Now That The Lockout Is Over Its Time For A NFL Preview

I know it's early and they still have to play the games before the teams in the Super Bowl are determined however I feel that so far clearly the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots have been the true winners in free agency and should be the NFC and AFC favorites. Yes the Patriots took big risks in getting players in Chad Johnson and especially Albert Haynesworth for having character issues. However it's a big risk, big reward situation especially since Chad will be guided and catching passes from Tom Brady and Bill Bellichik loves a challenge especially trying to correct players with character issues ie. Randy Moss after all it did work for a couple of seasons at least, they also resigned LB Tully Banta Cain. Albert Haynesworth gives the Patriots a potential threat on the defensive line if the Patriots can just motivate him to play. Despite the trades the Patriots made for Albert Haynesworth and Chad Johnson, the Eagles topped that by trading Kevin Kolb for CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, signing DE Jason Babin from the Houston Texans, Cullen Jenkins DT from the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, signed a winner in Vince Young to a 1 year deal to learn under Reid, get his mental issues straightened out and be ready in case Vick gets hurt during the season once again.

But lets not forget Philly's most important move of them all...they sneaked in the last second to win the Nnamdi Asomugha sweepstakes and now their cornerbacks are absolutely ridiculous with Asante Samuel, Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie manning the secondary. The only question out of all this is can they all coexist or will there be chemistry issues? That is yet to be determined. I've given you my thoughts on the two teams I think could potentially be in the Super Bowl but now let me give you my thoughts on how this NFL postseason blueprint should turn out to me. So lets start off in the NFC North where my Detroit Lions reside:
NFC North (predicted finish):
1. Green Bay Packers. Despite losing key players on their defensive front in DT Cullen Jenkins to the Philadelphia Eagles and LB Nick Barnett to the Buffalo Bills, one thing is clear the Green Bay Packers still have Aaron Rodgers one of the best QBs in the NFL right now if not the best. They also still have key players in Ryan Grant, Greg Jennings, Clay Matthews and Charles Woodson as well. So it shouldn't come as a surprise for the Green Bay Packers to not only win the NFC North but to also possibly make a return to the Super Bowl to defend their championship mainly because of Aaron Rodgers.
2. Detroit Lions. Coming hot off the way they finished last season winning 4 games in a row not to mention they were the last team to beat Aaron Rodgers and the Packers on that win streak as well to finish off with 6 wins last season because of that 4 game win streak instead of 2. With that being said after the season they had last season in large thanks to NFL Rookie Of The Year DT Ndamukong Suh it is expected this season for the Detroit Lions to rise to the challenge. The Detroit Lions also had a decent Free Agency filling needs at LB with Justin Durant, CB with Eric Wright and resigning Chris Houston and also adding Stephen Tulloch from the Tennessee Titans to shore up the MLB position . Despite all these moves it wouldn't hurt them to add another corner to shore up that secondary preferrably a Randall Gay or Carlos Rogers who can get his hands on the ball and deflect passes....he just can't seem to catch them for interceptions however. But the true key out of all this despite the Lions defensive line with Suh, Fairley, Avril and Vanden Bosch that might be one of the best in the league if not the best defensive line, the real key to their season is the health of 3rd year QB Matthew Stafford.
The last thing Stafford wants his legacy to be remembered as in a china doll, he does get hit a lot and he has shown toughness preferrably against the Cleveland Browns in his rookie season when he separated his shoulder on one play yet still managed to throw the game winning touchdown to Brandon Pettigrew with no time remaining. He also showed when healthy last season he's a leader throwing 6 touchdowns and only 1 interception in his short time played especially against the Washington Redskins last season when he threw what turned out to be the game winning touchdown pass in that shootout as well against the New York Jets who had a solid showing until he got hurt and chances are if he doesn't the Lions would have ended up beating the Jets as well. The Detroit Lions lost many close games last season and this looks like it should be the season where they finally change all that but really this will all depend on the health of Matthew Stafford who could easily be the 2nd or 3rd best QB in the NFC North when healthy.
3. Minnesota Vikings. They lost Sidney Rice but gained Jerry Aromashadu from the Chicago Bears, picked up WR Michael Jenkins but most importantly of all they traded for QB Donovan McNabb who may very well still have something left in the tank despite the terrible season he had in Washington last season getting benched for Rex Grossman and throwing a career high in interceptions. Things could be different in Minnesota than they were in Washington because his WR corps aren't bad despite the loss of Sidney Rice he still has an explosive threat in Percy Harvin, a possible decent possession receiver in Michael Jenkins, Jerry Aromashadu and also Bernard Berrian. There is also a possibility they could sign a physical deep threat in Braylon Edwards though it seems unlikeable he'll be signed there due to his latest off the field issues.
4. Chicago Bears. This would be a crazy transition from going from a season to making the NFC Championship game to a season finishing last in the division. But since the Chicago Bears weren't able to make any huge free agent acquisitions with the signing of WR Roy Williams and RB Marion Barber recently cut from the Dallas Cowboys and LB Vernon Gholston from the New York Jets not to mention they lost C Olin Kreutz, deep threat WR Jerry Aromashadu so they could be headed for a long season. Jay Cutler is missing a target to throw since traded from the Denver Broncos when he had Brandon Marshall, now I know that Roy Williams did have his best year under the Martz system in 2007 and that was probably the main reason Chicago signed him despite his seasons with the Dallas Cowboys where he clearly has had issues catching the football. If they end up signing a top WR like a Braylon Edwards or a Malcolm Floyd to give Jay Cutler a real target I'd expect better from them but since they did nothing to improve their team the Chicago Bears football team could be looking at a season they wish would have stayed locked out. Update: They also recently lost DT Tommie Harris on that defensive line and Jay Cutler's safety net in TE Greg Olson, a bad season for Jay Cutler might be in store and could be run out of Chicago by the end of the this season not saying he will but it is possible.

