From Patrick Mahomes’ magical sidearm throw to Aaron Donald’s sheer ability to dominate any offensive lineman —and sometimes linemen— to Tom Brady’s unwavering calmness under pressure, we take a deep dive into why the upcoming NFL season might be the most exciting yet.
The uncontrollable joy my heart experiences as I write this cannot be explained in just mere words, knowing fully well that from now till February 13th, 2022, there wouldn’t be a Sunday without an NFL game or something related to the NFL to look forward to. The players are back healthy —not everyone though, just ask fans of the Baltimore Ravens— and ready to fight for glory once again.
Speaking of glory, how could I forget to mention the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are defending champions and ready to repeat their success —but more on that later. And as for new fans of the NFL, who don’t seem to understand the sport, take it from someone who was once in your shoes, it’s easy.
Predicting how an NFL season will pan out, it’s almost like throwing a die, you seldom know what’s going to happen. Injuries are almost always inevitable — God forbid your team’s QB1 gets hit, then you’ll feel what I felt with the Steelers in 2019 –, coaching is a very important aspect (more important than the NBA), and talent, yes talent in the right positions are equally as important as well. Alright, enough said, here are some of my predictions for the upcoming NFL season.
The Contenders…
Kansas City Chiefs
After watching Patrick Mahomes run for his dear life during the last Super Bowl — let’s face it, JPP and the Bucs had it out for him that night — the Chiefs decided to invest heavily in their offensive line, by acquiring the services of Orlando Brown, Joe Thuney, and Kyle Long to mention but a few. The combination of head coach, Andy Reid and Mahomes has proven to be a match made in heaven since the latter became the starting quarterback in 2018, with the Chiefs appearing in two Super Bowls (winning one) and making one AFC Championship game —where they lost to the New England Patriots— in the last three years.
Protecting Mahomes seems to be the key and with that taken care of, coupled with the presence of Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce on the offensive side of the ball, the Kansas City Chiefs can outscore any team on any given night —the Bucs can testify to such prowess. And with the steady improvement on the defensive side of the game, they certainly are my favourites to win the Super Bowl this season.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tom Brady is back and ready to go again for his 100th season — sorry for his 22nd season — but so are his teammates. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers did the unthinkable when they managed to re-sign every starter from their Super Bowl-winning team, a move that sent shivers down the spine of other teams in the league.
After struggling in the first half of last season, head coach Bruce Arians and their beloved quarterback appeared to strike a chord as they closed out the season in grand style, winning their final three regular-season games, before running through the Washington Football Team, the New Orleans Saints, the Green Bay Packers, and the Chiefs on their way to only their second Super Bowl triumph.
The Bucs still retain the services of Todd Bowles, who proved to be an astute Defensive Coordinator throughout last season and particularly in the Super Bowl game, and with Byron Leftwich still calling the plays alongside Arians, the defending champions will take some stopping.
New England Patriots
I’m sure you’re wondering why the Patriots are contenders when they didn’t even make the playoffs last year but when you’ve Bill Belichick as your head coach and some talented players on your team, you’ve to be considered as contenders. The New England Patriots invested heavily during free agency —their biggest off-season player acquisition in more than a decade— as Belichick plans to show Brady, he’s over him following their split last year after a 20-year relationship.
The release of Cam Newton last week came as a surprise to many, but Mac Jones’ performances during pre-season and in his final year in college give fans a lot to be excited about. And with more returnees on the defensive side of the ball, watch out Buffalo Bills & the rest of the AFC, the Patriots are gunning for their crown.
San Francisco 49ers
After losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2020 Super Bowl game, many expected the 49ers to compete again — Come on, they had Nick Bosa, Fred Warner on the defensive side of the ball, and Kyle Shanahan calling the plays — but no one considered injuries.
Yeah, injuries. The inability of the 49ers to make the playoffs last season and end the campaign season with a 6-10 regular season record can be laid bare at the feet of injuries. As the NFC West side lost Nick Bosa for the entire season, while players like Jimmy Garopolo, George Kittle, and Dee Ford all struggled with one niggling injury issue or another.
The absence of a good backup quarterback also contributed to the failure of the 49ers, as Nick Mullens struggled to replace the production of Jimmy G. However, the addition of highly touted rookie Trey Lance is expected to fix all that. The 49ers are well equipped on both sides of the ball and should they stay injury-free this coming season, expect Kyle Shanahan and those boys to make some noise in the NFC.
The Pretenders…
They’re not pretenders, however, they just don’t have enough or won’t do enough to compete or win the Super Bowl. But hey, what do I know and besides, stranger things have happened.
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills re-signed Josh Allen to a new six-year, $258-million deal, and rightfully so, following his impressive performances last season. The Bills’ squad still has the presence of Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley — provided he settles his beef with the COVID-19 vaccine —, Tre’Davious White, Devin Singletary, and a host of the other players who helped them win the AFC East division as well as reach the AFC Championship game last time out. However, the lack of improvement on the defensive side, absence of significant addition, and strength of the competition might see them fall short of last season’s achievements. Did I mention they’ve got Mitchell Trubisky as their new backup quarterback? Damn you, Chicago.
