean Lee is a force when healthy, but he
missed most of last year with a foot injury.
They’re good at corner with the veteran Brandon Carr and second year
player Morris Claiborne. Like Bryant,
Claiborne’s play improved down the stretch last year. My biggest concern about this defense is at
safety where they should be tested quite a bit within the division. Barry Church is returning from an Achilles
injury, and Will Allen is an uninspiring veteran signed this offseason.
I’m still in Romo’s corner, but the Cowboys can’t afford to
have another dismal year on the offensive line, nor can they remain at the
bottom of the league in rushing. I think
those will be the key reasons they don’t win the division.
MVP – Tony Romo
Breakout – Bruce Carter
Disappointment – Anthony Spencer
3) New York Giants
The Giants missed the postseason for the third time in three
seasons, falling horribly apart in the second half by losing five of their last
eight games. An offseason has passed,
but questions still remain regarding Coughlin’s crew.
It’s no coincidence that the Giants’ season headed south
when Eli Manning’s play deteriorated. I’d
like to blame it on a lack of weapons, but even with Hakeem Nicks struggling
with injuries throughout the season, he had the dynamic Victor Cruz and skilled
Martellus Bennett at full go and a running game that was still one of the
league’s most productive. Does he bounce
back, or is this the Eli that Giants should expect to see in ’13? Cruz got paid and can now focus on putting up
a third straight 80+ catch and 9+ score season.
I’m worried about Nicks, but second year receiver Rueben Randle is ready
to jump in and prove himself. Brandon
Myers replaces Bennett at tight end, but I don’t think that’s an upgrade. David Wilson takes over as the primary ball
carrier, and his workload increased when Andre Brown broke his leg in preseason
action. Whether he’s doing it for
motivational purposes or not, Coach Coughlin is not happy with Wilson ’s progress as a pass blocker. The Giants will struggle if Wilson isn’t able to rise to the occasion as
the feature back, but I think he’ll be fine.
How worried are Giants fans about JPP? Their best pass rusher underwent back surgery
this offseason and won’t be on the field when the Giants take on the Cowboys to
open the regular season. Pierre-Paul
exploded in ’11 with 16.5 sacks but fell back to earth with ten less in
’12. They’ll be in bad shape if he can’t
be his usual terrifying self seeing as how the Giants as a team had 15 less
sacks in ’12 than they did the previous year.
Osi Umenyiora finally got his way and is out of New York , so he’s no longer an option. The Giants will need Justin Tuck to regain
his ’10 form after two straight disappointing seasons. Mathias Kiwankua will get his wish of moving
back to defensive end, and they’ll need him to be ‘the guy’ until JPP
returns. Cullen Jenkins and Johnathan
Hankins are large (literally and figuratively) additions to the interior, but
unfortunately, the Giants didn’t get any better at linebacker this
offseason. Keith Rivers, Mark Herzlich,
and either Spencer Paysinger or Jacquian Williams will be the starters. The secondary may be worse. Corey Webster stunk last season, Prince
Amukamara hasn’t come anywhere close to meeting expectations, and Terrell
Thomas is trying to come back from last year’s ACL injury. The more they let Antrel Rolle play at
safety, the better off they’ll be. Stevie
Brown becomes a starter with Kenny Phillips joining the Eagles.
The fact that there’s no clear leader in this division plays
into the Giants favor, but I worry that the defense won’t be able to make up
for any offensive shortcomings, especially as long as JPP is out.
MVP – Eli Manning
Breakout – David Wilson
Disappointment – Jason Pierre-Paul
4) Philadelphia
Eagles
The most intriguing team may be the one expected by many to
finish dead last. The Chip Kelly
experiment is underway, and everyone is wondering just how well his offensive
style will do in the pros.
Unfortunately, it looks like the other side of the ball may be their
undoing.
Dog Killer won the starting job over Nick Foles, but given
the former’s health and performance in recent years, the latter should stay
loose. If DK can stay healthy he’s got a
chance at a huge bounce back season in Kelly’s up tempo offense. The one guy they’ll need to bounce back most
is running back LeSean McCoy. After
scoring a whopping 17 TDs on the ground in ’11, McCoy totaled an extremely
disappointing 2 in ’12. I think he
bounces back this year; maybe not all the way to 17 TDs but significantly
nonetheless. Bryce Brown showed himself
to be capable of handling the load in McCoy’s absence and figures to be a
regular part of Kelly’s offense. DeSean
Jackson is a player who should thrive in this offense. He’s a dynamic talent whose skill set Kelly
is sure to take advantage of. Jeremy Maclin’s
season is over before it started after an ACL tear in training camp which will
have the politically incorrect Riley Cooper starting in his place. There’s good news up front where the
offensive line should be much improved over last year. Jason Peters appears healthy at left tackle,
and Jason Kelce returns after missing nearly all of last season. Getting those two back is huge, as was adding
the athletic Lane Johnson in the first round of the draft.
Here’s where I expect to see problems. Philly was one of the worst teams in the
league in points allowed last season, and judging by the way things went this
preseason, this year looks like a repeat.
The Eagles will be running a new defense with quite a bit of new
personnel. Rarely does that work seamlessly. I like Fletcher Cox who should fit well next
to Isaac Sopoaga up front. Their top
pass rushers look to be Trent Cole and Connor Barwin. Both are coming off largely disappointing
seasons where they each tallied three sacks after posting at least 11 in ’11
(Barwin had 11.5). Brandon Graham has
yet to meet expectations but remains in the mix. Second year LB Mychal Kendricks should get a
chance to display his versatility, but I wonder if DeMeco Ryans will regress
again back in a 3-4 set? Here lies the
biggest mess. Cary Williams and Bradley
Fletcher replace Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. While the latter two were disappointments in
Philly’s odd scheme, I’m not sure the new duo is going to have a ton of success
against teams like Dallas and New York who go vertical regularly. Free agent signing Kenny Phillips didn’t even
make the final cut, so Nate Allen and another free agent, Patrick Chung, will
be the safeties. Not promising.
I think the Eagles will score a lot of points on offense but
surrender even more on defense. It will
be entertaining, but I don’t expect them to win many more than the four they
won last year.
MVP – LeSean McCoy
Breakout – Mychal Kendricks
Disappointment – Trent Cole
Division MVP – Tony Romo
Division Breakout – David Wilson
Division Disappointment – Jason Pierre-Paul
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