Preseason Observations & Anticipations

Don't get too excited about EJ Manuel's performance

AFC East

• The Miami Dolphin's defense is under-rated, and it should give their iffy offense a chance to win more than I ever expected
• EJ Manuel looked really good against Indianapolis' backups. He showed enough poise to win the Week 1 starting job as a rookie. With that said, he should still struggle like any other rookie QB once the season rolls around
• Wes who? Brady and the Pats will roll on opponents through the air and on the ground this year.
• Mark Sanchez showed why he is one of the worst quarterbacks in the league by throwing a pick-six on the Jets 1st drive of the game

The Bengals have built a solid D around Geno Atkins

AFC North

• Pittsburgh needs their running game and pass defense to improve before the season begins.
• Cincinnati has a solid team. The Bengals will play good defense, good enough offense, and have great coaching
• Brandon Weeden looks better than anyone anticipated. If anyone can develop into a solid target opposite Josh Gordon, look out AFC North
• The Ravens should finish the year at .500 or better. They have too much depth and talent all around the roster

Matt Flynn better not lose his starting job two years in a row

AFC West

• The Chiefs better hope Jamal Charles' ankle gets better sooner than later, or they can kiss an 8-8 season goodbye
• The Denver Broncos are still the best team in the division BY FAR
• If Matt Flynn and Terrelle Pryor both play like they did on Saturday for the rest of the pre-season, Oakland won't win more than 3 games this Fall
• San Diego has an OK quarterback in Phillip Rivers, but a mediocre core of receivers and tailbacks. It will be a very long season for this inexperienced group now that Malcolm Floyd has strained his knee and DX is out for the year

Chris Johnson is poised for another 1,500 yard season

AFC South

• Jacksonville might not win a game until MJD rushes for over 100 yards
• The Houston Texans will contend for the Super Bowl out of the AFC. Strong team defensively, and Nuke Hopkins makes them a very dangerous group offensively
• The Colts have a lot of work to do on defense. A LOT
• Tennessee's offense has more talent than I thought. CJ2K, Kenny Britt, Delaney Walker, Nate Washington, Justin Hunter and Kendall Wright give Jake Locker some serious play-making options. I think they will do better than I originally anticipated if these guys can stay healthy

NFC North

If Matt Forte can stay healthy, the Bears should be dangerous

• Detroit, once again, will be the biggest boom or bust team in the division
• Green Bay's Mike McCarthy can't be pleased by losing 17-0 at home, even in the pre-season.  Don't read into this game as the Packers' crystal ball for the regular season. It will be the complete opposite
• Chicago must have a big year from Matt Forte and Michael Bush. Marc Trestman's pass-happy offense won't go anywhere without a running game
• Minnesota has something special brewing with Adrian Peterson, Greg Jennings, Cordarrelle Patterson and Kyle Rudolph. Let's hope Christian Ponder can show some accuracy this Fall

NFC East

Can RGIII beat all odds and have a healthy 2013 campaign?

• The Giants will make the playoffs this year. I guarantee it
• Dallas has to find a way to play solid defense or they will be fighting for another wild card spot this year
• RGIII is going to get hurt sooner than later. His receiving core is average even with Fred Davis coming back healthy
• As I stated in my article about Chip Kelly's NFL debut, I expect the Eagles to go 7-9 or 8-8 with play-makers LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson. The defense looks bad but expect it to get better over time

Gerald McCoy might lead the Buc in sacks this Fall

NFC South

• Carolina finally has a #3 receiver in Armanti Edwards. Is he going to help Olsen, Smith and LaFell THAT much? We will see...
• We still won't find out if Tampa Bay's pass rush is improved until Week 1 of the regular season
• Atlanta is absolutely loaded on offense, and less than average on defense. Should be an interesting season for the dirty birds
• New Orleans has more depth at the receiver position than you think but their defense is still shaky at best

Colin Kaepernick is going to set the Fantasy Football world on fire this year

NFC West

• Colin Kaepernick is going to have a monster year for the 49ers and should lead them back to the playoffs
• The St. Louis Rams are saving their big plays for the regular season. We will see Tavon Austin in the pre-season but not as much as we would like
• Arizona's defense is going to cause a lot of turnovers this year when Daryl Washington comes back from his 4-game suspension
• Pete Carroll has built a winner in Seattle. His defense will look very vanilla until the season starts...That's when things get hectic for Carolina and other opposing offenses.

Pittsburgh Steelers 2013 Offensive Preview

Mike Tomlin is one heck of a coach

     The Pittsburgh Steelers always seem to land on their feet after disappointing seasons and this year shouldn't be any different. Last year, the Steelers finished a disappointing 8-8 and missed the unusually missed the playoffs after going 12-4 in 2011. Mike Tomlin is still a very good head football coach who has a 63-33 record since taking over the Black and Yellow in 2007. That is a pretty good statistic...and this may be random but I also looked at Bill Belichick's W-L record over the same time span, and it is 76-20. Whooooaahhh!!!! I know this article is about Pittsburgh but that is a pretty impressive statistic if I must say so myself! Now, back to the team that has more championships than any other franchise in the history of the NFL: "Six"burgh. Ben Roethlisberger is capable of being an MVP in the division if he stays healthy, which is something you know upper management and coaches are committed to. Big Ben's style of play means that he will have to create some plays outside of the pocket, but he still must be upright in any other play when pressure is coming at him.

