The good, the bad, the maybe.

Alan Torres
Sep 4, 2018 · 13 min read

Surprises

Cleveland Browns

I cannot believe I am writing something positive about the always trash Browns. All the history you need to know about the Browns is that they have won 4 games in 3 years, and they have started about 29 different quarterbacks in 18 years; very sad. But this year looks very, and I mean VERY, different. It all comes down to one thing and one thing only… they have so much damn talent everywhere.

They have been building for a very long time and finally feels like after a million years, the stars have aligned for the Cleveland Browns. That defense is packed,with 5 of their current 11 starters being former 1st or 2nd draft picks, the talent is overwhelming. Names like Damarious Randall, Denzel Ward, Jabrill Peppers, Myles Garrett, Emmanuel Ogbah and Jammie Collins.

Their offense looks to be explosive thanks to their past and newly added roster. We can start with the star receivers, Josh Gordon and Jarvis Landry, if you know enough about football then you know what that means. The Browns have very decent running backs, starting with the multipurpose Duke Johnson, and following with two strong downhill runners in Carlos Hyde and Nick Chubb. The Browns running game should not be a problem at all. The tight end position is definitely the weakest of the whole offense, yet its not terrible by any means: David Njoku was a first round pick in the 2017 draft, and looks as though he could develop nicely if presented with the opportunity. The line is very decently ranked at 14 out of 32 and will probably remain there.

Now… the quarterbacks, the achilles heel of the Browns.

Rookie sensation after rookie sensation, they all have been been thrown into the lions den for sport, hoping one day for a young quarterback to come out victorious. This year they might have finally found him; his name is Baker Mayfield. He is small, and he was pretty dumb in college, but one thing he is not is Johnny Manziel. Sure their style of play and off the field concerns mirror each other, but Baker is doing something that Johnny never did, and that is called “studying and applying”.

After the preseason is set and done, we can say Baker impressed us — not because of the over the top highlight plays but because he is doing things right, especially the things people said he needed to do in order to be successful:

1. He is staying in the pocket. 2. He is going through his reads 3. He is learning to spread the field. 4. He runs out of bounds to avoid hits. 5. It looks like he has improved his off the field life. Since middle school, Baker Mayfield had to fight for every job he ever had, and it looks like nothing will stop him. What has impressed me the most is the fact that he knows the importance of being a backup first. Every young QB star the Browns have ever had, failed because they put too much on his shoulders and threw him out on the field too early. Lucky for Baker and the Browns, they have another good QB named Tyrod Taylor. After being the star in Buffalo, the Bills stupidly let him go to another team, just so they could scratch their itch of drafting a young QB. Taylor is a safe and smart quarterback that could be the starter almost anywhere. He takes care of the ball, and can run almost any offense. He is exactly what the Browns’ offense needs to not waste all that talent, and polish Mayfield in the process.

All of this talent and growth is bigger than its coach Hue Jackson. Coach Jackson is fighting with Cowboys Coach Jason Garrett for worst coach in the NFL — yet not even he can destroy so much talent combined at one time. Probably the best signing for the Browns this offseason was not a player, but a coach in Todd Hayley. Hayley signed with the Browns after 5 years of being the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers; if someone knows how to maximize offensive talent it is him.

Chicago Bears

This upcoming season is very important for the Bears’ organization. The team has been a dumpster fire for a very long time, but slowly we can see a potential bright light for them this upcoming year. They just signed the best defense player in all of the NFL for a record setting 6 years $141 million contract. Khalil Mack, they signed Khalil freaking Mack because the Raiders are stupid. Hands down he is the best defensive player and he walked into a good defense thats on the come up. Things looks good.

Bears Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, the second pick on the 2017 NFL Draft is slowly showing signs of solid quarterback play. A good QB is something that has haunted the Bears for a long time. Go back to Superbowl XLI when Payton Manning won his first Superbowl as a Colt, defeating an incredible Bears defense that included Brian Urlacher, Lance Brigg and Charles Tillman. The downfall of that Bears Super Bowl team was their QB Rex Grossman, who seemed to get payed for throwing interceptions instead of touchdowns.

The Bears offense stands at a slightly above average rate with running backs Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen, receivers Anthony Miller, Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel and Kevin White and tight end Trey Burton. The ceiling for improvement is very high, especially with new offensive mind Head Coach Matt Nagy. With the Vikings as favorites to win the division, the Bears control their wild card destiny against an ever choking Detroit and a lonely Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay.

Tenesse Titans

Fun fact: the Tennessee Titans were 1 yard away, of a game tying touchdown in the last second of Superbowl XXXLV. Receiver Kevin Dyson was tackled a yard short, which gave the St. Louis Rams, and QB Kurt Warner their first and only Superbowl win. Ever since, the Titans have been desperately trying to get another chance, this year will not be it, but it does look closer than ever.

