Every year, there’s always a team to climb over to dethrone or one that’s out to prove something more. Last year, it was the Pittsburgh Steelers. The previous two seasons, it was the New England Patriots. The season before alternated. From 1999 to 2001, it was the St. Louis Rams. Beforehand you had the repeat-Denver Broncos. You had the Green Bay Packers. What about mid-90s dynasty Dallas Cowboys? Everyone was on their heels of the Aikman-Smith-Irvin tandem.
Who’s the team to beat now? Is it the New England Patriots? Many seem to think so due to their wallet spending over the off-season and the legit contenders they have been over the past few years. Why not the Indianapolis Colts? They were still the Super Bowl champs the last time I checked. Let’s break some teams down.
New England Patriots
Of course they are one of the teams to beat this season; as they are every year. But are they the top dogs? I still have mixed opinions on this. I would have to wait until at least Week 5 or Week 6 of the season to see how Randy Moss is progressing — he’s been awful the past two seasons in Oakland for an obvious reason; he was playing on a team that had no morals or concept of winning with a ridiculous gameplan that led to their offense being the worst. — Now he’s suiting up in a Patriots jersey, as the team is use to winning. With the additions of Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker to their ubiquitous wide receiver core, the possibilities are immeasurable.
Indianapolis Colts
Super Bowl 41/XLI champions. Peyton Manning took that monkey off of his back and smacked Rex Grossman over the face with it. The Colts are entering the 2007 season after losing Dominic Rhodes, Cato June, Nick Harper, Mike Doss. The most noted. It’s going to hurt them defensively despite at all. Of course their offense isn’t going to take a big hit. Joseph Addai is just going to have to prove the doubters wrong and carry the load for the team on the ground. With the Colts passing game being grade-A, he could get in some rushing yards off of some draws, the Colts could utilize play action to full effect in trickery to fool defenses. Their defense has taken a big hit, but guess what? They still have Dwight Freeney, and their defensive scheme can step up at different times. They were streaky last season, and were last in the league in rush d. However, their defense carried the team to the AFC Championship in the post-season, and that helped. But can their defense hold up the run one full season, and their pass d do the same with the air attack?
San Francisco 49ers
As it’s known, I’m not buying into all of the mediocre and unnecessary 49ers hype. While they are still too immature and one year away from actually contending for the NFC West, the division is up for grabs anyway. But why should it be? The Seahawks have won 3 consecutive division titles. However, many NFL fans are chock full of the San Francisco 49ers penises in their mouth, so unfortunately I felt obligated to talk trash about them — and the catch? No one has even tried to send a comment in my 49ers article and negate me. I know why. They signed Nate Clements, Tully Banta-Cain, and Ashley Lelie. They also traded a 4th rounder in the 2007 draft to acquire Darrell Jackson from in-division rival Seahawks. Their offense is still inadequate and is not even nearly as good as the Rams, Seahawks, or Cardinals respective offenses. Fortunately for San Francisco, they have a beast in Frank Gore to help put pressure off of Alex Smith’s passing. Their offense has its pros and cons, but they are still one year away, just like their defense. As for their defense, they overpaid the living Bob Hope out of Nate Clements with the $80M deal, and they signed Tully Banta-Cain. Again, they are still one year away from contending for the NFC West title. Their defense isn’t even nowhere near as it should be just yet. Just like I say with the Arizona Cardinals, I’ll believe it when I see it. As of now, they can’t defend the pass at all, and one cornerback isn’t going to stop St. Louis’s Torry Holt/Isaac Bruce/Drew Bennett tandem, or Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald or Anquan Boldin. Their other receivers? They need to step up and learn how to hold it down. 1 year, my friends, 1 year. And don’t negate me here, negate me in the other article because this one isn’t about the Niners, it’s about who is the team to beat for the 2007 NFL season!
San Diego Chargers
Coming off a season where they had the best record in the league (standing at 14-2), LaDainian Tomlinson and Shawne Merriman want their revenge for what transpired against the Patriots in last season’s playoffs in the divisional round, losing by a field goal after having control of the game for the most part of the 60 minute time clock. Then afterwards, all hell and all turmoil broke loose on the field after a few Patriots players were taunting Merriman’s ridiculous Lights Out dance. I’m not going to get into all of the off-season transactions they made because you can do that on your own, but they lost Donnie Edwards to the Chiefs, and how will that effect them? It’s hard to say, really. I don’t think so much, as Merriman will still hold his own by getting after the opposing teams’ quarterbacks all season long, and he’s really been the upside to this defense that has made them look so good; better than they actually are, but that’s OK, Merriman is his own guy out there. As for their offense, the wide out corps being taken into question is a question of its own as they still have the best running back and player in the NFL (LaDainian Tomlinson) and a young, developing, electric QB in Philip Rivers. Not to mention Michael Turner and Lorenzo Neal are back as a Bolt. While Norv Turner’s track record is terrible, I expect the Chargers to win the AFC West and enter the playoffs as one of the top dogs in the AFC to beat, again.
So, I’ve evaluated a few teams, and have typed out my thoughts on them. Now you, the reader(s), feel free to leave some comments on who you believe is the team to beat in the upcoming football season.
4 Comments
July 5, 2007 at 3:53 pm
I am a homer, sure, but I think the Saints are a team to beat this year. There is so much hype surrounding this team and they should only be better this season and have surpassed the Bears in many people’s eyes as the top team in the NFC. I sure hope so!
July 5, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Barring injuries, they are extremely dangerous and have a whole lot backed up in their offensive arsenal. But I’m just not sold on their defensive backs until they can hold their own consistently. They made it through the season last year, but can they do it again?
July 6, 2007 at 8:39 am
Well, if Jason David is not an upgrade over Fred Thomas, I do not know who is!
July 26, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Good luck it is gonna be a great season