Antonio Brown should easily break 1,000 yards receiving this year

     The offense doesn't have Hines Ward or Santonio Holmes anymore, but they do have Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders. Brown is one of the most complete receivers in the NFL when at 100% while Sanders still needs to show that he can develop into a solid #2. And while Health Miller should be healthy this year, the Steelers will rely on Antonio Brown's big-play ability to score points this year. One thing Pittsburgh has been at since Big Ben came into the league has been their play-action passing game, and that trend should continue this Fall. Brown can take the top off a defense, is great in the intermediate passing game and is a lot tougher than defenders think. At 5'10" 186 lbs, the former Central Michigan should see less double teams after the Steelers drafter Markus Wheaton and re-signed Plaxico Burress to a one year contract. Plax is no more than a red-zone target while Wheaton should develop into Pittsburgh's #2 receiver of the future should Emmanuel Sanders' development stunt in the slightest way.

Maurkice Pouncey is a blue-chip OL

     Although these receivers should have a good year, Health Miller is still by far the biggest passing match-up problem for an opposing defense. The 9th year veteran is coming off a torn ACL, but should be back at 100% at the start of the regular season. His 71 receptions were good for the the 4th most by tight ends in the NFL and 8 TDs were good for 4th as well. Miller racked up and In order for Miller to be more effective he needs the wide-outs to stay healthy because he is coming off an injury, himself. So when will I start mentioning the running game and how it is, and always has been the key component to the Steelers success? One word. Le'Veon Bell. I have plenty of faith in this kid developing into a bell-cow type of back in the next year or so and he should thrive behind Pittsburgh's beastly O-Line. These big hogs are led by Maurkice Pouncey but include talent by the liked of Marcus Gilbert, David DeCastro, Mike Adams and Ramon Foster. Look for these talented lineman to pave the way for their backs, and protect Ben Roethlisberger with more authority than they did last season on the way to a 10-6 record.

Jacksonville Jaguars 2013 Season Preview

MJD is still one of the best running backs in the NFL

     I know, I know...I know exactly what some readers are thinking. Who wants to hear about the Jacksonville Jaguars? I do. There are 32 teams in the NFL and the Jags are one of the most intriguing of them all heading into the 2013 regular season. Owner Shad Kahn promised to turn around one of the NFL's worst franchises and everything seems headed in that direction so far. New head coach Gus Bradley comes from the Seattle Seahawks as a former Defensive Coordinator and looks to turn around a team that lost their identity without Maurice Jones-Drew. Speaking of the team's best player, how will he do this Fall and has he lost a step coming off last year's foot injury? More than likely he won't rush for 2,000 yards like Adrian Peterson, but a healthy Maurice Jones-Drew is a top 5 RB in the NFL, if not top 3. The team also lists 5th rounder Denard Robinson as the 3rd RB on it's depth chart, but also have Robinson running the wildcat and read-option in training camp. With Eugene Monroe and Luke Joeckel manning the offensive tackle positions, you can expect there to be a lot of rushing yard to go around this year in Jacksonville. The Jags already had a potent attack with Jones-Drew before arguably drafting the best player from this year's class. Denard Robinson at QB, MJD at RB, Justin Blackmon at WR (After he serves his 4 game suspension) and you can have a play-making offense.

     So what does all this mean for the current QB, Blaine Gabbert? It means he has less pressure to play on every down, and with a solid running game he should be extra accurate than most. Heck, he should have less of a role than Chad Pennington did when Miami was running the Wildcat with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. And that means he is on his way out...literally. "Blame" Gabbert is not a franchise QB and doesn't even have the accountability of a grown man. Until Jacksonville drafts a better QB, it will be hard to see them beating out the Texans or Colts for a division title. Don't get it twisted, Jacksonville lost two AFC championships in 1996 & 1999, so the fans still expect to win regardless of how good the rest of the NFL is. But do you know what else the Jags needs to win the division? An ENTIRE Defense.

    Earlier, I mentioned how Gus Bradley was a Defensive Coordinator before being hired as Jacksonville's head coach this year. Here is how his Seattle defense ranked last year in a few categories:

Passing Yards Given Up Per Game: 5th
Rushing Yards Given Up Per Game: 10th
Total TDs Given Up: 1st
Total Points Given Up: 1st

Johnathon Cyprien appears to be worth his draft status

Interceptions: 6th
Sacks: 18th

  Those are some impressive numbers and prove to be the reason why Shad Kahn hired Gus Bradley. The Jags statistically had the 3rd worst overall defense in the NFL and needs a defensive minded coach to turn the team around. Jacksonville currently lacks a top notch pass rusher but that could change this Fall under Bradley's defensive scheme. Jason Babin heads a list of DEs that put up a total of 11 sacks last season. Whoah....to put that into perspective there were 16 players in the NFL last year that put up 11 sacks or better BY THEMSELVES. The LB core is headlined by Paul Posluzny and Russell Allen, whom both topped the 100 solo tackle mark last season. There should be more consistency with this group than the D-Line and hopefully more turnover for Jaguars fane. Speaking of turnovers, who will intercept passes? Word on the street is that John Cyprien has been everything the Jags thought and more ever since they selected him with the 33rd pick in the this year's draft. Look for Cyprien to be a playmaker all over the field and bring a nice presence to the defensive backs unit. My guess on the Jaguars record at the end of the 2013 regular season...8-8