NFL Preview Extravaganza 2014: The Kitchen Sink

Photo courtesy of Forbes

Over the past few days I have been previewing every division in the league individually, followed by power rankings, which you can check out here.

First up, my full regular season standings. Each of my division previews are linked in the name of the division below:

AFC East

1. New England Patriots 12-4
2. New York Jets 9-7
3. Miami Dolphins 7-9
4. Buffalo Bills 4-12

AFC North

1. Cincinnati Bengals 11-5
2. Baltimore Ravens 10-6
3. Pittsburgh Steelers 8-8
4. Cleveland Browns 7-9

AFC South

1. Indianapolis Colts 9-7
2. Houston Texans 8-8
3. Tennessee Titans 5-11
4. Jacksonville Jaguars 3-13

AFC West

1. Denver Broncos 13-3
2. San Diego Chargers 8-8
3. Kansas City Chiefs 6-10
4. Oakland Raiders 2-14

NFC East

1. Washington Professional Football Team 10-6
2. Philadelphia Eagles 9-7
3. Dallas Cowboys 6-10 (Win Division Record Tiebreaker over Giants.)
4. New York Giants 6-10

NFC North

1. Green Bay Packers 11-5
2. Chicago Bears 10-6
3. Detroit Lions 7-9 (Win Division Record Tiebreaker over Vikings)
4. Minnesota Vikings 7-9

NFC South

1. New Orleans Saints 11-5
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10-6
3. Atlanta Falcons 7-9
4. Carolina Panthers 5-11

NFC West

1. Seattle Seahawks 12-4
2. San Francisco 49ers 11-5
3. Arizona Cardinals 6-10
4. St. Louis Rams 5-11

Now here's the playoff picture:

NFL Preview Extravaganza 2014: Power Rankings

Photo courtesy of ESPN

Read all of my NFL preview articles here

As a warning, the top part of these rankings is very NFC-heavy. Sort of like the Western Conference in the NBA, the NFC is loaded with great teams, and unfortunately, some of the better teams in the league wind up missing the playoffs, and/or have a record much worse than the team's actual talent would suggest. As seen in my division previews so far, and you will see again in my full preview tomorrow, some teams that I'm relatively high on will end up with lower win totals than you would expect based on their rankings. It is for that reason that I chose not to write down the team records in this article, so that all of these teams can be judged in a vacuum.

All of the rankings are based on how the team will look by the end of the year, and the beginning of the postseason. For example, the 49ers will not be as high as I have them for the entirety of the regular season, but when they get NaVorro Bowman and Aldon Smith back and performing at a high level, they'll be a better squad.

1. Seattle Seahawks 
2. San Francisco 49ers 
3. Denver Broncos 
4. New Orleans Saints 
5. New England Patriots
6. Green Bay Packers 
7. Cincinnati Bengals 
8. Baltimore Ravens
9. Chicago Bears 
10. Washington Professional Football Team 
11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
12. Philadelphia Eagles 
13. New York Jets 
14. Miami Dolphins 
15. Pittsburgh Steelers
16. San Diego Chargers 
17. Indianapolis Colts
18. Atlanta Falcons 
19. Cleveland Browns 
20. Detroit Lions 
21. Minnesota Vikings 
22. Houston Texans 
23. Arizona Cardinals
24. New York Giants 
25. Tennessee Titans 
26. Kansas City Chiefs 
27. Carolina Panthers 
28. Dallas Cowboys 
29. St. Louis Rams 
30. Buffalo Bills 
31. Jacksonville Jaguars 
32. Oakland Raiders 

I wrote about all of these teams in my divisional previews, so for more information, go back and read all of those. 

NFL Preview Extravaganza 2014: NFC West

Photo courtesy of Raising Zona

This was easily the best division in football last year, but I think that they'll take a step back. The defending champs are going to be great again, and the 49ers are not far behind. As for the Cardinals and Rams, they will definitely be worse.

Photo courtesy of CBS Sports

Seattle Seahawks
2013 Record: 13-3
Yards Per Game: 339 (18th in the NFL)
Points Per Game: 26.1 (tied-8th in the NFL)
Yards Per Game Allowed: 273.6 (1st in the NFL)
Points Per Game Allowed: 14.4 (1st in the NFL)

The reigning World Champions once again look like one of the best teams in football. They lost Golden Tate and Sidney Rice, depleting the receiving corps, but Percy Harvin is an elite player when he's healthy, so his availability will be key.

