NFL Flops

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Much like darkhorses, these come along every year. Which Super Bowl contender a year ago ends up completely falling off the map in 2004, like Oakland & Tampa did last year?

 

NFC - Carolina Panthers. Overachievers tend to fall apart the next season, in large part because luck runs out. The D is good enough, but I don't think the offense will hold up with the overrated Delhomme leading the charge. It is rare these days that both Super Bowl teams come back with good records the next year, and I don't think anyone will argue that New England is the better team overall than this one. With the underachieving Saints, the rebuilding but still dangerous Bucs, and the Falcons with a healthy Vick, they could very well finish last in a tough NFC South. Dallas & St. Louis are also on the way down, but Dallas wasn't nearly as good as Carolina and I don't think the Rams will fall quite as far as long as they get to beat up on the worthless Cards & 9ers for 4 games a year.

 

AFC - Baltimore Ravens. They still can't pass, and Boller isn't looking as good as even Rex Grossman from his own class of QBs, let alone Leftwich or Palmer. He has bust written all over him. Lewis is headed to court in November and will miss at least a few games if they can't get it delayed. This is bad since he is their only offensive weapon. On top of all of this, Ray Lewis is on the cover of Madden 2005...uh oh...

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Looks like this thread is a flop.

 

Let's see, I'll pick the Titans and the...

 

the...

 

um -- I'm trying to remember all six NFC playoff teams. Since I can only remember five of them, I guess I'll go with the one I can't remember.

 

The teams I can remember are Philly, Dallas, Carolina, Green Bay and Seattle...

[alfdogg 0]

The sixth team was St. Louis.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Well, that's my answer for the NFC...

[razazteca 0]

I have to go with the Dallas Cowboys. All I hear about this team is that Parcells is one of the greatest coaches in the league and that every year his teams improves but let's look at the team. The Cowboys looks like a 2nd year expansion team to me with the veteran duo of Vinnie and Eddie in the key positions on offense. The defense is hurting now that Darren Woodson is hurt and might be out for longer than expected. I predict that the team goes 8-8 this season.

[Red Baron 0]

AFC: Kansas City Chiefs

NFC: St. Louis Rams

[Guest goatfish]

NFC: Washington Redskins, I haven't heard this much hype over a team getting a new coach since.......well, Dallas last year. Portis could be Payton, Sanders, and Jim Brown combined, and it still wouldn't change the fact that their starting QB is Brunell.

 

AFC: Cincinatti Bengals, mainly because......well, they're the Bengals. And they're predicted to do good things this year. And they're the Bengals. I'm not completly sold on Rudi Johnson, and i'm sure as hell not sold on Palmer (impressive preseason aside).

[Red Baron 0]

If Palmer does start, he's gonna be pressured big time, and making easy mistakes. Kitna is an underated QB, IMO

[Guest MikeSC]

NFC: The Cowboys. They weren't good, last year, record be damned. They had an insanely cushy schedule to open the season to pile up the cheap wins. If they win 6 games, I'll be surprised. St. Louis is also going to fall apart --- hard.

 

AFC: Miami --- the Dolphins, obviously, will be MUCH worse than last year, when they nearly made the playoffs.

-=Mike

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Some people in this thread missed Palmer ripping the Patriots defense to shreds last weekend.

 

 

NFC:

Dallas Cowboys, an 8-8 team that go lucky and went 10-6. They haven't made any real upgrades and in the case of Testeverde and George they might've made downgrades.

 

Washington Redskins, still a shitty offensive line and a bad defense. Gibbs is good but he's going to need a few seasons and even then Synder is going to screw it all up.

 

 

AFC:

Baltimore Ravens, horrible core of QBs and their biggest offensive addition is Kevin Johnson who would rather drop a ball or miss a first down if it means he won't get hit. I say their luck runs out this year and one of the Lewis' go down with a big injury.

[Guest MikeSC]

Some people in this thread missed Palmer ripping the Patriots defense to shreds last weekend.

 

 

NFC:

Dallas Cowboys, an 8-8 team that go lucky and went 10-6. They haven't made any real upgrades and in the case of Testeverde and George they might've made downgrades.

 

Washington Redskins, still a shitty offensive line and a bad defense. Gibbs is good but he's going to need a few seasons and even then Synder is going to screw it all up.

 

 

AFC:

Baltimore Ravens, horrible core of QBs and their biggest offensive addition is Kevin Johnson who would rather drop a ball or miss a first down if it means he won't get hit. I say their luck runs out this year and one of the Lewis' go down with a big injury.

Well, hard to take much of anything in pre-season seriously (during their run of 4 straight SB, the Bills never won in the preseason).

 

Anywhoo, Washington was bad last year. It's hard to call them a flop if they suck this year. And, like you, I expect them to suck hard.

 

As for the Ravens? Well, if Jamal's cocaine trial goes badly --- they're dead.

-=Mike

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I don't take a lot in preseason too seriously but he did look really good against one of the best defenses in the league. And he is throwing to Chad Johnson, Peter Warrick and Kellye Washington. So it's not like he's getting thrown to the wolves. The rest of the offense will protect him.

[Mole 0]

Some people in this thread missed Palmer ripping the Patriots defense to shreds last weekend.

It was just a preseason game, which means nothing.

 

Well atleast to me.

[Guest MikeSC]

I don't take a lot in preseason too seriously but he did look really good against one of the best defenses in the league. And he is throwing to Chad Johnson, Peter Warrick and Kellye Washington. So it's not like he's getting thrown to the wolves. The rest of the offense will protect him.

I love the Bengals receiving corps --- but can Carson handle hard blitzes? And can Rudi Johnson match last year's output? Bengals have a lot of question marks --- world of potential, but they can easily tank.

