I'm hoping it's Wilkerson, wishing actually but don't think it will happen, but no matter which one signs first, it'll impact negotiations for the other guy.
The Pats are gonna be tougher this year. As long as they have Brady their offense will be stout. They made improvements on the defensive end which should pay dividends. I just hope I'm wrong.
I have a feeling (perhaps influenced/prejudiced by wishful thinking) that Brady is in decline. Last year, for whatever reason(s) (age and natural decline perhaps being one of them) he put up more sub par performances than he had in as long as I can remember. He's still plenty capable of inflicting damage but I also see his power waning and believe he is riding down his personal arc of relevance to the point where he will no longer be able to carry a team on his own to the extent he was able to in his prime. The Pats need a much stronger supporting cast on both sides of the ball because Brady's days are numbered........
The Chargers have no doubt been underachievers for a while, but I feel like cutting Turner lose and picking up McCoy has already done them alot of good. It took them a while to put it all together last year, but that is expected for any new coach. I just see alot of things out of them right now that I really like going into this season. Their defense in their last 7 games looked much better. They took out some some very good teams (Denver, KC, Cincy) when the games mattered most. Another key thing for the Chargers last year was that whenever they ran for atleast 100 yards, except for one game, they won, and in every game they lost they were held to under 90. They just added Donald Brown who paired with Ryan Mathews is a very good RB tandem, which has potential to be one of the best in the NFL. If they have a balanced attack on offense, and their Defense plays like they did in the last 7 games then they are going to be a lock for the playoffs and may even be in the running for a 1st round bye.
It's hard to tell how much he has declined because of his average at best receivers but there is one thing that really stuck out was his accuracy on deep throws. He was only 78 out of 201 (38%) on any pass thrown over 10 yards. For a little comparison Geno was 69 out of 146 (48%) and Mike Glennon was 57 out of 139 (41%). Stats obviously don't tell the entire story, but just from watching him alot of those throws me missed were just way off, usually overthrows. On a separate note, that 48% number is the exact reason why Geno has some serious potential of becoming a great QB. Brees, Rodgers, and Manning post about 52 - 54 percent accuracy on any passes over 10 yards. QB's like Sanchez and Henne are ussually in the 39 to 41 range. Sanchez's best deep ball accuracy ever was about 46 percent. Good sign moving forward is all I am saying.
Brady will be 37 at the start of the season. If nothing else his body will have a much tougher time recovering from the beating he'll take throughout the season. He'll be playing semi-injured every game. And that's not a good thing for a big pussy.
I agree the league will always evolve - right now the league at the passing game attack, and TEs are becoming a big beneficiary of that. I only hope Jace Amaro one day becomes a top tight end in this league. League prob will go back to a more smash-mouth league with FBs and everything else, but not until this age of the TE and passing attacks ends.
I don't think the league will go back to being predominantly run oriented, ever. The rule changes have changed the calculus heavily in favor of the passing game; all the rules to protect the QB and receivers from injuries have made it much less risky to pass. I like the Jets' smash mouth philosophy, but I think it will result in many penalties, unfortunately. When refs see a big hit, they want to throw down a flag whether it was legal or not.
I concededly did not see all that much of either KC or SD last year, but what I did see left me impressed. I think both improved mostly due to changes to the coaches. Rivers imo is a top ten Qb who had a big bounce back year, and looked far from finished. KC relies more on their running game, but also has a solid if unspectacular Qb in Smith. Both will have the same basic CS's in place this coming season. I understand the AFC West plays the NFC West this year, and so will have challenges in strength of schedule. But other than that I can think of no reason why KC and SD should not be strong contenders for playoff spots, stronger than the Jets, anyway.
Football will continue to evolve and running backs will be more relevant sometime down the road. You have a lot of linebackers there that are quick and small, not brute and strong against the run. In due time, an offense geared toward running the football will emerge again. Also, if Geno continues to improve throwing the football, we'll be a more balanced team which is what I prefer myself - I will always prefer to run first, but to me I want to see more improvement on 3rd downs and in the red-zone, that will require us to pass more often in my opinion for long-term success.
I think the Jets can compete for a wild card again this year. Not much of the AFC is going to change, except that the Browns are going to be worlds better for a change, regardless of who's at quarterback, and that the AFC South is going to be the weakest division. The Texans will be a bit better, probably Jacksonville too, but I'm not as high on the Colts as many people are and I have a sneaky feeling the Titans might be the worst team in football next year. They're in transition mode head coach-wise, they have almost no firepower on offense anymore with an ugly QB situation, and no Alterraun Verner.
We're all waiting for Brady's retirement or demise but until it happens they have to remain the front runner for the division. The other teams in the division simply don't have anyone nearly as good at QB and this is a QB league. Brady lost Welker and Hernandez last year, had to endure 2 rookie receivers getting significant playing time, deal with an always injured and cheap imitation of Welker in Amendola and yet he still threw for over 4,000 yds, didn't have more than 1 int in ANY game and finished the year with a completion % over 60%. Yes, he's on the decline alright.. This year Thompkins and Dobson should be much better and bringing in a guy like LaFell adds to the mix. When you have a guy like Brady you don't need stud receivers, you just need receivers that know the system, receivers he trusts and receivers that can catch the ball when thrown to them. The bigger concern was he was sacked 40x last year, second most since his first full year. If the line doesn't improve eventually he'll get hurt due to a combination of immobility and age. I'd love for this to be the year... but until I see the results of improved QB play on our team and better results from receivers I can't put the Jets ahead of the Pats.
I agree with you on the Titans. The only reason I give them any hope at all is that before Locker broke his hip he was playing Top 10 QB level football. Problem is that a broken hip is not something a mobile QB ever fully recovers from. If the Browns have Gordon then I think they will be very competitive and will win atleast 6 or 7 games. Without him they are in the running for the #1 draft pick. Even if every addition they picked up works out, you can't lose 1650 yards and 9 TD's of production and expect to get any better. If the Lions lost Calvin Johnson for the year people would be putting them in the running for a top 5 pick. The only difference is that people know who Calvin Johnson is and Josh Gordon is a newer name.
VERY well said. That sums up Brady and our division perfectly. Until Brady is gone or in obvious decline the division goes through N.E. The wildcard factor of a guy like Geno evolving into the next Brady isn't worth the discussion space on the internet.
Our Jets will be a better football team overall this season but that doesn't mean more wins. It could actually mean less. Thats because I think NE will be better this season and Buffalo will be as well. I think Miami will crash and burn though, so that's nice!
I agree. Again I am reluctant to conclude strength of schedule will be more difficult in 14 than it was last season, but it does look like it. As for the division I think reasonable assessments at this point would look for a split, no better than last year. It's hard to make the playoffs if you can't achieve a winning record in your own division. Miami sucking would be great, but I think Tannehill has talent. If they can shore up their OL some, I doubt they crash and burn all that bad, unfortunately.
I think Tannehill is no good. But I'm showing my bias I guess since I hate the fish more than anyone. I'm stunned they didn't can Philbin. They should've cleaned house completely after last year's mess. I don't underestimate how a collapse like they had to end last year can carry over the following season. (i.e. 2012 Jets after their 2011 collapse)...
It gives me no pleasure, to say the least, to perceive Tannehill as the best Qb they've had there since probably Marino, which is not saying much since Fuckler could not stay on the field and was not very good when he was on it. I agree about Philbin and the meltdown, though. They must have felt the FO had some collective responsibiity for the locker room mess, even though in theory that's on the CS.