This defense is by far the best and the deepest in the league. We all saw what they did to Peyton Manning and the Broncos in the Super Bowl, so I don't think I need to say much else.

The Seahawks look primed to repeat as champions this year, and it's going to be hard to pick anyone else to win the Lombardi Trophy.

NFL Preview Extravaganza 2014: AFC West

Photo courtesy of Barron Network

I see the AFC Champion Denver Broncos running away with this division. This is the widest gap between a division champ and second place that I see this year. There just isn't much to get excited about after Manning and Co.

Photo courtesy of The Denver Post

Denver Broncos
2013 Record: 13-3
Yards Per Game: 457.3 (1st in the NFL)
Points Per Game: 37.9 (1st in the NFL. By a wide margin.)
Yards Per Game Allowed: 356 (19th in the NFL)
Points Per Game Allowed: 24.9 (22nd in the NFL)

I don't need to say anything about Denver's offense other than: Peyton Manning is the quarterback.

The defense got a lot better this offseason by acquiring two players who are among the best at their respective positions in defensive end DeMarcus Ware, and safety T.J. Ward. Replacing Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie with Aqib Talib is a slight upgrade, but the other two moves were huge. Add in a full season from Von Miller, the Broncos defense should be one of the best in the league.

After being manhandled by the Seahawks in the Super Bowl, the Broncos re-tooled and look poised to take home the Lombardi Trophy this season. And I'm not sure that anyone can stop them.

NFL Preview Extravaganza 2014: NFC South

Photo courtesy of Who Dat Dish

Last year's division winner will regress horribly, and the two cellar dwellers will be a lot better. Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints (outside of the post-bounty scandal season) have been the one constant in this division year after year.

Photo courtesy of ESPN

Carolina Panthers
2013 Record: 12-4
Yards Per Game: 316.8 (26th in the NFL)
Points Per Game: 22.9 (18th in the NFL)
Yards Per Game Allowed: 301.2 (2nd in the NFL)
Points Per Game Allowed: 15.1 (2nd in the NFL)

After surprising many, and riding their great defense to a division title last season, the Carolina Panthers got a lot worse during the offseason, and will end up being among the worst teams in the NFL.

The offense was nothing special last year, and it should be a lot worse now. There was a bunch of turnover in the receiving corps, and most of it wasn't impressive. They drafted Kelvin Benjamin, which I liked, but signing Jerricho Cotchery and Jason Avant to be guys that play legitimate roles on this offense is worrisome.

Left tackle Jordan Gross retired this offseason, which is a problem for the 2014 Panthers, because they did not find a suitable replacement for him. Outside of Ryan Kalil in the middle, the offensive line is an issue.

As for the defense, the front seven is great, and everything else is horrible. I mentioned when previewing the AFC South that a great pass rush can make up for some deficiencies in the secondary, but that is not the case when the entire secondary is bad. As great as Greg Hardy and Charles Johnson are at getting to the quarterback, the guys playing behind them will be victimized before they even get to the opposing signal caller.

I still think that Carolina has the best front seven in the NFL, but a weak secondary, a bad offense, and a strong conference will hold this team back for a year. There is enough talent currently on the team that even if they are terrible, whoever they take in the first round of the draft (probably a defensive back) could propel them back to the playoffs.

NFL Preview Extravaganza 2014: AFC South

Photo courtesy of Dynasty Nerds

This is the worst division in football, by far. I don't see any teams getting above 9 wins. Neither the Colts or Texans are spectacular, and the Jaguars and Titans are clearly bottom half teams in the league.

Photo courtesy of Bleacher Report

Indianapolis Colts
2013 Record: 11-5
Yards Per Game: 341.8 (15th in the NFL)
Points Per Game: 24.4 (tied-14th in the NFL)
Yards Per Game Allowed: 357.1 (20th in the NFL)
Points Per Game Allowed: 21 (9th in the NFL)

Now it's time for that point in the preseason where I get to hate on the Colts while trying to do everything possible to find a scenario in which they miss the playoffs, and secretly accepting the fact that they will continue to be the most annoying team in the NFL and be better than they should be.

