My most improved NFC came down to three separate teams that were held out of last years playoffs. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins, and Chicago Bears were each extremely busy this offseason trying to dig their way out of the bottom of the conference and into the playoffs. And this is what we have come to expect when it comes to teams that are highly active in the offseason. We are used to the teams that didn’t do well and are desperately trying to get back to the playoffs. Teams like the Bucs who started out 0-8 or the Bears that just barely missed the playoffs trying to get over the hump.
My most improved AFC team is the total opposite of a team that needs to add a ton of free agent power to their roster. The Denver Broncos a team who already had tons of weapons surrounding Peyton Manning and who also made it to this years Super Bowl have been pretty busy in the free agent market. This year the Broncos lost a couple of talent players like Knowshon Moreno and Wesley Woodyard, but they made up for it with the players they then signed.
They made huge strides on defense signing star players like Demarcus Ware, Aqib Talib, and star safety T.J. Ward.Denver's defense took a lot of flack last year as they were one of the leagues worst when it came to yards allowed. But with these signings Denver now has one of the top defensive back units in the league with Talib and Ward joining Chris Harris and Rahim Moore. They also added one of the top pass rushers in the league with Ware, teaming him with another great pass rusher in Von Miller. With these two rushing opposing quarterbacks the revamped secondary will have plenty of opportunities to create turnovers in the secondary.
It’s hard to believe the Broncos crazy offense would improve much, but it seems as they managed to do just that. The Broncos Eric Decker a very productive receiver that would be a one or two on any other team. However in Denver he was considered the third receiver and at times was the fourth or fifth option on passing plays. The Broncos were able to replace him with Emmanuel Sanders who has been the number two receiver in Pittsburgh the last couple years. Sanders is a receiver that can replace Deckers production and also replace Trindon Holliday on special teams.
The Broncos also lost Knowshon Moreno, but with Montee Ball and Ronnie Hillman waiting in the wings they shouldn’t be affected too much. All three got significant time last year and now all the team has to do is get these young guys to continue to play as hard as Moreno.