PREVIEWING THE 2021 NFL SEASON: NFC EDITION

We’re officially almost out of the month-long blue balls known as the NFL pre-season! We’ve been able to see the new rookie quarterbacks do their thing (some better than others), we’ve seen some revenge games (I still can’t believe Trubisky carved up the Bears in their own house like that) and unfortunately there have been some notable injuries (Falcons backup QB AJ McCarron tore his ACL week 2 against the Dolphins). Bottom line is that, despite pre-season being intriguing for a few reasons, we still have no real idea of who the legitimate threats are outside of a handful of teams. There’s always a few teams that blind side everyone and end up proving themselves to be true contenders seemingly out of nowhere. I believe there will be a couple of those teams this year that will stun everyone. The following are my predictions for each NFC team’s upcoming season.

NFC EAST:

1. WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM

Let me reiterate what we all know: The NFC East is a complete and utter dumpster fire. Once upon a time the NFC East was the crown jewel of the NFL, a division that all other divisions feared to play. Granted this was back in the 80’s and 90’s, but to see how far this division has sunk is a damn shame. All that being said, I believe the
Washington Football Team is the team to beat in the division. Coaching matters and
Ron Rivera is easily the best coach in that division bar none. You like defense? This
team might have the most formidable and intimidating defensive line in the NFL. The
biggest issue with Washington is their offense, specifically the QB position. Ryan
Fitzpatrick will win you a few games on Fitzmagic alone but that only lasts so long. I still believe this team is the most organized and disciplined in the entire league due to the respect Rivera commands from his players and they have some elite talent that hasn’t even scratched the surface of their potential. This team will be a pain in the ass for every single opponent they face this year.

2. DALLAS COWBOYS

I wanted to put the Giants here but the reality is that the Cowboys have far more talent at nearly every position. There are some that think the Cowboys should easily win this garbage division but at the end of the day there are far too many questions for me to agree with that prediction. For one, we still have no idea what is going on with Dak Prescott. Rumors have started circulating that he will never be 100% healthy this year and he hasn’t played a game since Week 5 last year where he suffered that gruesome leg injury. Add in the fact that his safety net, Zeke Elliott, is a shell of his former self and is clearly on the decline in a major way has many all kinds of concerned. Their defense, though slightly improved from the Swiss cheese that it was last year, is still suspect despite the hiring of Dan Quinn (Mr. 28-3) and Mike McCarthy continues to be the most overrated head coach in the league. If it wasn’t for Aaron Rodgers carrying him for a decade Mike McCarthy would be pumping gas somewhere in Pittsburgh right now. So why do I have the Cowboys at 2? Because their competition is awful and they’ll probably win games in spite of themselves. That week 1 matchup against the Bucs to kick off the season is going to get ugly.

3. NEW YORK GIANTS

I love Joe Judge. Judge is the kind of coach plenty of teams would be blessed to have
leading their organization. He holds his team accountable, asserts his authority with force and has his players overachieving most times as a result. I believe the Giants will surprise a lot of opponents this year with their sheer force of will but they still lack reliable depth across the board and we still have no idea how good Daniel Jones really is. The return of Saquon Barkley will open up the offense tremendously but if Jones doesn’t take the next step this year then both he and general manager Dave Gettleman will be out of the building sooner than later.

4. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

How the mighty have fallen. Remember the 2017 Eagles that were lead by the front
runner for the MVP award Carson Wentz and then won the Super Bowl against the vaunted Patriots behind Nick Foles doing his best Superman impression in front of a
global audience? Yeah. That was almost four years ago but it feels like it’s closer to ten. Both Carson Wentz and Nick Foles are gone and the maverick head coach that got them to the promised land, Doug Pederson, is somewhere enjoying his best life away from the gridiron. The Eagles are the worst team in the worst division in football and it will be a miracle if they win more than three or four games this year. Good luck, Jalen.

NFC SOUTH

1. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

The Bucs are one of the rare Super Bowl winning teams in recent NFL history to return the majority of their players, including all 22 starters, to go for a repeat. The odds of them repeating? Pretty damn high. This team is not only loaded on both sides of the ball but they now have a year’s chemistry together. Assuming the team stays healthy and Brady doesn’t lose a step the Bucs should at the very least make the NFC Championship game again. Their competition should be a bit stiffer this year, most of it coming from the NFC West, but they’re well built for any challenger that comes their way.

2. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

For the first time in 15 years Drew Brees will not be under center for the Saints. Feels
weird to type that but it’s the reality. This year Sean Payton is rolling with Jameis
Winston and Taysom Hill with Winston more than likely being the starter. Sean Payton is no stranger to winning without Brees. In 2019 he guided Teddy Bridgewater to a 5-0 record without him and last year he guided Taysom Hill to a 3-1 record without him. Payton is one of the most brilliant offensive minds in league history and you can bet he’s going to get Jameis Winston playing at a level many thought impossible just two years ago.

3. ATLANTA FALCONS

First year head coach Arthur Smith is taking over a Falcons team that will be without
franchise legend Julio Jones but will have what many consider to be a generational
tight end talent in their 4th overall draft choice Kyle Pitts. The Falcons have plenty of
talent but their depth is where the issues lie. If the Falcons can get out of their own way and stop blowing games then they could be playing spoiler to a lot of their opponents that have better rosters on paper.