The only reason why this team has gone 11-5 in each of the past two years has been a bunch of good luck and Luck being more than good.

We know what this offense is: Andrew Luck being Andrew Luck and throwing Andrew Luck passes to T.Y. Hilton, Reggie Wayne, whatever replacement level they decide will be their third wideout, whoever happens to be playing tight end (be it Coby Fleener or Dwayne Allen, both of whom are pretty good), all while getting minimal help from the running backs and the offensive line.

Where this team will falter once again is on defense, especially without the best player on the defense, Robert Mathis, for the first four games of the year. He's pretty much the only player on the defense that interests me, unless I feel like talking about how bad Erik Walden is. Vontae Davis is a great cornerback at times, but tends to be inconsistent.

For the most part, the defense consists of average and below average players who will be playing important roles.

Because this is the worst division in football, the Colts will win it once again, by default. Until they improve their defense, Indianapolis will not be able to advance past the divisional round of the postseason.

NFL Preview Extravaganza 2014: NFC North

Photo courtesy of Barron Network 

This is one of the most intriguing divisions in football, because all four teams have a legitimate chance to make the playoffs. The NFC as a whole is very competitive conference, so attrition will cause some of these teams to have a worse record than they deserve. Overall, this will be the best division in the game according to my predictions.

Photo courtesy of USA Today

Green Bay Packers
2013 Record: 8-7-1
Yards Per Game: 400.2 (3rd in the NFL)
Points Per Game: 26.1 (tied-8th in the NFL)
Yards Per Game Allowed: 372.2 (25th in the NFL)
Points Per Game Allowed: 26.8 (tied-24th in the NFL)

The Packers made two free agent signings this offseason, as they continued their long-standing strategy of not worrying too much about using their cap space in free agency, and rather building their roster through the draft.

Even without Aaron Rodgers for most of eight games, the Packers wound up winning the division. That had more to do with the Lions and Bears failing down the stretch, but it also shows that the Pack were decent enough to stay afloat while Rodgers was out.

The offense could possibly be the best in the NFL, because obviously, Aaron Rodgers is Aaron Rodgers, and should most likely have both Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb healthy for the majority of the season. Jarrett Boykin looked good out of the slot last year, even with the revolving door of Seneca Wallace, Matt Flynn, and Scott Tolzien throwing him the ball.

The running back should be very good as Eddie Lacy will be even better in his second year in the league. He should be one of the best running backs in the NFL this season, especially behind an offensive line that's pretty good, as I expect to see the Packers commit to the running game more often.

One of those free agent signings was Julius Peppers, a contract that I didn't really like at the time, but we'll see how he plays this season. B.J. Raji is wildly overrated, and I'm not so sure how much the Packers will miss him on the interior of their line.

The rest of the defense has a chance to be great, given that Clay Matthews is healthy, which is never a guarantee. Nick Perry, Brad Jones, and A.J. Hawk are decent linebackers next to Matthews, and the secondary is awesome. HaHa Clinton-Dix joins Morgan Burnett, Casey Hayward, Tramon Williams, and Sam Shields in what will be one of the better defensive backfields in the game.

All in all, the Packers are primed and ready for another very good season, and should be one of the early favorites to win it all.

NFL Preview Extravaganza 2014: AFC North

Photo courtesy of Dynasty Nerds

In terms of competitiveness, the AFC North may be the best division in all of football. There are no amazing teams in this division, but none of the four teams can be considered bad. They're all going to finish with between 7 and 11 wins. Yes, that includes the Cleveland Browns.

Photo courtesy of Bleacher Report

Cincinnati Bengals
2013 Record: 11-5
Yards Per Game: 368.2 (10th in the NFL)
Points Per Game: 26.9 (tied-6th in the NFL)
Yards Per Game Allowed: 305.5 (3rd in the NFL)
Points Per Game Allowed: 19.1 (5th in the NFL)

I picked the Bengals to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl and when the playoffs began, I hadn't seen anything to deter me from repeating that same prediction. Yes, major injuries on defense caused Cincy to be without they best defensive lineman, Geno Atkins, and their best defensive back, Leon Hall for the postseason. But they were missing those guys for most of the season, and still ended up with one of the stingiest defenses in the NFL.

