AzPatsFan

Every year one NFL power disintegrates and one club rises from mediority to become a league power.

What are your picks for these two teams?

AzPatsFan

I posed the general question. Here is my answer Although I'd love to hear everyone else's selections.



My candidates for collapse and rise are respectively the Colts and the Jaguars.

Their Colts whole team and game planning is predicated on a Super Offense.

If that Offense recedes to merely pretty good, they fall far and hard. The Defense is only a half D, at most, players picked and selected and on their ability to play when up by three scores. That's why they field a "star" DE in 230# DE Robert Mathis. He is smaller than most LBs and an unheard of midget at DE, but he plalys because he can do but one thing, rush the passer. They ignore his inability to play the run. They can't stop the run and can only pass rush and play a complete pass oriented opponent who has abandoned the run in an attempt to play catch up.

Losing franchsie back Edge James is a loss of major proportions, but that is not the only problem. They have sacrificed all their depth to pay the big skill players. Over the last two years they have lost 5 veteran O linemen to FA, and substituted scrubs at Guard and at all the backup positions. While Tarik Glenn is good, and Saturday is a fine center, their right tackle Ryan Diem is only slightly better than averge. The remaining o-line and their starting interior line men are abominably bad; so bad that the Colts lost in the playoffs and to SD because in Manning's words "protection propblems". They have been playing against all odds and hoping that none of their three good olinemen get hurt and have been lucky for two years. The odds say thier luck should runout.

The Defense gets exposed as soon as it plays a club that they cannot jump out to a big lead. Then they get the ball run at them and run at them until they get runover. There is no one on the D that they can bring in to stifle an opponents combined Offensive game. Once again the team's D has been tailored to only be competent when nursing a big lead and playing pass. Even then they give up one of the highest completion percentages in football (67%) in spite of getting a high number of sacks. Why? Because their secondary is a bunch of undersized and under talented midgets. Some of their biggeat starters are 5-8 or LESS. With a tiny line, tiny safety sized LBs, and midget secondary they cna't defend very well.

All it takes is for the Offense to ONLY jump out to one or Two TD leads, for them to be in trouble. Opponents don't abandon their offense and grind their Defesne to death.

They have a tough schedule and more importantly their is now a rising competitor in their own Division. The Colts really haven't had any competion for three years as the Titans were collapsed by the cap, the Jags needed to rebuild, and theTexans were an expansion franchise.

The young Jags won 12 games last year and no one noticed. They are everything the Colts are not. A good Defense, and only a fair to poor Offense, with a young maturing franchise QB and only a few skill players. But they are maturing. For them to win the division, all they have to do is improve on offense to merely mediocre to go with their good D, and I think they have taken that step in the latter parts of last season.

i think they win their divsion outright, and withthe tougher scheduel that the AFCS sees thei year the WC will not cowm from the AFCS, so the Colts are locked out of the playoffs.

stinkypete

I'd love to see the Colts collapse, but don't think it'ss happen this year. Indy will be weaker. Their run defense lost 2 relatively effective players in Thornton and Triplett, but they still have the pass rush (Freeney in a contract year) and physical secondary to shut down a weak division. On offense, they lost the effectivness of their play action when James left, but no defense in the division has an answer to their passing game.

I see Jacksonville making the big drop in the AFC. They were benificiaries of a creampuff schedule in 2005, and just dont impress me much aside from their interior defensive line. I think Cleveland makes the jump to a 9 win team this year and hangs in the wild card race until week 15-16.

In the NFC, I don't believe Chicago's for real. I see the Bears and Tampa both falling back to .500. I think the Rams could surprise alot of people and possibly sneak back into the wild card picture.

patchick

I think this could be the year that Arizona overcomes the fact that it's...well, Arizona. With a real coach, some intriguing talent, a soft schedule and an actual sold-out stadium, they should be a playoff contender.

Stinkypete, while I don't believe in the Bears either, somebody would have to beat them. That is one ugly division. How about Kansas City to fall to Earth.

Keegs

Kansas City is going up, i predict them to play the pats in the AFC championship game.

Cinncinatti will fall.

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T-ShirtDynasty

My useless pre-season prediction: Steelers will stumble (Ben or no Ben) Lions will surprise.

Keegs, KC is an interesting pick, and I almost agreed.... until I remembered that they stole Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' Herm Edwards from the AFC East.

PATSNUTme

Colts will finish second in the AFC South and maybe out of the playoffs.

Browns will finish with a wining record.

Mike the Brit

Teams that made the play-offs but won't this coming year:

If I have to pick one, I think it's Jacksonville, followed by Kansas City and the Seahawks.

Teams that didn't make the play-offs but will this year:

My best guess is the Eagles. They're in a tough division, but basically this is a strong team and a strong organization. Last season was a nightmare, but they can put it behind them. Followed by (ecch!) Miami.

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My prized possessions: Our family pictures; my dad and me getting doused by Bruschi in Super Bowl XXXIX [Shalize Manza Young Up Close with ... Bill Belichick]


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They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Well, Pats fans should be invincible by now. [Fitzy, 16 November 2009]

Still here to learn

drpatriot

Indianapolis falls to second in the division or possibly makes an Eagles-like collapse.

Tampa Bay's offense surges with Chris Simms, Cadillac and Michael Clayton (the next Peyton-Edge-Marvin combo IMO), but their defense doesn't hold up their end of the bargain, they have the same record as last year or maybe a little better.

Jacksonville's offense AND defense become excellent, they rise to 13-3 and are the #2 seed. (We are #1, of course. )

Minnesota wins the NFC North, but just barely.

Carolina either completely dissapoints or does awesome, I can't see it being anywhere in the middle.

Reggie Bush wreaks havoc in the NFC South, but the rest of the team doesn't.

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PatsFanInVa

I'm throwing in Tennessee to win 8+ despite decent teams on the schedule and a tough division. Colts MAY fall to wild card status but I wouldn't bet on it. They look like a 12-game winner from where I'm sitting. Jags are good for 10. My big "crumbler" is Pittsburgh, which only wins 9-10 games this year and (possibly) misses the playoffs -- pretty much the position the Steelers were in after the regular season last year, lest we forget, but this time without the 11 wins.

If you want an instant riches-to-rags candidate, I'm not even gonna hazard a guess.

PFnV