Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals finished 2013 at 10-6 and didn’t make the playoffs. Last year’s team was probably one of the best teams ever to miss the playoffs. Since then everyone has been talking about how good the team is and how hungry they’ll be in 2014. Well, I don’t see them making as much noise as everyone thinks they will.
First of all, they still have Carson Palmer under center. Last time I checked he was still a statue in the pocket and prone to throwing untimely interceptions. Not to mention he’s another year older and slower. While the left side of their offensive line is very good, the right side is nothing to speak of and will likely have Palmer running for his life.
Their defense is one of the better defenses in football. However, they will be without Daryl Washington all season due to a year long suspension. That is major because now second year player Kevin Minter has to step up and be a leader on defense and they will be starting Larry Foote at inside linebacker. In a 3-4 defense they rely on their linebackers to make a majority of the tackles and their linebackers are a substantial weakness. Their cornerbacks, Patrick Peterson and Antonio Cromartie, are excellent but they will be without ball hawk Tyrann Mathieu for a majority of the season and need to rely on rookie safety Deone Bucannon.
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers finished last season at 12-4, won their division, and earned a first round bye in the playoffs. To say the least, they had a pretty good year when no one expected them to. Now the expectations are higher but the results will fall short of last season’s.
Possibly the weakest position group in the entire NFL is the Panthers’ receiving corps. They have no proven threat. Their two starters at the moment are Jason Avant and Jerricho Cotchery with rookie project Kelvin Benjamin listed at third on the depth chart. With this group the Panthers will need quarterback Cam Newton to literally be Superman if they want to get back to the playoffs.
On the other side of the ball in 2013 they had a fairly weak secondary that was masked by an unbelievable pass rush. Their front seven remains one of the strongest in the NFL but their secondary has gotten worse. They lost significant players in Captain Munnerlyn, Mike Mitchell, Quintin Mikell. Guys like Roman Harper and Thomas DeCoud have been brought in to replace them. For this secondary to work, the Panthers will need an unbelievable pass rush on just about every pass attempt or Defensive Coordinator Sean McDermott will need a miracle.
Philadelphia Eagles
In 2013 the Philadelphia Eagles won their division and hosted a playoff game, something a lot of people didn’t expect when they started the season with Michael Vick as their starting quarterback. After Vick went down and Nick Foles stepped in, things seemed to turn around. Don’t expect things to go the same way in 2014.
The way Foles played last season won’t be duplicated. His biggest asset in 2013 was not throwing interceptions. When you keep your defense (which in the Eagles’ case happens to be woeful) off the field and wear down the opposing defense, things tend to fall in your favor. However, turnovers can be a bit enigmatic. One season a team can barely turn the ball over and all of a sudden the next season they will turn it over multiple times per game. Don’t be surprised when Foles starts turning the ball over and the fans in Philadelphia start calling for the backup.
Something else that will be hard to replicate for this offense is the success of the long ball. In 2013 Foles was not good throwing the ball deep downfield. The times he connected deep downfield was either to DeSean Jackson (who is longer with the team) who would gain significant yards after the catch or a jump ball to Riley Cooper. If you watch the film, Foles would underthrow his receivers time and time again forcing them to come back to the ball. In situations like this, the advantage is greatly on the receiver’s side. An offense cannot rely on underthrown jump balls to succeed.
Another thing people don’t seem to talk about enough that will cause the Eagles’ offense problems is now there is a whole season’s worth of tape out on them. Everything they did last season is on film and you better believe opposing defensive coordinators are spending all offseason studying every facet of their offense. They will no longer have the element of surprise on teams and that will slow them down considerably.
Last season the Eagles’ defense was below average, especially in coverage. Their secondary was one of the worst in the league and the Eagles’ pass rush, or the lack thereof, certainly wasn’t helping them out. Between the linebackers and secondary, there is a lot to be desired. In a division that is completely up for grabs this season and all the teams are fairly close in talent, I wouldn’t expect the Eagles to come out on top again.
Seattle Seahawks
The word “disappoint” is relative. For the defending Super Bowl champions who went 13-3 in the regular season, it would take a lot less to disappoint them than, let’s say, the Cleveland Browns (sorry, Cleveland). For the Seahawks, it is a real possibility they slide back to 11-5 and don’t win their division, which is by far the most difficult division in the NFL.
On offense the Seahawks didn’t add anyone to make them noticeably better. They did, however, lose key players to their Super Bowl run in 2013. They lost Golden Tate, Breno Giacomini, and Paul McQuistan. With an offensive line PFF (subscription) grade of -32.7 last season, they needed improvement there. Their line didn’t improve but instead, got worse.
Their secondary was easily the best in the league in 2013. It could very well be the best in the league this season too but it definitely won’t be as good as last season’s due to the losses of Walter Thurmond and Brandon Browner. The loss of those two means the Seahawks lost two of their best three cornerbacks from last season. That is hard to overcome.
In 2013 the Seahawks won the NFC West by one game over the San Francisco 49ers. If the 49ers had won their controversial Week 11 game against the New Orleans Saints, the division would have went to the 49ers and the NFC Conference Championship Game would have been played in San Francisco, likely changing the outcome. My point isn’t to play a game of “what if’s”, it’s that the division was so close last season when the 49ers’ third leading receiver was fullback Bruce Miller. The 49ers have improved a great deal while the Seahawks have regressed. There’s a good chance the Seahawks lose the division at 12-4 or maybe even 11-5.
Denver Broncos
The same thing applies to the Denver Broncos that applies to the Seahawks. The Broncos’ 2014 will be a disappointment due to how successful their 2013 campaign was. Their offense broke records last season, I’d be shocked if they kept the same pace through another season.
The 2013 Denver Broncos offense might possibly be the best offense this league has ever seen. Does anyone expect to repeat that performance? I don’t. Future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning is another year older and another year of wear and tear on his surgically repaired neck. Manning’s performance will eventually start to slip and I expect it to start in 2014. It will also hurt that he lost one of his big targets in Eric Decker.
The Broncos’ defense has gotten better and their offense hasn’t gotten significantly worse, but I do expect them to have a worse record. Something to look at is their schedule. This season they have the entire NFC West on their schedule. After those four games alone I wouldn’t be surprised if they came away with three losses.