NFC South:
1. New Orleans Saints. The Saints did say goodbye to RB Reggie Bush by trading him to the Miami Dolphis but they drafted Mark Ingram RB out of Alabama and signed Darren Sproles RB from the Chargers so despite losing Bush the Saints improved at the RB position. The New Orleans Saints failed to win the division last season the season after their marvelous Super Bowl victory but Drew Brees doesn't have losing the division as an option this season. Who Dat
2. Atlanta Falcons. Despite adding WR Julio Jones to that explosive offensive in Atlanta that he should immediately thrive in and the signing of DE Ray Edwards from the Minnesota Vikings. The Atlanta Falcons didn't do enough to improve their team more than the New Orleans Saints.
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite the season they had last season this team has done nothing in free agency to improve their team. Josh Freeman could have another solid season however.
4. Carolina Panthers. Rookie QBs usually don't do well in their first year and it shouldn't be no different for Panthers rookie QB Cam Newton despite having a terrific running game to support him with RB DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart and trading special teams threat WR Armanti Edwards to receive one of the best TEs in the NFL in Greg Olson. But I do feel like the Panthers might have overpaid some players especially Charles Johnson and they still have yet to resign WR Steve Smith for Newton, they need to give the QB as many targets as possible.

NFC East:
1. Philadelphia Eagles. Really any surprise here? They signed one of the best CBs in the NFL and the best CB in Free Agency in Nnamdi Asomugha, possibly fleeced the Arizona Cardinals by getting another CB in Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie for QB Kevin Kolb and replaced backup QB Kevin Kolb in a winning QB in Vince Young who has the 8th most winning percentage among active QBs in the NFL right now. They also added DE Jason Babin from the Houston Texans, RB Ronnie Brown from the Miami Dolphins to help them on 3rd and short situations, but most importantly they finally gave Vick protection with OT Ryan Harris from the Denver Broncos. The Eagles have a backup to Vick and McCoy in Young and Brown now, they addressed their DL, they addressed their secondary, addressed their offensive line and now might even address their weak linebacking corps if the rumors of an Asante Samuel and a 1st rounder to the 49ers for LB Patrick Willis are true. It would be hard to see any holes on this team if that move happens, but now they have stolen Steve Smith from the New York Giants to add to their receiving corps of DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. And the Giants? well that's another story...
2. Dallas Cowboys. Now if you know me you probably know that I am definitely not the biggest fan of Tony Romo. They did cut Leonard Davis, Marc Colombo (who seemed to get a penalty every game last season), Roy Williams (can't catch, overpaid for only being the #3 receiver) and Marion Barber (fumbler) for no more locker room distractions, resigned T Doug Free, G Kyle Kosier, CB Alan Ball and DE Marcus Spears. No significant moves during free agency really but ever since they fired coach Wade Phillips last season and let interim coach and now full season head coach Jason Garrett take the reins it just seemed like the players were more comfortable and because of that they went on a run last season. For example, after the game against Green Bay when they lost 45-7 they ended up beating the Giants in NY 33-20 their rival that beat them 41-35 the previous game in Dallas, so in this case the Cowboys returned the favor. After Phillips was fired the Cowboys went on a 5-3 stretch to finish at 6-10 and with Miles Austin and Dez Bryant (who should be due for a huge breakout season due to the plays he made last season while healthy) at the receiving corps along with Jason Witten Tony Romo no longer has any excuses especially since Jason Garrett finally opened up the offense for the QB if Jon Kitna can do it so can Tony Romo right?
3. New York Giants. As bad as this offseason has been for the New York Football Giants I do not see them finishing last in the NFC East despite Plaxico spurning the New York Football Giants for the New York Football Jets, losing Kevin Boss to the Raiders, the Osi situation, 1st round draft pick Prince Amukamara already getting injured in training camp and recently losing Steve Smith to their hated rival the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite all of this they still have Eli Manning, they resigned Ahmad Bradshaw who is a pretty good running back despite having fumbling issues, still have decent receiving corps in Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham to fill in the void for Steve Smith and still have a decent corner in Terrell Thomas. After all there is no way they could finish last in the NFC East that spot is reserved for the Deadskins who once gave the biggest bust in the NFL, JaMarcus Russell a tryout last season.
4. Washington Redskins. Like I said before this team gave JaMarcus Russell a tryout last season..and instead of giving Donovan McNabb an offensive line to protect him and a decent deep theat to help out McNabb down the field they traded him to the Minnesota Vikings. Redskins owner Daniel Snyder had all this money but only used it to resign Santana Moss, and sign WRs Jabbar Gafney and Donte Stallworth and couldn't even a land a top wideout in a Santonio Holmes or Braylon Edwards, they don't even give Vince Young a shot even though he has the 8th best winning percentage among active QBs and John Beck is their gunslinger? it speaks for itself....

