Just 16 days away until the regular season starts, here are my NFC division Winners.
NFC East (Philadelphia Eagles)
Like the Colts, the Eagles do not have many flaws and are arguably a top three most talented team in the NFL. Believe me when I say this team is loaded on both sides of the ball; as this off-season, they made major moves that could put them in position to win their 2nd Super Bowl in three years. On offense, they have one of the best young quarterbacks in the league, a great cast of running backs. They traded with Chicago to get Jordan Howard who has rushed for over 1100 twice in his three-year career. They also have the 2nd best tight-end in football with Zach Ertz who broke the NFL single season reception record for a tight end with 116 catches. Philly also had a phenomenal draft by drafting Miles Sanders a running back from Penn State in the second round. He will be a star in this league, and he reminds me Saquon Barkley with his size, speed, elusiveness. In the 2nd round they struck gold with J.J. Arcega-Whiteside a big, strong receiver from Stanford. He will be added to a solid group of receivers such as free-agent signing DeSean Jackson, and holdovers Alshon Jeffery and Nelson Agholor. Finally, in the 1st round they added Andre Dillard a tackle from Washington State to fill out their already top five offensive according to PFF. As for their defense, they have arguably the best defensive line in the league led by Flecther Cox, along with elite group of linebackers. As for their secondary, I believe it’s their most underrated part of their team, when healthy they could cause havoc for many of the opposing quarterbacks they face.
NFC North (Green Bay Packers)
The NFC North is arguably the toughest division in football, all four teams have the potential to make the playoffs. However, this year is the Packers’ year. This summer Green Bay might have had the best off-season by bringing in key defensive players such Adrian Amos, Preston Smith, Za’Darius Smith, and they even improved their offensive-line by signing Billy Turner. Now that Aaron Rodgers is healthy and will be motivated coming into this year after hearing all the criticism of him this summer. In Rodgers last 49 starts he is 24-24-1, but this year that ends, and the Packers will find themselves winning the NFC North. The Bears defense is still elite, but they have a slim chance of doing what they did a year ago. Mainly because they lost one of the best nickel corners in Bryce Callahan, starting safety Adrian Amos and their biggest loss of all is the departure of defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. As for the Vikings, they are very talented on both sides of the ball but I do not trust Kirk Cousins, he is 4-25 against teams with a winning record, 0-7 on Monday night and 5-13 in Prime-time games. If you’re a Packers fan you should “Like That”and your chances at winning the division.
NFC South (Atlanta Falcons)
The Dirty Birds are back and better than ever, now that they are healthy. In 2018, everything that could go wrong went wrong as far, as injuries go. Almost every key player on their team go hurt and missed significant time or missed all of the season such Deion Jones,one the best linebackers in the league and Devonta Freeman, one of the best play-makers at the running back position. Many analysts and fans will pick the Saints, and for good reason. However, the catastrophic loss they suffered during the playoffs against the Rams still holds over their heads like a dark cloud, and Drew Brees looked to be aging quickly after Thanksgiving. After their game against the Falcons, Brees completion percentage plummets by 22 percent, yards per attempt goes down by 8 yards, his touchdown to interceptions ratio falls to 1:2 and his passer rating skyrocketed down to 62. As for the Falcons, they have a lot to look forward to as Matt Ryan is coming one of the best seasons of his career, as he finished 3rd in the NFL in passing yards with 4924, and touchdowns with 35. Julio Jones doesn’t seem to be slowing down as he hits the age of 30, last season he had 1677 yards which led the NFL, on 113 catches that placed him 4th in the league, along with 8 touchdowns. As for their defense they have a pro-bowl caliber player at each level, but I’m looking at their former first round pick Takkarist McKinley to have a breakout season and expect him to have double digit sacks.
NFC West (Los Angeles Rams)
The L.A. Rams are coming off a great season last year that had them in the Super Bowl where they lost to the New England Patriots 13-3. However, this team is loaded and ready give another crack. With the 2nd best offense in the NFL the Rams can score with the best of them and in a hurry. With their trio of great receivers including Brandin Cooks, Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods, the best running back in football in Todd Gurley and Jared Goff throwing the ball, what’s not to love about this team on the offensive side of the ball? As for their defense they need to improve as they finished 19th in the league in yards per game given up and 20th in points per game given up, despite having the best player in the NFL in Aaron Donald. They will need to be more disciplined and cannot afford to get into shootouts with teams. In the off-season ,they seemed to fix those issues as they brought in two future Hall of Famers in Clay Matthews and Eric Weddle. Gurley hasn’t recovered from his knee injury so expect his touches to be limited but they did retain Malcolm Brown and draft Darrell Henderson in the third round.
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