BHSL2
Third String But Playing on Special Teams
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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.My sleeper teams at this early stage are St Louis and Washington.
The St. Louis offense is formidable, with Orlando Pace returning healthy, the maturation of A. Barron, the addition of McMichael, D. Bennett and Brian Leonard to spell S. Jackson. The LB corps is an underrated group. Witherspoon is a borderline probowl talent, Tinoisamoa was on the verge of stardom before an injury plagued year, Chillar is a solid, durable vet. The secondary has the emerging Tye Hill and the very underrated S Atogwe, who quietly made as many impact plays as any safety in the NFL last season. Corey Chavous is a steady, heady player. The problem is the D-Line. L.Little is still a fearsome pass rusher. Carriker, L. Glover and C. Wroten will play DT. The defense has the makings of an above average squad if Haslett can get his head out of his @$$. An above average D is enough to propel the Rams into the playoffs IMO.
The Redskins hopes depend on the progression of J. Campbell. I have been a big fan of Campbell since his senior year at Auburn. He has great pocket presence, poise, leadership ability, a plus arm. After another off-season absorbing Al Saunders' scheme, IMO this offense could flourish, similar to the way the KC offense exploded in Vermeil's 2nd year, going from the #16 scoring offense to #1. I doubt the Skins will explode like that, but an uptick is likely. One indication of that could be the team scoring 59 points combined in its last 2 games. The receiving corps is talented, the TE Cooley is capable, and the two headed rb tandem is top notch. As for the D... I have never been a fan of Greg Williams' since his Buffalo days. Last year's record setting ineptitude by the Skins' D proved skeptics correct. Still, I expect Williams to at least coach this D back to respectability with the additions of L. Fletcher, L. Landry, F. Smoot, the return of C. Griffin, and the return to form of S. Taylor. I like the Redskins to surprise and finish 10-6 in the playoff picture.
Man, I have a hard time considering the Broncos as a sleeper. I consider them more as a contender, even more so than they have been.
Of course, the undertone of dissention and the trend towards late-season failure does preclude that assumption.
Denver is a perennial threat that plays particularly well against the Pats.
I was going to post Detroit as well. The have a ton of weapons and in year two of Martz' system, they should be able to do some damage in that division. I'd expect at least 3-3 with two losses likely coming to the Bears.
They do have to play the AFC West but they should beat Oakland and should put up enough points to beat KC. That makes them 5-5
If they then split their four games with the NFC East that makes them 7-7. Their make or break games then would be the two games @ Arizona and vs TB. Win those two and they are 9-7 and that may be good enough for a wild card in the JV conference.
In the AFC I like the Steelers to rebound a bit from last year. Their division is tough, 500 would be an accomplishment there. They get the NFC West and AFC East head to head this year, 6-2 is not out of the question, though 5-3 is more likely. I see them definitely losing to the Pats in NE and at Denver but they get Seattle and Jacksonville at home. They are always tough at home. This team could quietly win 10 games and get in as the last wild card.
No John Kitna led team is making the playoffs.
Why is that? It's not like it hasn't happened before.
I could tell you my opionion of who the sleeper in the AFC will be, but I think you can all figure it out for yourselves. As for the Rams, I don't consider them sleepers at all, I think they'll win the NFC. Their offense is dynamic and IMO unstopable.
So my NFC sleeper pick; let's go with Panthers.
Another team that has gotten lost in the New England\San Diego\Indy hype is Jacksonville. They could conceivably contend for a Championship.
They still don't know who their quarterback is. It could be Leftwhich, Garrard, Quinn Gray, or Culpepper. None of those options are exactly anything to get excited about.
There's no reason why Leftwich couldn't take this team to the Super Bowl. Great offensive and defensive lines, very good and deep running game, some real players in the secondary. As long as the WR corps is solid, not even good, they should be fine.