NFL Roundup - NFC North/East

The 2011 NFL season starts tonight with a mouth watering clash between the two previous Superbowl Champions when the New Orleans Saints travel to Titletown to face the Green Bay Packers. Both teams will be hopeful of a deep playoff run but will face stiff competition from their respective conferences which are two of the strongest in the NFL. 2010 ended on a sour note for the Saints as they were unceremoniously dumped out of the playoffs by the Seattle Seahawks, but it was nothing short of a fairytale for the Packers who won three difficult away games before clinching victory with a 31-25 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

So what can we expect from this year’s teams, here is my division by division look at how the teams did in 2010 and what they can hope to achieve in the 2011NFL season. (I will break it down into two divisions per post just to make things easier to upload.)

NFC North

Chicago Bears – The Bears were one of the surprise packages of 2010, the key addition of Julius Peppers bolstered the defensive line and brought the monsters back to the midway, after Offensive Co-ordinator Mike Martz stopped trying to kill his own Quarterback the Bears found some rhythm, won the division and made it to the NFC Championship game. Major question marks over the offensive line, and the health/mind set of Jay Cutler, plagued their offseason but the group looked comfortable if not spectacular. First round draft pick Gabe Carimi looks set at Right Tackle and with key additions to the Defensive Line and Secondary the Bears have the ability to grind out wins again, but everything will rely on how Martz calls the games on offense and how Cutler can execute them. They could win anything from 4-14 games as a tough schedule in the division and against the NFC South will not be easy.

 

Detroit Lions – With an away victory finally under their belt and an impressive end to the 2010 season things look to be heading in the right direction for a team that has struggled since the turn of the century. Jim Schwartz is building a formidable looking defence spear headed by 2010 first round pick Ndamukong Suh. If Matthew Stafford can stay healthy then the tools are in place for their first winning season in some time, but as the former number one pick has missed more games than he has played in his two seasons in the league this is not a guarantee. Another solid draft has loaded the team with talented young players but the unwillingness/inability to strengthen their O Line could come back to haunt them. The Lions are everyone’s sexy pick for a good season their goal should be to win eight games and take it from there, this may be a season too soon for the Lions to challenge for playoffs but there is definitely a roar coming from Detroit.

Minnesota Vikings – One of the bigger disappointments of the 2010 season was the Vikings and the ‘end’ of the Bret Favre experiment. Favre was to prove ineffectual before eventually being knocked out on a frozen University of Minnesota field after the roof of the Vikings stadium had collapsed under the weight of a heavy snow fall, a move that added injury to insult. Favre is now gone and another veteran QB with a point to prove is in, Donavon McNabb will take over the reins of an offense and team that are still on the cusp of a playoff run, Adrian Peterson will still be the focal point of the offense but it is the defense that will need to step up as the aging unit will need to return to its dominant best for the team to compete with their high powered division opponents who are all capable of putting up big scores. As with the previous two teams this could be anything from a great to a poor season in the twin cities as the playoffs are definitely on the Vikings mind but it’s not an easy road.   

  

Green Bay Packers – How can you not be amazed by the 2010 performance of a group that consistently lost key players to injury but kept unearthing major contributors with each casualty. Aaron Rodgers blossomed from a promising QB into a world beater and few teams could cope with the four receiver sets spread offense. The Packers have looked to strengthen their O line by taking Derek Sherrod in the first round as if you can keep Rodgers upright his vision and the multiple receiving threats will carve open any team. The only area of concern for the Packers, apart from having a tough schedule, is the number of changes of the defence, key veterans such as Cullen Jenkins and Nick Barnett have left leaving a very young front seven, but this is the same group that won the Superbowl so no need for panic.

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys – After a horrendous 2010 season, in which Jerry Jones was hoping to see his team lift the Lombardi Trophy in his brand new $1Billion stadium, Americas team will be hoping to bounce straight back with a return to the playoffs. Two units will have to step up for this to happen; the Offensive Line will have to play considerably better than it did in 2010, the Cowboys have addressed this by drafting Tyron Smith and jettisoning Leonard Davis and Andre Gurode, and the secondary which remains average at best, attempts to sign free agent Nnamdi Asomugha failed and starting the season with the same safety pairing will not inspire confidence. On the plus side Felix Jones looks ready to be a primary running back, the receiving core is strong and Rex Ryan should inspire the defense, in particularly the front seven to be aggressive and destructive. Big pressure however will once again fall on the shoulders of QB Tony Romo, can he shake off the title of Mr September and finally make good and become Mr January.

New York Giants – It’s not often that you win ten games and fail to make the playoffs but miss out they did due to tie breakers having been beaten by Green Bay in the regular season. The Giants were a good team, finishing in the top ten in the four major yardage rankings but they were unable to overcome the injury problems like the Packers. These injury problems look set to strike again, second round pick Marvin Austin has already been lost for the season along with eight other players and first round pick Prince Amukamara will miss at least the opening four games. The Giants when fit would be a challenge for anyone, its only four years since this group won the Superbowl and with Eli Manning, a running back tandem and the emergence of Hakeem Nicks as a number one receiver the only thing standing in the way of a giant play of push is the treatment room.

Philadelphia Eagles – The Eagles or ‘The Dream Team’ as new addition Vince Young has crowned them have loaded up for a run at the Superbowl with an array of talent rarely seen since free agency. Michael Vick got his big contract and DeSean Jackson will surely be next, put these alongside LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin, Brent Celek and Steve Smith along with a solid line and the Eagles offense looks the real deal again. The defense bolstered by Cullen Jenkins, Jason Babin, Casey Matthews, Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is also star studded and the only detraction will be if all these players can gel together and form a cohesive unit, and the big question of which Pro Bowl corner do you leave out or get to play the slot. With no apparent weakness this could be the Eagles year but it didn’t work out for Miami Heat and their ‘Dream Team’.

 

Washington Redskins – Can a team that has a QB battle between Rex Grossman and John Beck be taken seriously as a threat in the NFC East, probably not but things could be about to turn around for the Redskins. Mike Shanahan is beginning to put his stamp on a team that has got away from making big free agency splashes (Albert Haynesworth, Adam Archuleta, Andre Carter – how did theyt work out) and are building the core of a team, especially on defence. Shanahan has spent first two top draft picks on Outside Linebackers adding Ryan Kerrigan to Brian Orakpo to form a possibly dominating tandem and smart additions such as Barry Cofield, Adam Carriker and Oshiomogho Atogwe should provide the building blocks for the future. Tim Hightower will spearhead the rushing attack behind an improving line that will benefit from adding Chris Chester as well as 2010 draft pick Trent Williams and former Pro Bowler Jamaal Brown. Shanahan has always been able to produce good running numbers and could once again return to the well and turn this once great franchise around, just don’t expect too much too soon.