Category: NFL

Last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers came in with extremely high expectations. Ben Roethlisberger was poised for another strong season and the offense as a whole had many young superstars. Early on though, the season was derailed following a blowout loss to the New England Patriots in week one, and Roethlisberger going down with a season-ending injury in week two. Pittsburgh would start 1-4, but the addition of Minkah Fitzpatrick made the defense one of the best in the league. If it weren’t for the disaster at quarterback led by Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges, the Steelers would’ve made the playoffs. With Roethlisberger returning and the defense remaining mostly intact, the Steelers have a chance to make some noise in the AFC Playoffs.

The 49ers were expected to make the playoffs during the 2018 season, but with Jimmy Garoppolo going down early in the season, that was derailed early. With Nick Bosa added with the second overall pick, the defense became an absolute powerhouse. San Francisco shocked the country by making it to the Super Bowl to only be defeated by Kansas City after holding a lead for the majority of the game. With most of the defense still intact and more weapons on offense, the 49ers are expected to once again make a deep playoff run.

Well, since McCaffrey totaled over 2,300 yards from scrimmage last season with mainly Kyle Allen leading the offense, I have no issue naming him the 2020 Panthers MVP. Not only is McCaffrey one of the most dynamic rushers in the NFL, but he has the receiving skills to make himself one of the most valuable and versatile players in the entire league and definitely the most important player on the Panthers. 

Zac Taylor’s first season as head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals was a bumpy ride. It appeared that from the start, disaster lurked around every corner in the guise of injuries to key players and ill-advised decisions, mental mistakes as well as overall poor play. With that said, there have not been many teams in history that can go 2-14 and not sustain some infighting or even a complete locker room meltdown. The Bengals players did not succumb to that, electing instead to support their rookie head coach (and each other) and battle to the end of a miserable campaign.

Philadelphia’s season was once again derailed by a Carson Wentz injury. He was hurt on a late hit by Jadeveon Clowney in the wild card round against Seattle. Philadelphia’s receiving core was shredded with injuries at the end of the year and Wentz was throwing to receivers that might not have made another team’s rosters.

Last season, the Philadelphia Eagles sneaked into the playoffs following four straight wins to close out the season. Unfortunately, Carson Wentz got knocked out in the first quarter of their Wild Card game against the Seattle Seahawks, which they went on to lose 17-9. Throughout the season, their biggest hole was their receiving corp with the secondary not too far behind. Over the offseason, they did their best to fill those holes by adding pieces like Darius Slay and Jalen Reagor. With the new additions, expectations are very high for them to return to the playoffs and further.

The Los Angeles Chargers finished 5-11 in 2019, just one year removed from a trip to the playoffs, mostly thanks to injuries and inconsistency on the offensive line. In the offseason, more pieces were added to an already solid defense (ranked fifth versus the pass, 14th in total points allowed in 2019), as well as some offensive line upgrades. The 2020 season is showing a lot of promise, but for it all to come together the Chargers will need solid performances from veterans and help from the new faces. Here, we’ll see which players may have the best shot to win the individual awards after their first season in a new stadium. Away we go!

The Green Bay Packers certainly overachieved last year by going 13-3. With a new head coach, Green Bay’s offense endured quite a few growing pains behind Matt LaFleur. Being a game away from the Super Bowl, many thought Green Bay would go all-in during the draft. Instead, the Packers looked to the future, taking a major blow to their current status. With a roster that was ready to win, they didn’t do anything to push themselves to the top of the NFC, while also making Aaron Rodgers not very happy.