Marcus Mariota is everything you need in a Superbowl Quarterback and more. He is above descent in his throwing skills, a good leader and a great improviser. If the Titans were to lose in a Super Bowl it would not be due to Marcus Mariota’s lack of QB play.

After signing the whole Patriots organization, they are looking pretty solid in an open conference.

Lead by new Head Coach Mike Vrabel, the Titans have a solid roster with a defensive mentality. Their defensive squad includes top names like DE Jurrell Casey, ILB Rashaan Evans, CB Malcom Butler, Adoree Jackson, Logan Ryan, and FS Kevin Byard. Their defense is not the best defense in the AFC south, but it is enough to give its offense a fight for first place.

The Titans offense will be very explosive. The running game includes a strong downhill runner in Derrick Henry and a smaller shifty back in Dion Lewis; they both can be 3 down backs. Let’s not forget about Marcus Mariota’s running ability. With those 3 running the football it can be hard to stop that offense, especially when you establish the run and add play action passes. According to Pro-Football Focus, Marcus Mariota is the top rated passer with play action. The Titans have some “ok” young receivers and a safety net in Tight End Delanie Walker. What really sets apart the Titans is their offensive line. Lead by Left Tackle Taylor Lewan, the Titans offensive line comes in ranked 5th best in the NFL, put it all together and you have a team that might shock the league. I’m sure you’re thinking about the Texans and the Jaguars over the Titans in the AFC South, but to that I say “no”.

The Texans are a lot of hype that needs to be repeated, with a good defense that is made up of players who live in the injury list, they have no assurance of been good all year. The Jaguars will be a bust.

Superbowl bound

New England Patriots

Let’s get this one out of the way… the Patriots will be fine and have a very good chance to make it to the Superbowl again. Every year for almost two decades, ESPN and every other sports voice ask the same question, “Will the Patriots be good again?”. Yes, they’ll be fine, they are going to be fine as long as Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are on the team. Once one of them leaves then we can start to wonder, and worry about their future. As long as they are both there, it does not matter who the other coaches are, and it doesn’t matter who is on the field with Brady.

We see it year after year: Brady plays with a good team and they’re good, then he plays with a bad team and they are good. He makes Randy Moss greater, and then makes Wes Welker so relevant to the point where he is as important as Moss. They have a well known defense and its enough, or they have a “who is that” defense and its fine as well. They’ll be fine and there is not really much competition for them in the AFC. I don’t want to look like a homer, so I’ll leave that there.

Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia is still looking strong. It does not matter that they look lousy during the preseason. Yes, they beat my Patriots in the Superbowl, but i took it like a man and I’m over it, I’ll be professional and give them the props they deserve.

That team is well coached; they had such a solid defense that they could have any QB in there and do just fine. They are loaded in almost every position, starting with what is in many people’s opinion the best offensive line last year, and repeating this year. That line is number one in my opinion: Jason Peters, Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson are absolute monsters. Their lowest ranked lineman is guard Stefen Wisniewski. With 74.8, that is the a higher rating than about 80% of all the other lineman in every other team. They have so many weapons in that offense with their running backs and catch passers, names like Ertz, Ajayi, Jeffrey, Sproles, Wallace. They can, and have, won with that offense and a back up quarterback, now imagine if the future of the NFL Carson Wentz is healthy all year.

If you played football growing up, I’m sure you’ve heard it at least once, “Defense wins Championships,” and “The best offense is a good defense”. I don’t think they will repeat, simply because it is hard to do so, and they are not a team that is used to winning, but I do think that they will be back in the Superbowl at least once in the next 3 years.

New Orleans Saints

The Saints are my “not too confident pick” out of the 3. If you watch enough football for at least the last 10 years, then you know the Saints looked very different this year. The old story for the Saints was this: Drew Bress threw for 300 yards and 4 touchdowns every single game to random name receivers simply because they could not run the the ball and their defense was so bad only Drew Bress could save them, or at least try and do something.

I am a huge Drew Bress fan, the only way I would not be depressed if the Patriots lost a Superbowl would be if they lost it to Drew Bress.

Mr. Brees is a future first round hall of famer, and one of the classiest dudes to ever play the game, I am a fan. I’ve always felt bad for him because it seemed like it was him against the world, but last year something miraculous happened — they got good.

The offensive line was blocking very well, so well that they come in ranked the 6th best line for the 18’-19’ season, which allowed Mark Ingram and new sensation Alvin Kamara to have a terrific running year. The establishing of the run game allowed Drew Brees to ease up some, it looked weird, it looked like Drew Brees lost a step but what really happened is that he simply had a good year instead of being forced to play out of this world, godlike football.

That offense was rolling and Drew Brees relaxed some which probably added an extra year to his career, but the most impressive thing was the defense. They looked completely different, and very good. Defensive end Cameron Jordan was great as always and that defensive line looked solid with veteran names like Alex Okafor and Sheldon Ranking leading the way. The linebackers were “okay”, no one really stands out in that group, but that is okay thanks to the defensive line and a talented young secondary.