NFC West
1. San Francisco 49ers. I was gonna say the St. Louis Rams would take the division after the close battle they had with the Seattle Seahawks last season and with the already resurgence of rookie QB Sam Bradford last season. But the San Francisco 49ers hired Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh's brother Jim Harbaugh and there's a chance that just like John, Jim might catch on right away and change this team's stature and get them back into the postseason just like John. Sure they did cut CB Nate Clements this offseason but they also signed CBs Donte Whitner and Carlos Rogers (who is a great cover corner but can't seem to catch many interceptions, the Roy Williams of CBs). The 49ers were also able to pry Braylon Edwards out of the Jets for only a 3.5 million 1 year deal to add to their offensive threats of Michael Crabtree, Josh Morgan, Vernon Davis and even Frank Gore. The only question is who is playing QB? The 49ers did resign Alex Smith and if he can't get it done this season with all these weapons he has no more excuses and it might be time for their 2nd round draft pick this season Colin Kaepernick to take over the reins. But thats the only question remaining for San Francisco is their QB if Alex Smith gets it done they should have no problem making the postseason especially since the Seattle Seahawks made it last season in that division with a 7-9 record...clearly the weakest division in the NFL not just the NFC.
2. St. Louis Rams. No big signings this offseason except maybe CB Al Harris and WR Mike-Sims Walker and OL Harvey Dahl. But with 2nd year QB and OROY Sam Bradford holding the reins and RB Stephen Jackson as his sidekick for the St. Louis offense the St. Louis Rams should have no problem at least competing in the NFC West once again this season if not winning it this time.
3. Seattle Seahawks. Their postseason play was interesting last season defeating the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints that season that shocked the world that a 7-9 team could defeat a defending Super Bowl champion that season. However this offseason they lost QB Matt Hasslebeck to the Tennessee Titans but still have Marshawn "Beast Mode" Lynch and added a potential deep threat in Sidney Rice but my question is at QB can Tarvaris Jackson be as effective as their signal caller as veteran QB Matt Hasslebeck was all those seasons? From what I saw in Minnesota from him I don't think he has enough accuracy to but we'll see what happens from this standpoint.
4. Arizona Cardinals. Even though they traded CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to get their starting QB in Kevin Kolb from what I've seen in him in Philadelphia I don't really see how he's any better than Derek Anderson was last season. The Cardinals were another team that passed on Vince Young's services who is more of a proven QB than Kolb was at least. This could end up costing them big this season because if Kolb can't get it done, chances are with Larry Fitzgerald's contract up he'll most likely be looking elsewhere and coach Ken Wisenhunt might be on the hot seat as well. Not to mention since they lost on the Braylon Edwards sweepstakes to San Francisco and WR Steve Breaston leaving for Kansas City they don't even have a legitimate #2 at WR to make problems worse enough for them. Not only do I not see them winning this pathetic division but I can't see them finishing any better than last place in this division.