Miami Dolphins the 24th best team in the NFL

Last year was such a great year for the Dolphins, they replaced such a large quantity of players and still came out of the year winning the very difficult AFC East division but the Patriots losing Brady for the year certainly helped them.  This year it is going to be much more difficult for them and that is not just because Brady will be fit all year (hopefully).

 Another problem for the Dolphins will be the fact that teams will have spent most of the summer working on schemes to handle the wildcat formation.  This is formation was one of the main reasons the Dolphins won so many games last season and is one of the reasons the Dolphins drafted Pat White.  White is like Michael Vick in many ways though not with the prototype height but then he can actually throw the ball to his own team more often than not.  Due to the NFL being a copycat league then I’m sure more teams will start to run the wildcat next year but the basis will be of a run first throw second.

The Dolphins have an interesting team with a lot of high draft picks, some who have performed to there potential (Jake Long) and some who haven’t (Ted Ginn Jr).  For them to maintain the high level they produced in 2009 they need all there players to play to a high level again.  Personally I’m not sure that Pennington is going to have that good a year again.  You seen in the playoffs how badly the Dolphins struggled when they turned the ball over.

Due to all this I feel that the Dolphins will end up 5 – 11 and will again get the chance to use a top ten draft pick.

San Francisco 49ers the 25th best team in the NFL

The 49ers have again changed offensive coordinators and so yet again the QBs in the team have to learn a new system.  This is one of the reasons that Alex Smith has failed to live up to his potential although injury has also hampered him.  This is actually a shame since I feel he is properly a very good QB but needs a change of scenery to live up to the potential he showed in college.  Another player who failed to live up to his potential last year was Frank Gore again due to injury mainly and Mike Martz running a throwing offensive scheme.  Then the third offensive player who failed to live up to his potential was Vernon Davis.  Here is a player who has the ability and talent to be one of the best tight ends in the league but his attitude and work rate is holding him back.  Vernon Davis is easily better than Winslow but doesn’t do enough in games to justify the draft pick the 49ers used on him.

 For the 49ers to have a decent season they need all three of these players to step up to the plate though it is still doubtful if Smith will actually get the starting job but I have the feeling the 49ers will give him one more chance this season.  If these players can get the offense going then a highly talented defence should give them a lot of wins, especially in the weak NFC West division.  This defence includes one of the top linebackers in Patrick Willis and cornerback Nate Clements.

 Coach Mike Singletary who is in his first full season of being a NFL coach will try to introduce a new work effort into this team but may need to work on his people skills.  He especially needs to learn that not every player on the team has as much talent as he did or as the players who were on that Bears team of ’85.

 Though I think they will be ok this season I still only think they will win 5 games.

Buffalo Bills the 26th best team in the NFL

What can you say about the Bills?  So much that there actually isn’t enough space to write most of it, but lets start.

 Where does this team actually want to play?  Canada?  America? Anywhere except Buffalo it would appear.  I do understand from a financial part of point that they are trying to give some games to Toronto so that they can increase the fan base but why take away regular games away from their own fans?

 Then we get onto the players and the team and the coach.  How the coach still in a job, this  is one question that I would like to know.  He hasn’t really done anything that means he should be in a job but somehow he still is.  Now we come to the main talking point in Buffalo for the last few months – Terrell Owens.  I really like him as a player but his attitude is well documented but on paper he seems to produce his best work effort and numbers during his first season.  Only time will tell if he manages to do the same again in Buffalo though his presence should help Lee Evans numbers.

The only reason to watch Buffalo this season

 

 

 Now onto the running back, young Mister Lynch!  He really needs to buck up his ideas and when he gets out of his suspension he needs to put up some serious numbers.  His absence in the first 4 games gives some other guys a chance to put up some numbers and maybe keep the starting job. 

Overall I think the Bills will have a poor season finishing with a 5 – 11 but this will not have anything to do with Terrell Owens who actually will be good for this team.

New York Jets the 27th Best team in the NFL

The Jets have made properly the best coaching appointment of the summer and this was due to the fact that they were the first team to hire a coach in 2009.  In Rex Ryan they have a defensive guru who in time will be held as one of the best of all time but now he needs to show that he can take the next step and become a great head coach.

