Chicago over 9.5 -115 2 units The Bears were 11-5 and made it to the NFC Championship game in 2010 and last year they were 7-3 before Jay Cutler and Matt Forte went down. Brandon Marshall comes in to bolster their receiving corps and Mike Martz leaves as offensive coordinator, which is addition by subtraction [...]
AFC Wild Card #6 Buffalo Bills (10-6) at #3 Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5) The Bills got to the playoffs following the decent quarterback, strong running game, good defense, easy schedule model. Those teams almost never make it out of the first round. Steelers 20 Bills 10 #5 Tennessee Titans (11-5) at #4 San Diego Chargers (10-6) [...]
Offense The Dolphins are frequently considered one of the worst teams in the league, but they had a solid season last year. They finished 6-10, which isn’t great, but they had a Pythagorean Expectation of 8.5 wins, which ranked 14th in the NFL and a DVOA that ranked 18th. They went 6-6 once they switched [...]
Offense The Jets have been in the news so much lately that you’d think they were 3-time defending Super Bowl Champions. Instead, all they did was trade for Tim Tebow a few months ago. The reason they did that was because Mark Sanchez regressed in his 3rd season in the league last year after back-to-back. [...]
Offense It was really a tale of two seasons for the Bills last year. In their first 7 games, they went 5-2, with a win over New England. Their only two losses came by a field goal against eventual playoff teams Cincinnati and the New York Giants (on the road), and their other 4 wins [...]
Offense I’ve talked a lot about parity in my previews before. One team that hasn’t been subject to the ups and down of the NFL over the last decade is the New England Patriots. Since 2001, the Patriots have 9+ games every season, won double digit games in 10 of 11 seasons, made the playoffs [...]
Offense Al Davis is gone and a completely new regime is in charge. New GM Reggie McKenzie was hired this offseason and fired Hue Jackson, their previous Head Coach, replacing him with new Head Coach Dennis Allen. Unfortunately, this new regime has been completely screwed over by the old regime. Hue Jackson’s trade for Carson [...]
Offense In 2010, the Chiefs made the playoffs, winning the AFC West with 10 victories. In 2011, they won just 7 games, but suffered major injuries to Jamaal Charles, Eric Berry, Tony Moeaki, and Matt Cassel. Charles went down for the season week 2. Moeaki missed the entire year, as did Berry, with the exception [...]
Offense The Broncos won 8 games with Tebow last year and he can’t throw. Now that they have Peyton Manning, they’ll definitely win 12 or more games. That seems to be the common opinion out there, but it’s flawed. Yes, they did win 8 games last year, but they did it on the strength of [...]
Offense There was a time when the Chargers would make the playoffs every year and then disappoint once they got there. From 2004-2009, the Chargers won the division and made the playoffs 5 times in 6 seasons, going 67-29 over that stretch, but they went just 3-5 in the playoffs and never advanced past the [...]
Offense In 2010, the Buccaneers were a 10 win team that didn’t deserve to win 10 games. They only played 6 games against teams who finished .500 or better and only beat one of them, beating the Saints week 17 when the Saints were resting their starters in the 2nd half. They beat up on [...]
Offense Think the Panthers made the right selection with the 1st overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft? After scoring 12.3 points per game in 2010, fewest in the league by 4.6 points per game, the Panthers scored 25.4 points per game last year, which was tied for 5th most in the NFL. Rookie quarterback [...]
Offense The Falcons have made the playoffs in each of the last 2 seasons, but have not won a single playoff game. Matt Ryan, in fact, has not won a playoff game in his career, despite making the playoffs in 3 out of his 4 seasons in the NFL. For what it’s worth, I think [...]
Offense The Saints’ offseason went about as badly as any offseason where you don’t lose major players could go. First there was BountyGate, which caused the Saints to lose their top pass rusher, Will Smith, for 4 games, their starting middle linebacker, Jonathan Vilma, for the season, and Head Coach Sean Peyton for the season. [...]
Offense It’s crazy to think that the Vikings were in the NFC Championship game in 2009. 2010 was a lost year because they had a suddenly decrepit Brett Favre at quarterback and they won just 6 games. They started over in the 2011 NFL Draft, using the 12th pick in surprising fashion on Christian Ponder, [...]
Offense It’s amazing that just a few years ago this team didn’t win a single game. They were completely devoid of talent and in just a few short years, Jim Schwartz and Martin Mayhew have reversed years of terrible decisions by the Matt Millen regime. In 2008 they didn’t win a game and in 2009 [...]
Offense The Bears were off to a 7-3 start last year, one year after going 11-5 and making it to the NFC Championship game. In my opinion, the Bears’ 7-3 start last year was more impressive. Their 11-5 2010 record was not fully indicative of how they played. They had a Pythagorean Expectation of just [...]
Offense Normally teams who win the Super Bowl have a bit of a hangover the following season. Apparently no one told the Packers who promptly ripped off 13 straight wins to start the 2011 season. Aaron Rodgers took the next step as a quarterback, winning his first MVP and setting the league’s single season record [...]
Offense Believe it or not, if the Jaguars had beaten the Colts week 15 in 2010, they would have won the division and made the playoffs. They didn’t and they lost their final 2 games and finished the season 8-8 outside of the playoffs. Last offseason, they decided to rebuild and gave up their 2nd [...]
Offense What a difference Peyton Manning makes. After winning 10+ games for 9 straight seasons (the longest active streak in the NFL at the time) and 12+ games in 7 of their last 8 seasons, the Colts won a mere 2 games last year and at one point sat at 0-13. Andrew Luck will undoubtedly [...]
Offense Under Jeff Fisher, the Titans were always one of the most conservative offenses in the league. However, that’s no longer the case. Head Coach Mike Munchak, along with offensive coordinator Chris Palmer, has instituted a more wide open, pass heavy offense. Only Detroit and Tampa Bay ran less than the Titans did last year [...]
Offense The Texans broke out in 2011, won the AFC South with 10 wins, and made the playoffs for the 1st time in their franchise’s still short history. What’s even more impressive is the fact that they did this despite their quarterback and their #1 (and only good) wide receiver only playing in the same [...]
Offense Poor Browns. The franchise has not made the playoffs since 2002 and in the 9 seasons since, they’ve lost double digit games in 8 of 9 seasons, 11+ in 7 of 9 seasons, and finished in last place in 7 of 9 seasons. Last season was no different as a popular sleeper team heading [...]
Offense The Bengals shocked everyone in 2011, going from 4 wins to 9 and securing the AFC’s 6th and final playoff spot. Every year since 2003, at least one team has improved from 5 or fewer wins and made the playoffs and last year that was the Bengals. Andy Dalton not only beat the odds as [...]
Offense It seems like forever ago that the Cardinals were in the Super Bowl, but it was really just February of 2009. It’s amazing what a difference Kurt Warner made. Since he retired after the 2009 season, their yearly sacks allowed have nearly doubled and their passing production has plummeted. Derek Anderson and Max Hall [...]