Even though they played great and improved in so many areas, I still don’t think they could beat the Eagles for that NFC Superbowl spot. They lost in tragic fashion against the Vikings, so I expect them to come out hungry. Also shout out to San Antonio native Marcus Davenport who was drafted by the Saints in the first round out of UTSA.

Bust

Jacksonville Jaguars

HOT TAKE ALERT! I think Jacksonville is overrated and will not win its division.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been one of the biggest turn arounds in the history of Football. They went from fighting with the Browns for worst team, to one game away from the Superbowl. Their defense is the fastest out there, I mean they got a linebacker who also played running back in College. Athletes like Myles Jack, Jalem Ramsey, A.J. Bouye and Telvin Smith make this defense extremely dangerous. They are good in every position and they know it, and they tell you. They are a generational talent in defense.

Besides having their quarterback, and play-calling as a downfall, other teams have them figured out. That defense is great, but we saw how a newly acquired 49ers Jimmy Garoppolo tore them apart with play action passes, and just picking at their zone coverage The 49ers, the Rams and the Titans all play the same advanced West Coast offense with mobile quarterbacks , and all these teams beat the Jaguars last season (division rivals Titans beat them twice). They are beatable, and we saw very clear in the AFC Championship against the Patriots. Jacksonville started our strong but the second half was another story.

The Patriots realized that they only thing the Jaguars had was a running game and an aggressive defense. After they realized that, the Patriots stopped the run game and forced the most terrible quarterback in the NFL, Blake Bortles, to try and save its team with his arm. That failed miserably so it was up to the defense. The defense gave the Patriots a good fight the first half of the game and hit them hard and fast, so New England let them be aggressive, too aggressive which made Jacksonville start pilling up penalty flags for offsides and pass interference. Those flags allowed New England to set up easier opportunities for them to score which won them the game. The lack of versatility in offense left them scrambling for answers and the loud mouths and cockiness of the defense fired back at them.

Jacksonville is overflowing with talent, but they are predictable, and NFL coordinators are getting smarter and smarter each day. Jacksonville is like MC Hammer, just a one hit wonder, this year I believe the AFC South belongs to the Titans.

Minnesota Vikings

In 2017 the Minnesota Vikings were top 2 in 3 defense categories. They were the number 1 overall defense and number 2 in individual running and passing defense.

What that means is that the Vikings defense was very good, the best by numbers, and I agree. The Vikings have some of my favorite defensive players. They have safety Harrison Smith (The Hitman) who is just an absolute monster. Smith finished the season with 5 interceptions, 12 pass breakups and 61 tackles. These numbers are good, but he contributes so much more than just stats, he is an absolute force on the field and his attitude is a prime example of what made that defense so good.

Tough, fast, hard hitting defense full of grown men is what got the Vikings so far, and their offense just kind of hung there with them. Names like Harrison Smith, Anthony Barr, Danielle Hunter, Xavier Rhodes, Everson Griffin, Andrew Sendejo, Erik Kendricks, and Terrence Newman are the reason why they were so good. Yes, that was a lot of names, and yes they were that good. No, it did not matter at the end. It’s not like the offense was terrible, their offensive line comes in ranked 28th, which explains their okay 7th ranked running game. A lot of down hill running to keep the defense honest, the passing game was also okay, with a mess situation at QB receivers like Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen worked hard to keep that offense relevant. At the end it was a miraculous pass play in the last second that kept that team alive in the playoffs.

All that to say that the defense was great and the offense was eh. All that to say that they are lacking so much more to win a Superbowl. The Vikings can have all the talent in the world, and add new sensation game manager Kirk Cousins but until they become a fully rounded and well coached team, they will not beat the saints or the Eagles for that Superbowl Spot. I don’t see the vikings getting as far as they did last year, with a better looking Chicago, an Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay and a tough NFC division, its going to be hard to even get a wild card spot.

Dallas Cowboys

I mean the Cowboys are the Cowboys: they will not win again until the Jones family is out of there. Jerry Jones fired Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson, Wade Phillips and Bill Parcells. Think about those names for a while, and now think about everything that Jason Garrett has done since 2010.. Nothing, thats right. It has been 22 years since the Cowboys won the Superbowl, they’ve had all the money and all the talent to make it happen and it just doesn’t happen again, why? because of Jerry Jones. So what if they have Zeke, and so what if the line is great. That is all they have going for them, and you cannot win a Superbowl like that. There are no receivers at all and it doesn’t matter because Dak is overrated. Garrett is terrible maybe the worst coach in football. The defense is always lacking. Demarcus Lawrence is the only super star in that defense, and Sean Lee their captain linebacker has spent more time hurt than on the field. Once again the Cowboys just don’t have it, and while the rest of the NFC is getting better and drafting for the future — the Cowboys are wasting time on Prescott and players that get arrested.

    Alan Torres

    Written by

    NFL & NBA talk

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