4. CAROLINA PANTHERS

The Panthers are in the second year of a complete rebuild under head coach Matt
Rhule and Sam Darnold is not going to prevent them from having one of the worst
records in the league. The Panthers always play tough, they’re not pushovers, but the
simple fact is that the other teams in the division are much more talented than they are and it would take a lot of things to go wrong for their opponents in order for the
Panthers to win more than four or five games. Keep pounding, indeed.

NFC WEST

1. LOS ANGELES RAMS

The Rams lost a few key pieces this off-season, including their star running back Cam
Akers for the season, but they also upgraded at the game’s most important position.
Matt Stafford is leaps and bounds better than Jared Goff, the Rams’ first overall draft
pick in their first year back in LA back in 2016, who was traded to Detroit. Stafford
hasn’t won a playoff game in his entire career but he’s never had a coach like Sean
McVay nor a team around him like the 2021 Rams roster. They have their work cut out for them in the toughest division in football but there’s enough talent on the roster and coaching prowess to win the division.

2. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

The Niners were arguably the most injury plagued team in NFL history last year. Add
the fact that they were kicked out of their own stadium due to Covid concerns from their county and all we can do is wonder how the hell Kyle Shanahan was able to lead
his team to six wins last year without a home and without seemingly every starter on
the roster. This year we should see the Niners not only return to the top echelon of the league but also in the conversation for the legitimate super bowl contenders. The
biggest question is how long will Jimmy Garoppolo remain the starter? The Niners
didn’t draft Trey Lance to have him sit all year. Even if the Niners start 6-2 I’m willing to bet you we will see Lance sooner than later. That’s when things will get very exciting in the bay area.

3. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

The Seahawks should thank their lucky stars that Russell Wilson didn’t request a trade this off season. Rumors were pretty strong that he wanted out and that the Chicago Bears were in on him. Carroll worked his charm and convinced Wilson to stay despite the team doing absolutely nothing to address his concerns about the roster, namely the offensive line. Add in the fact that their once vaunted defense, minus Jamal Adams and Bobby Wagner, is one of the worst in the league and you have the hawks being placed at third on my list of NFC West teams. Wilson is dynamic enough to win games on his own but as we saw last year in the wild card round against the Rams, that magic can run out at the worst possible times.

4. ARIZONA CARDINALS

The Cards were one of the hottest teams in the league during the first half of lasts
season when they were owners of a convincing 6-2 record. The second half season
collapse was something we all should have seen coming considering who’s at the helm of the team. Listen, I believe in Kyler Murray and his considerable talent and I’m aware that they’ve added J.J. Watt to their sturdy defense but as long as Kliff Kingsbury is the head coach I’ll never buy in to their chances at being a legit threat within their division. The man has cost his team games with abysmal clock management, questionable timeouts and head-scratching play calls in both seasons at the helm and I don’t think those problems will somehow go away just because he’s in his third year. To start the season 6-2 only to finish 8-8 is disgraceful and I have no reason to believe they’ll get over the hump this year despite their talented roster.

NFC NORTH

1. GREEN BAY PACKERS

All signs point to it being Aaron Rodgers’ last season as the quarterback for the
Packers. You better believe he’s going to maximize it the best he can and try to get this team over the NFC title game hump and back to the Super Bowl. Make no mistake, it’s super bowl or bust for Rodgers and the Packers. If they come up short for the third straight year then it’s officially rebuilding time in title town. The team is well built, minus a couple question marks in their defense, and will be hungry to capitalize on Rodgers’ last dance.

2. MINNESOTA VIKINGS

The Vikings are plenty talented but the fact that there seems to be a major disconnect between Mike Zimmer and Kirk Cousins should be alarming. Cousins refuses to get vaccinated and the Vikings cannot afford to lose him even for one game in the brutal NFC. Assuming he doesn’t get covid and plays all seventeen games he should ball out with the weapons at his disposal. However, if the team continues to underachieve and either doesn’t make the playoffs or gets eliminated in the wild card round both Zimmer and GM Spielman could be gone. A lot of jobs are on the line in the twin cities this year. I believe this is a playoff caliber roster I just don’t know how far they will go.

3. CHICAGO BEARS

The Bears drafted their quarterback of the future in Justin Fields but Matt Nagy,
somehow still employed by the Bears organization, refuses to start him week 1 against the Rams and is leaning on Andy Dalton to start the season. This has disaster written all over it. If Mike Zimmer’s seat is warm then Matt Nagy’s is red hot, especially with how inept his offense has looked the last two seasons. He should be playing the dynamic young rookie that opposing defenses have no tape on to give his team a better chance to succeed but he’s going with the retread instead. Some coaches can’t get out of their own way and Nagy is one of them. The Bears defense isn’t what it used to be three years ago and their new defensive coordinator looks overwhelmed from what we’ve seen in the pre-season so far. This could be a long and frustrating season for Bears fans as it seems they have no clear leadership overseeing the franchise.

4. DETROIT LIONS

Dan Campbell can talk about biting off knee caps all he wants but the reality is this
team is in the beginning of a full blown rebuild. I do believe that in time he will build a
formidable team but you won’t be seeing any glimpses of it this year. Motor city is
justifiably tired of not having a consistent winner on the field but it seems like they’re
actually on the right track this time. Something about Campbell just screams authority and you get the feeling that he’s a true player’s coach that will maximize every single person on his roster regardless of talent. The Lions will be a problem in the years to come, but for this year just embrace the suck. It’s going to get darker before it get’s
better.

Thanks for reading!