I'm not worried about Andy Dalton. I'm not a believer in clutch, and as we've seen in the past with Eli Manning and Joe Flacco, average quarterbacks can have a big playoff run, taking their team farther than expected. And I know that the Jets didn't make the Super Bowl in 2009 or 2010, but they were ahead of the Colts at halftime and nearly came back to defeat the Steelers in each year, led by game manager extraordinaire Mark Sanchez.

The point is, you do not have to have an elite quarterback to win in the NFL, especially when that quarterbacks has a great collection of talent around him. A.J. Green is one of the best wideouts in the game, Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu are pretty good extra options, and tight end Tyler Eifert should have a big year because another receiver, Andrew Hawkins, left in free agency.

According to NFLSavant, the Bengals ranked eighth in the NFL in rushing attempts. Expect that ranking to jump to third or fourth this season under new offensive coordinator Hue Jackson.

Jackson has coached many different position groups in his career, and even became a head coach for one season. I don't know if this exactly counts as an NFL coaching job, but he led the Oakland Raiders for a year before being senselessly fired by new General Manager Reggie McKenzie, after leading the team to an 8-8 record; their second in a row (yes, Tom Cable was fired after an 8-8 season the year prior, because logic is ignored in Oakland), and second non-losing season since 2003.

Other than to get myself worked up about how stupid the Raiders have been over the last few years, the point of that was to tell you that under Jackson, the Raiders had one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL, led by Michael Bush, Darren McFadden, and Marcel Reece.

I love me some Marcel Reece, but the combination of Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill is better than that crew he had to work with in Oakland. The Bengals will be able to run on just about everybody this season, and set up a lot of easy passes through play action.

Losing defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer should be a pretty big loss on defense, but I think that the talent is good enough to sustain themselves even without a great coach. Also, it's a chicken and egg situation where it's impossible to tell whether Zimmer made the defense much better than it should have been, or the defense was good enough on its own that it made Zimmer look like a genius.

What I do know is that Geno Atkins is an elite talent at defensive tackle, and having him play a full 16 game season should be huge for what was one of the best defenses in the NFL last year. They're also getting back cornerback Leon Hall, and drafted Darqueze Dennard in the first round to play corner.

They lost Michael Johnson to Tampa Bay, which shouldn't be a huge loss, so I expect more of the same from the Cincinnati defense this season.

Once again, I think they will be one of the better teams in the NFL this coming year.

NFL Preview Extravaganza 2014: NFC East

Photo courtesy of Hound Sports

This is definitely not the worst division in football, which I've been hearing a lot recently. There are two teams that definitely have a chance of making the playoffs, and two teams that could potentially be fine.

Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports

Philadelphia Eagles
2013 Record: 10-6
Yards Per Game: 417.2 (2nd in the NFL)
Points Per Game: 27.6 (4th in the NFL)
Yards Per Game Allowed: 394 (29th in the NFL)
Points Per Game Allowed: 23.9 (tied-17th in the NFL)

Chip Kelly's arrival in Philadelphia brought a great amount of offensive success, as the league could not catch up with him. Their run and gun offense was super successful, allowing them to overcome their defensive faults.

Coming into this season, they added Darren Sproles in a trade with the Saints, a move that I absolutely loved at the time, while getting back Jeremy Maclin from injury. They did however, lose DeSean Jackson by cutting him after a whirlwind of trade rumors was followed up by an accusation of gang ties before he was finally cut loose. Of course, the Eagles and Chip Kelly insist that the release was only for "football reasons," but I guess we'll never know the truth on this one. The bottom line is that Philly lost a very good wide receiver, leaving them with Maclin and Riley Cooper as the starting wideouts.

They also didn't do much to improve the defense, as signing Malcolm Jenkins to replace Patrick Chung was a lateral move.

Overall, I think that the defense is about the same as it was last year, as the very good pass rush struggles to make up for the deficiencies at the back end. Meanwhile, Nick Foles and the offense regresses just enough to where the Eagles will not be a playoff team in 2014. I love Chip Kelly and I think that his system may have created a new paradigm in the NFL, but with a full offseason of adjustments under their belt, the other 31 coaches will figure out ways to stop them.