-=Mike

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I don't take a lot in preseason too seriously but he did look really good against one of the best defenses in the league.  And he is throwing to Chad Johnson, Peter Warrick and Kellye Washington.  So it's not like he's getting thrown to the wolves.  The rest of the offense will protect him.

I love the Bengals receiving corps --- but can Carson handle hard blitzes? And can Rudi Johnson match last year's output? Bengals have a lot of question marks --- world of potential, but they can easily tank.

-=Mike

He has a great offensive line to help protect him. That was the whole key to Jon Kitna having a great season last year. As much as ESPN liked to dump on the Bengals for picking Levi Jones early a few years ago he's really paid off.

 

I'm more concerned with the defense though. I like the additions of Webster, Herring and O'Neil but I don't know how it will all come together. They could have a great secondary. Not getting Gardner was a big hit for their defensive plans though.

[Fökai 0]

NFC - Carolina Panthers. Overachievers tend to fall apart the next season, in large part because luck runs out. The D is good enough, but I don't think the offense will hold up with the overrated Delhomme leading the charge. It is rare these days that both Super Bowl teams come back with good records the next year, and I don't think anyone will argue that New England is the better team overall than this one.

 

Both teams have DOMINANT defenses. I'd bet my life on both teams making to the postseason just on that fact alone (unless injuries take out a good core of players).

 

With the underachieving Saints, the rebuilding but still dangerous Bucs, and the Falcons with a healthy Vick,

 

Yes, it's the underachieving Saints. Same team as last year, but what makes it different is that Haslett has another year of experience to completely ignore using his offense to its full potential, while everyone not named Deuce limps into December.

 

I have yet to see how the Buccaneers are rebuilding. Despite tailing off in production, they let go of a defensive tackle in Sapp who drew double-teams all season long and a safety in Lynch who scared any receiver from coming over the middle, while not making any significant moves to shore up these losses.

 

As for the Falcons, the key word is a healthy Vick. Even so, they still have a terrible run-stopping line in addition to a secondary that couldn't contain a high-school team. They'd be lucky to break .500.

 

...they could very well finish last in a tough NFC South. Dallas & St. Louis are also on the way down, but Dallas wasn't nearly as good as Carolina and I don't think the Rams will fall quite as far as long as they get to beat up on the worthless Cards & 9ers for 4 games a year.

 

The 49ers came within a bonehead play of sweeping the Rams last year (27-24 OT loss in Week 2, 30-10 win in Week 9), while the Cardinals fell in OT to St. Louis in Week 12.

 

Seven of the Rams' regular season games last year were decided by 6 points or less, with SIX of those seven games seeing the Rams victorious. With Martz now placing all of his chips on a new "Power T" formation headed by Stephen Jackson, he's destined to screw it up. He doesn't have the slightest clue on what to actually do with his running backs, so until he leaves the playcalling to his co-ordinators, expect another disappointing season by the overachieving Rams.

[Guest Rrrsh]

NFC: Eagles and St Louis

 

AFC: Titans and KC

 

 

Eagles- Lost 2 of their "three headed monster" and the guy who is left has durability questions. They couldnt stop the run lats year and their main attemp to fix that was resigning a guy who has had 2 crappy years in Washignton. They lost both their Corners and that was their backbone. Kearse is always hurt and Owens is a locker room cancer. Plus, with no running game, Owens can be contained.

 

Rams: Fualk and Bruce are showing signs of being over the hill and Bulger is very average. Turley i done for the year (which was suppose to be a massive help in their shitty O-line). Plus Mike Matrz licks and the South is extremly strong and might gobble up both wild-cards.

 

 

Titans: Sooner or later, these guys will pay for losing talent and not getting new talent. Thier Linebackers and Secondary have few playmakers and Brown is a big question for a 16 game season. Plus Justin McKarens is a massive lost that no one is talking about.

 

Cheifs: Dante Hall one them a couple of games that made them alot better then they actually were. They got no D and no WR's. Plus I believe Denver and Oakland's D is much better then last year and they wont get garentee Wins in their own division.

 

 

All these teams will fall slightly, but enough to miss the playoffs or JUST make a Wildcard spot.

[The Niggardly King 0]

AFC: Dolphins- They have no Running Game, and Boston is injured. I'd be surprised if they go 7-9.

 

NFC: Rams- Without Smith, they're gonna fall apart, and Bulger throws to many interceptions.

[razazteca 0]

Eagles- Lost 2 of their "three headed monster" and the guy who is left has durability questions. They couldnt stop the run lats year and their main attemp to fix that was resigning a guy who has had 2 crappy years in Washignton. They lost both their Corners and that was their backbone. Kearse is always hurt and Owens is a locker room cancer. Plus, with no running game, Owens can be contained.

McNabb is one of the best running QBs in the league. In the preseason game vs the Steelers he escaped several sack attempts to get 1st downs.....TO did some blocking!

[Guest Frank_Nabbit]

I thought we were gonna mention our teams draft bombs like John Micheals, Terrell Buckly and Antaun Edwards

[cabbageboy 0]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here. In the AFC I'll say the Colts will not do all that great this year. I took a look at their schedule and they open at NE, then at TN, then get Green Bay. Those are all quite losable and if they get off to a bad start they might go about 10-6, which would be pretty disappointing.

They're my favorite team too, but their schedule looks pretty brutal.

 

In the NFC I'll also go along with Carolina. These guys repeating would be like the San Diego Chargers repeating in 1995 in the AFC, after their fluke Super Bowl. Last year they beat a bunch of lame teams by just 3 or 4 points it seemed like, often times rallying in the 4th quarter. No way are they doing all that again.