Ryan is one of the lucky coaches who actually inherited a decent team but has the problem of replacing last years starting QB.  But I think that getting rid of Brett Favre is a good thing since he was such a distraction to the team last year and choked at the end of the season.  Though when you look at the replacements they have on offer, Clemens and Sanchez, there can only be one winner and that is Mark Sanchez.  Sanchez turned out to be the most wanted QB in the 2009 draft with the Redskins, Jets, Broncos and a few other teams looking at him.  In the end the Jets jumped up the draft board and gave up a lot to get him and only time will tell if it was the right thing to do.

 Other plus points for the Jets this season are the presence of a decent running game in the form of Thomas Jones who in my opinion is one of the most underrated running backs in the NFL.  Let’s not forget that the Bears fell apart when they got rid of Jones to the Jets but then they did try and replace him with Cedric Benson.  The Jets also have a decent defence and should hold there own during most games this season but I think the lack of an experience QB will affect them this season and will mean the team with a losing record.  It actually surprised me that they never made a move for someone like Leftwich or Garcia but they obviously believe in Clemens and Sanchez.

For this reason I think that the Jets will end with a record of 5 – 11.

Cleveland Browns the 28th best team in the NFL

Before I begin off on holiday tomorrow so I’ll have a week off from these and will get on the 27th best team a week on Monday.

Yet another team who have a new head coach this season though at least they managed to get someone with some NFL experience in Eric Mangini.  I was in fact looking through all the NFL teams and there are 11 teams that have new head coaches that is pretty scary since it is showing you how little time a NFL coach is getting to bring a winning formula to a team.

I actually like the appoint of Mangini since this is a coach who did ok with the Jets especially when you consider the fact that he had the unstoppable Patriots to deal with one season.  The main reason he got fired is the same reason Childress will get fired from the Vikings at the end of this up coming season, the Brett Favre experiment.  Mangini and the Jets decided to hang everything they had on Favre being better than Pennington and it just didn’t work.  It might have been ok if Pennington and the Dolphins had been poor again but the fact they won the division and the Jets throw it away spelt the end for Mangini in New York.  The other good thing the Jets did with Mangini was to get him on board early, which allowed him to assess players before free agency really got going and for him to create a draft board.  

Although Browns fans and the majority of the media weren’t very impressed with the Browns moving down the draft so much I actually quite liked it.  Mangini got more draft picks, 3 in round 2, and he also got alot of players he knew that he could trust.  Another team stockpiled round 2 picks, New England, and they have a decent draft record to say the least.  Look out for the three second round picks to get a bit of playing time in Cleveland and do well.

I even like the way he got rid of Winslow since it was obvious he overrated himself and was also obvious he didn’t want to be anywhere near Cleveland so we hang onto a guy who has been a huge disappointment from the word go.  This guy couldn’t hold onto a motorbike so how is he going to hold onto the ball!

The issues facing Cleveland this season is sorting out the wide receiver position, Edwards wants traded (they shouldn’t do this), Stallworth is banned and Cribbs is close to a holdout.  This is why I think the two wide receivers picked in round 2, Robiskie and Massaquoi, could have decent seasons.  Though the Browns need to hold onto Edwards since he needs to put up a really big year for them to get decent trade value or for him to get a big contract.  Plus they need to get Cribbs into camp since he is easily one of the top 3 return specialists in the NFL at present.  They struggle enough without starting every drive 15 yards further down the field.

Then we come to the QB position, Anderson and Quinn, are both decent QB’s but you can’t afford to have them both on the roster for the money they are costing.  Personally I think it is time to give Quinn a full season but not sure Mangini agrees.

For all of these reasons I fell the Cleveland Browns will go 4 – 12 and have the number 5 pick in the draft for 2010.

Kansas City the 29th best team in the NFL

The last three blogs about the three worse teams in the NFL have all started negatively so I thought I’d make this one positive.

