Category: NFL

The Baltimore Ravens and specifically Lamar Jackson took a major reap forward last year. The coaching staff tailored the offense around Jackson and took off from there. The defense was great last year following the acquisition of Marcus Peters and the front office made more astounding moves during free agency as well as the draft. With another year of learning the offense for Jackson and surrounding him with more weapons and a great defense, the Ravens are ready to make another run at the Super Bowl.

The 2019 season was one to forget for the New York Jets. The team was killed by injuries on both sides of the ball. Big time free agent acquisition C.J. Mosley was limited to just two games while Sam Darnold missed three games with Mononucleosis. The offensive line was awful but thankful the Jets spent a lot of money in free agency and their first-round pick on upgrading the unit. Hopefully, the Jets are better in year two under Adam Gase.

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.