In order for this team to make the postseason, the offense has to be just as good as last season, when they were probably the second best in the league. This year, I think they'll be more like the fourth or fifth best in the NFL, a difference that will cost them a shot in the playoffs.

NFL Preview Extravaganza 2014: AFC East

Photo courtesy of Dynasty Nerds

I've been hearing a lot of chatter recently about how bad this division is outside of the New England Patriots, and I must say that I disagree. Outside of the fact that I'm a New York Jets fan, I think that the team will be rather frisky this year, as will the Miami Dolphins. The Bills have a lot of issues, and probably will not have many wins, but are by no means a team that should be clearly at the bottom of the NFL.

I'll be previewing each team in the order of last season's standings, so let's kick it off with last year's winner, and the team that's most likely to repeat as the division champion.

Photo courtesy of Zimbio

New England Patriots
2013 Record: 12-4
Yards Per Game: 384.5 (7th in the NFL)
Points Per Game: 27.8 (tied-2nd in the NFL)
Yards Per Game Allowed: 373.1 (26th in the NFL)
Points Per Game Allowed: 21.1 (10th in the NFL)

After losing in the AFC Championship Game in 2013, the Patriots stood pat (no pun intended) this offseason, outside of two major defensive acquisitions. They lost cornerback Aqib Talib which would have been a huge blow, granted they didn't replace him with the best corner in the NFL, Darrelle Revis.

And he wasn't the only major corner that they signed this offseason, as the Pats reeled in former Seahawk Brandon Browner. While he'll be missing the first four games of the season due to a suspension, he'll be a major boon to an already very good secondary upon his suspension.

The defense was almost the definition of "bend but don't break" last season, as you can see by looking at the above stats. With those two guys now covering the outside, they won't bend nearly as much.

The offense hasn't changed much from last season, when the skill position players were generally average. Rookies Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins were not very impressive, while Danny Amendola and Rob Gronkowski only played in 12 and 7 games, respectively. Stevan Ridley looked good for most of the season, until he was infected by the fumble bug, and he fell out of favor with Bill Belichick, whose official position with the team according to Pro-Football-Reference is "Head Coach/de facto General Manager."

Somehow, even with what was the worst supporting cast that Tom Brady has had to work with in many years, New England's offense was among the best in the league. Obviously most of the credit for that can be given to Brady for making the most of his situation.

The two bright spots on the offense were slot receiver Julian Edelman, and running back Shane Vereen, who were important parts of the team's passing game. The Pats ran the third most passing plays in the league that were short and over the middle. Edelman's 105 receptions while working almost primarily out of the slot and Vereen's ability to catch the ball out of the backfield allowed for the short passing game to become New England's bread and butter.

The fact that they liked working over the middle more than most teams means that should Gronk be available for most of the regular season, and throughout the playoffs, the Patriots offense can be unstoppable. He gives them a huge target over the middle, just the way they like it.

Another player to keep your eye on is tight end Tim Wright, who was just acquired by New England in the trade that sent Logan Mankins to the Buccaneers. He's young and athletic, and in an offense that is built around the tight end, he has the chance to become the replacement for Aaron Hernandez that the Pats were missing last season.

Combine the offensive improvements that are inevitable even without Gronkowski, as Thompkins and Dobson get better in their second season and Brandon LaFell adds another decent target, with the fact that the defense will be better, the Patriots could win the Super Bowl this season.

Exciting News

I returned from my trip to Ghana last Friday, and I'd say that my vacation was a successful one, as I got some valuable experience working at a newspaper, where I got seven articles published over the course of my four weeks working.

But that's in the past. As for the future...

I've secured a job writing for Mets Merized Online, one of the most fun, and most visited, Mets sites out there. It's a great opportunity to significantly expand my audience.

Of course, everything that I write for them and every other website will still appear on this blog. 

Speaking of this blog, I'll be starting my NFL Preview Extravaganza later this month. Being that my trip cut into the beginning of August, I did not have nearly enough time to preview every team in the NFL separately, so I will be previewing each division as a separate article over the course of eight days leading up to the season opener on Thursday, September 4. 

After my division previews, I'll power rank all of the teams, and finish it all off with a full preview including team records, standings, playoff predictions, awards, and other random predictions. 

As this website continues to allow me more and more opportunities, I need to thank the loyal readers who have continued to check out this blog even though it's not the most famous.