 So here we go, Kansas did the right thing on Tuesday signing starting QB Matt Cassel to a 6 year contract worth about $63 million, yes it is alot of money but have you seen the starting QB’s in Kansas since Trent Green left?  Plus why would you waste a 2nd round pick to let the guy leave in free agency the next year.  Then you have to add in the fact that not only did they get a good QB for a 2nd round pick they also got a veteran leader in linebacker Mike Vrabel.  Having someone like that around your team can only be a good thing.  The last positive thing i can think of for the Chiefs is the hiring of Scott Pioli as GM, this is a guy who knows how to build a winning franchise and this can only be good for Kansas City.

 Now here comes the easy part, the negative things about Kansas City.

 Firstly why do you let the best TE to play the game go for only a second round pick.  Yes I know he didn’t want to be there but i doubt he wanted to be there for a while now.  Never stopped Tony putting in the effort or putting up the numbers.  I bet you Matt Ryan is over the moon at getting Tony on his team.  Secondly have you seen their schedule over the first 7 weeks?  The only game you can see them winning is the Oakland Raiders at home and yes that is only the second game in but the rest are a mess.  The entire NFC East, the Ravens and the Chargers!  That is a tough schedule no matter who you are.  Strangely if they actually beat one of the NFC East teams they may decide who makes the playoffs from that division.  I do actually think by their bye week which is week 8 that the Chiefs will have gotten two wins under their belts but that is going to be about it for the season.

 The things Kansas need to happen for a decent season are Matt Cassel to manage the game well, this isn’t New England where you get the ball back fairly quickly.  They also need to get a running game going to help Cassel but I’m not sure that Larry Johnson is the man to do it but I hope differently.  The defense needs to produce turnovers at fairly regular rate.

 Though in saying all that I still thing the Kansas City Chiefs will have another poor season and will finish 4 – 12 getting them the number 4 draft pick in 2010.

St Louis Rams the 30th best team in the NFL

When you look at the schedule for the St Louis Rams this upcoming year, you really don’t see a lot to be pleased about, especially when you see that they are facing the AFC South and the NFC North this season.  Let’s look at some of the main players in these teams:-

• Aaron Kampman – DE / LB Green Bay
• Jared Allen – DE Minnesota
• Tommie Harris – DT Chicago
• Mario Williams – DE Houston
• Dwight Freeney – DE Indianapolis
• Kyle Vanden Bosch – DE Tennessee 

 All of these gentlemen and a few more will be loving the fact they have a game versus the Rams and their dodgy offensive line.  This was the major problem with St Louis last year and although they did draft a quality lineman in Jason Smith he might not be enough to keep Marc Bulger healthy for the season.

 The Rams are yet another team to bring in a new coach, this time it is defensive guru Steve Spagnuolo from New York Giants.  This is probably the best coaching move by any team in the NFL this year but like Tom Cable, Josh McDaniels and Jim Schwartz, he is going to need at least 3 years to sort out this roster.  Although the Rams do have some nice players in Steven Jackson, Marc Bulger and Will Witherspoon they also have some really glaring holes in their roster.

 The Rams biggest problem is that they may be be 0 – 3 by the time they play the 49ers in week 3 with 2 of their first 3 games being on the road.  Then you add in the fact the first home game is against the Packers who might have actually worked out the 3 – 4 defense by then.  In fact if you actually study the Rams schedule they have a fair chance of being 0 – 8 by the time they hit their bye week in week 9, since they only have  3 games at home.  Though you do hope they beat the Lions in week 8.

 Overall this will be a tough season for St Louis and they will finish it 3 – 13 and will have the number 3 pick in the 2010 draft.

Oakland Raiders the 31st Best team in the NFL

Oakland, like a lot of teams down at the bottom of the NFL, have changed coach since the start of last year.  Gone is boy wonder Kiffin and in comes Tom Cable on a permanent basis.  Tom did get some caching time last season and was a respectable 4 – 8 during his 12 games in charge but I’m afraid that he won’t win that many games in 2009/10.  The main problem in Oakland is Al Davis and this has actually been the problem for a while now.  The man is slowly losing his marbles and spends way too much time interfering with game plans and his coaches.  The Al Davis syndrome is the reason that the Raiders have made so many strange draft picks over the last few years.  Right from the time he picked a kicker in the first round, Sebastian Janikowski in 2000, to him picking wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey last year Al Davis has done his best to ruin the Raiders.   

