At a time when nothing is certain in profe sional sports, and with the reactions by the leagues whose regular
Andrew Heaney Jersey seasons have already been impacted by the pandemic indicating that everything is and must be maleable, I couldn't help ponder what all of this could mean for the NFL. Then I spent yesterday morning reading John Breech's of what an emergency schedule could like look (and I would dare say, should look like), and I scrapped my idea entirely.Breech has it all su sed out, and if you haven't read his piece on ways to curtail the but preserve some degree of sanity and competitive balance on the fly, I cannot urge you strongly enough to check it out.One of the tenets of his piece is a suggestion to go with only divisional games for a stretch of the schedule, in what might amount to a round-robin stage of sorts within the season. Again, I love it. And that got me to thinking about what something like that would look like in practice and not just in theory, and which divisions would provide the toughest gauntlet and just how much of a divide there is between some clusters of teams and others.Basically, despite my general distaste for all things POWER RANKINGS, I started mulling what NFL divisional power rankings might actually look like. Which division is like, the SEC of the NFL, and which is more like the MAAC? If I had to go to Vegas and put all of my money down on teams from one division to win the , which would it be? Hence the following, which I imagine will infuriate some fans far more than I could ever fathom, but, then again, that comes with the POWER RANKING territory, I suppose. So at the risk of incurring wrath the likes of which is generally reserved for Prisco, here is my take on the best and worst divisions in football with training camps open around the country and the regular season le s than a month away (a suming it starts on time).This was was tough.
Cam Bedrosian Jersey I went back and forth here between the NFC West and NFC South, divisions which I believe contain two very legit Super Bowl favorites, and another team I believe has the potential to be far better than some might think, and a fourth team that has some serious i sues ... but will prove to be .500-ish in the end and far more competitive than the teams that bring up the rear in most other divisions.So why did I lean to the West? Continuity. It's always a buzzword in the NFL and never more so than now, given how crazy this offseason and preseason are. Seattle and San Francisco bring back the same schemes and coaches and quarterbacks and, for the most part, same key personnel as a year ago. Both probably added multiple impact players in the draft, know how to develop players, and have contined to add potential impact players in the past week ( and ). It was a coin flip between Seattle and San Fran a year ago to settle this division and it likely will be again, with the winner I'm gue sing grabbing the top seed in the NFC, which will be bigger than ever with the new playoff format. Also, I believe if the can make even modest gains on defense they have Wild Card potential and the are not what they appeared to be even a few short years ago, but they won't be terrible and tend to play the big boys tough. Gue s I kind of gave this away up top there. This was neck and neck but the fact that this is such an unusual run-up to the season and Tampa has so many new moving parts, I gave the edge the other way. But
Jonathan Lucroy Jersey if the Bucs or win it all, I won't be surprised. Both look loaded to me and they are each led by a 40-something madman QB who knows Father Time is around the corner and would sell their soul for another ring ASAP (okay, Brees wouldn't sell his soul, and Brady, after much consideration, probably wouldn't either, but you get the idea). Sean Payton and Bruce Arians have the perfect mentality to navigate a team through what could be a bizarre, stop-and-start season. I like the to be better than you think and particularly interesting on offense and is a great fit there who already knows the system. The have been on borrowed time for a while and just might once again have the meaningful part of their season over by Halloween, but they'll pad those win totals by Week 17 to try to make you forget all about the first eight weeks again.Baltimore won 14 games with a 22-year old MVP and appears to be significantly better on both sides of the ball on paper. Rebuilt the defensive line, ama sed the best and deepest secondary in the league, and added more speed and twitch to the offense, which will also get a full-strength Hollywood Brown this season, too. Flip a coin between them and KC for the conference title. Pittsburgh nearly made the playoffs last year without a QB and gets back a Hall of Famer. That defense can win anywhere and the have a distinct chip on their shoulder
Blake Wood Jersey that I believe will carry them well.I'm buying the , again. Not to be a juggernaut, but to be in the thick of the Wild Card race until the end and maybe even reach the postseason. Ton of talent and the right coaching staff to balance out the errors of a year ago. They will keep Baker within himself and get him back to playing winning football and isn't going to get suspended for half the year. A modicum of better discipline all around and this is a dangerous team. The will be impacted greatly by the drastically altered offseason, but is legit and by the second half of the season this offense is going to be a problem. Not sure they can play a lick of defense but I could see them pulling some upsets in December with nothing to lose. Let's be real -- the division is only even this high because of one team -- the Super Bowl champs -- and, also, one particular player: . They have the potential to be better than a year ago, have a bright core that is pretty much all on team-friendly deals. Plenty to like, with a Hall of Fame coach, too. After that it gets murky. Once again I am looking at the roster and seeing playoffs, but they fool me more often than not. Denver can play defense but will have a heck of a time getting all those new, young pieces on offense to fit for a while. Oakland probably has a decent offense but I'll believe that defense is even below average -- and not God awful -- when I see it with my own
Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim Jersey eyes. Perhaps I am listing them too high because of the , and the division may only send KC to the playoffs, but what a team it is.Let's be real, this division is only even this high because of one man -- Bill Belichick, and one man only. And he doesn't even coach the best team in this division. The will win this division; if the Pats reach the playoffs yet again it will be the best work of The Hoodies career, and he may already be the GOAT. The lost a ton of talent already early in the offseason and have been hit far harder than any other club by the opt outs. But Bill and Cam won't go down without swinging hard, and I could still see them getting to the playoffs. That's really the only thing keeping this group from being down at the b