Green Bay Packers
After consecutive NFC Championship games appearances, this might be the year Aaron Rodgers and the Packers return to the Super Bowl — wait, hold up— but not with all the drama going on in their building. The aforementioned Rodgers — their starting quarterback and most important player — wanted out, star wide receiver Davante Adams probably still wants out, and did I forget to mention the lack of offensive weapons (which is a constant cry by fans of the team), coupled with the injury to David Bakhtiari.
The Packers have improved under the stewardship of Matt Lafleur as head coach, but with the locker room drama and General Manager Brian Gutekunst's obvious lack of leadership the Packers might just fall short once more.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're my favourite team, but with an aging quarterback, an inexperienced offensive line, and the uncertainty regarding the status of star, edge rusher, T.J. Watt, the Steelers don’t have what it takes to win the Super Bowl this year. Coach Mike Tomlin has never had a losing record since he was appointed back in 2007, so expect the Steelers to be competitive and make it into the playoffs from a very difficult AFC North division.
The Steelers will be hoping rookie running back Najee Harris solves the lack of running game that has plagued the team for the last three years and should he find his feet early, the hard-nosed team from Pennsylvania might just be potential spoilers or maybe even surprise contenders.
Cleveland Browns
Miles Garrett, Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, Joel Bitonio, Denzel Ward, Nick Chubb, these are some of the big names the Browns possess on their roster — unless you don’t consider Baker Mayfield a big name. Forget the fact that pundits like Max Kellerman of ESPN, predicted the Browns to win the Super Bowl in 2019, but after ending their playoff drought last season and with the expected improvement of their players, this might be their year to at least be pretenders.
Head coach, Kevin Stefanski will be hoping his team can go one further than they did last season, where they lost to the Chiefs in the divisional playoff round. And with Odell’s return to full fitness and Baker’s newfound leadership, coupled with Miles Garrett’s defensive presence, they just might do enough to go one step further but I certainly don’t think they have what it takes to win, or maybe I’m just a bitter rival.
Seattle Seahawks
Reports coming out of the Seahawks’ training facility is that they mean business this season —yeah, sure— if that business means getting Russell Wilson killed. After their star quarterback complained during the offseason —he complained about a lot of things through his agent— but the lack of confidence in his O-line was obvious, the Seahawks decided to do nothing.
Wilson is back for another run with the team he helped secure his first and only Super Bowl victory back in 2013. And with the presence of Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf as wide receivers, under the stewardship of Pete Carroll, the Seahawks have enough to be competitive but certainly not enough to topple the rest of the league.
We’re here to participate…
Dallas Cowboys
Fans of the Dallas Cowboys insist they’re going to win the Super Bowl every year. It’s almost like me saying I’ll become a breakfast person at the start of each year, knowing fully well it won’t happen. The Cowboys will have a fully fit and highly motivated Dak Prescott, following his return from injury and his new contract but that itself wouldn’t move the needle for them. They might end up winning the NFC Least, sorry East —the worst division in football last season— but would find it difficult moving past their first game of the playoffs. The Cowboys are yet to win a Super Bowl since 1995, the more reason why the optimism of their fans should be studied in Harvard.
Los Angeles Chargers
I hate to do this to Keenan Allen and those boys up in Los Angeles but without fans of their own, the presence of a new coach, no support for Joey Bosa on the defensive side, and a not-so-good O-line, the Chargers are here to participate.
Second-year quarterback Justin Herbert is expected to impress following his record-breaking rookie campaign and that should do enough to keep them away from the lottery but not enough to win.
Las Vegas Raiders
Is there a more frustrating team in the NFL than the Raiders? One minute they’re good to watch and tough to beat, the next minute they’re losing games you expect them to win. Owners, Mark and Carol Davis brought in Jon Gruden as head coach in January 2018 on a ten-year $100 million deal to transform the team to contenders but so far, they’ve been a yo-yo team.
With no exciting additions to improve the team, a bad draft, and departures of good players, fans of the Raiders are in for one hell of a ride this season, but they can finally enjoy the atmosphere of a mind-blowing stadium. That should keep them happy for a while at least.
Back to the Lottery again…
For these teams, it’s just an issue of how their draft stock will be, come next year’s NFL draft, cos let’s face it, they don’t have enough to win football games. I’m talking about the Cincinnati Bengals who failed to draft the highly-rated offensive lineman Penei Sewell to protect their second-year quarterback Joe Burrow; the Jacksonville Jaguars who have got a rookie quarterback in Trevor Lawrence and a rookie head coach in Urban Meyer (though he’s experienced at the college level); the Houston Texans who don’t even know what to do with star quarterback Deshaun Watson whilst failing to improve the team; and of course, the Detroit Lions —Jared Goff is your problem now.
Honorable Mentions
Los Angeles Rams (Possible Contenders)
New Orleans Saints (Pretenders)
Arizona Cardinals (Pretenders)
Indianapolis Colts (Participants)
Miami Dolphins (Participants)
Chicago Bears (Hell of a ride ahead)
The 102nd NFL season promises to be exciting and I can’t wait for it to get started myself. Let me know what you think in the comments, who do you think wins it this year? or who is the surprise team to look forward to? And you can reach us on our social media platforms, @onaboutnothing_ on Twitter and @onaboutnothing on Instagram.
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