Like Matt Stafford at the LIons, I believe Heyward-Bey will be a decent player in the NFL the only problem being the fact that across the bay the best WR in the 2009 draft, Michael Crabtree, will have an outstanding year and career.  Experts can say what they want about Heyward-Bey but the only reason Al picked him was because of his speed and we all know how successfully picking the quickest guy at a position as been in the NFL.  In the Al Davis world Jerry Rice would never have gotten picked due to his lack of speed but someone like Troy Williamson would be a starter.  In fairness Al Davis isn’t the only owner, GM or coach that thinks this way but it still doesn’t help his team any.

JaMarcus Russell will be the starting QB for the Raiders this season and this is another reason they will only win a few games.  Again he could be a top player in the NFL but like David Carr if you are the wrong team your career tends to go belly up before any thing good happens.  Jeff Garcia should be the starter for Oakland and this would give them a much better chance of winning and staying in contention in what really is a very poor division.  There are now 3 teams in the AFC West that are in a transition period with new coaches and 1 team that should be a Superbowl contender.  

For the Raiders to do well this season Russell must control the football better than he did last year, 8 Ints doesn’t look that bad until you realise he only throw it 368 times, plus he only completed 53.1 percent of his throws which is about 20 percent down than it should be.  The other big name star in Oakland, Darren McFadden, will also need to seriously improve on his performance from last year.  Darren’s problem, like what Heyward-Bey’s problem will be, is he was outshone by players drafted much lower than him at the same position.  Chris Johnson, Felix Jones and Matt Forte are three names that jump to mind.

The only good thing in Oakland right now is the fact they have one of the best cornerbacks in the business, Nnamdi Asomugha, though how if the Raiders don’t improve I can’t see him staying beyond his 2 year of his contract.

The Oakland Raiders will go 3 -13 this up coming year and because of this they will have the second overall pick in the 2010 Draft that no doubt Al Davis will ruin.

32nd Best team in the NFL

Last season was a first for the Lions losing all 16 games and I’m afraid that this up coming season isn’t really going to be that much better for what really is a very poor team.  During the 2009 Draft they had a chance to up grade the offensive line which was a real problem for them but instead decided to waste two first round picks on Matt Stafford (QB) and Brandon Pettigrew (TE).  Ok I do get the selection of Matt Stafford because this team needs a decent QB and a face of the franchise but I’m not convinced that Stafford is going to be that good.  If he is to blossom in the NFL then he needs to spend most of the season as a backup to Culpepper and learning the offense.  Though the chances of this happening are slim especially if they have only won 1 game by the time they have their bye week, which is week 7.

The new coach, Jim Schwartz, should help change the attitude of the club but he needs time to get the club going in the right direction and I’m afraid that this doesn’t mean they are going to do it in a year like Miami did.  For the 2010 season I predict that the Detroit Lions will win 2 games which is at least an improvement on 2008 but will still be good enough for them to get the number 1 pick again in next years draft.

Their schedule doesn’t really help them having to play the AFC North which just happens to have two of the best defenses in the league, Steelers and Ravens, plus all of their divisional rivals have improved or are going to improve.  Bears having gotten Cutler and the Vikings going to get Favre who happens to like playing the Lions.

For the Lions to have success of any kind they need to see a big improvement from wide receiver Calvin Johnson and from running back Kevin Smith both of whom have been high draft picks over the last few years.

Detroit Lions will go 2-14 and finish up as the worse team in the NFL for the second year running.

I’m back again

Having not written anything on this blog for about 3 months I thought I would give myself something to do during my summer holidays and do a profile for each team in the NFL as well as making comments about anything else that happens in the world.

I’m going to start this from Monday onwards but may add a few things between now and then.

On the sporting front the Ashes started today with some good play from both teams though Australia will be the happier team after taking two late wickets.

In the computing world Google have announced that they are going to produce a OS software for netbooks that should make Bill and all his friends at Microsoft slightly unhappy.