SportsDabbler

It’s late July so you know the NFL season is just right around the corner with training camps in full swing. Not sure about you, but I can feel it in the air more than Phil Collins. Well, let’s get right down to it, even though it is early, I have in mind who the top contenders are going to be in each conference.

Since the New Orleans Saints are the reigning Super Bowl Champions, I’ll start with the NFC. The Saints are probably the odds on favorite to repeat as NFC champs, but in this day in age, going to the Super Bowl once is a feat in itself, let alone twice in a row. The weapons on offense are back and with Drew Brees leading the attack you will always have a chance. One important thing is that the Saints were able to upgrade their secondary through the draft by selecting FSU CB Patrick Robinson. He’s a good physical corner that was one of the few bright spots on a porous Seminole defense last year.

My second major contender in the NFC has to be the Green Bay Packers. I liked them a lot last year and felt that if they got past the Cardinals, they would have given the Saints a lot of trouble. Aaron Rodgers is my absolute favorite young quarterback in the league right now and he is on the cusp of elite. Just like Brees, he’s always going to give you a shot to win. Their big issue last year was their pass protection. For a playoff team, the protection was awful. They addressed that in the first round of the draft by selecting Iowa tackle Bryan Bulaga. While not possessing the upside of some of the other tackles selected ahead of him, he is one of the most ready to take over. I expect him to bookend at right tackle immediately along with Chad Clifton. A big issue in their loss to Arizona was the atrocious play of the secondary. They had a key injury in the secondary late last year and there was a noticeable decline in their pass defense as a result. With the drafting of rookie safety Morgan Burnett, look for him to push S Atari Bigby for minutes. The Packers should be in good shape going into the season.

The Dallas Cowboys are fresh off their first playoff victory since 1996  and again should field a strong team. I’m actually baffled as to how the Cowboys have not already been to one Super Bowl yet. They have a great young quarterback in Tony Romo, a solid trio of running backs in Marion Barber, Tashard Choice and Felix Jones. A great receiving corps that was only improved upon when they drafted troubled Oklahoma State WR Dez Bryant. They have a bevy of playmakers on defense including Demarcus Ware, Anthony Spencer, Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman. The big thing for the Cowboys is to resist the temptation to change too many things about their team. They choked against Minnesota last year in the playoffs, it was not a matter of talent because Dallas was easily more talented top to bottom than the Vikings. If they can find consistency in their offense and formulate an identity, this team could be dangerous come playoff time.

The NFC East will easily be the toughest division in the NFL next year as they have three legitimate playoff contenders. The Washington Redskins should replace the Eagles this year as a representative for the NFC East in the playoffs. The Redskins underwent a massive transformation. They upgraded immensely at the Head Coach position by hiring future Hall of Famer Mike Shanahan. They traded the solid but inconsistent Jason Campbell and acquired Donovan McNabb from the Eagles. They signed Willie Parker and Larry Johnson, traded for Adam Carriker and drafted LT Trent Williams to replace the retired Chris Samuels. There were more moves but for the sake of brevity, I will not list them all. The Redskins made it clear that they are ready to compete for a Super Bowl title and this upcoming season will the best season to achieve those goals as McNabb is in his prime. I expect the running game to see a huge boost as that was Mike Shanahan’s forte in Denver. The improved running game should take a load of pressure off of McNabb’s arm as he does not possess many good receivers on his team. The defense could see a boost as Bryan Orakpo had a great rookie campaign and if Albert Haynesworth drops his “me-first” attitude and acknowledge that football is a team game, they will be very good.

The NFC East’s other playoff contender is the New York Giants. The G-Men started the season off great last year, winning five straight, but stumbled down the stretch to miss the playoffs. The turning point of their season last year was the brutalization at the courtesy of the reigning champs. After that game, the injuries in their secondary were severely exposed. Combine that with the lack of a pass rush we are used to seeing from the Giants, it led to the recipe for disaster. Well, with the 15th pick in the draft they selected super athletic DE Jason Pierre-Paul. This is a prospect I can speak about extensively because he happens to come from my alma mater at the University of South Florida. I have watched this kid in practice and let me tell you, he is an absolute freak of an athlete.

I expect him to be a key member of the Giants pass rush next year if he can adjust to the speed of the game. With an improved pass rush and Kenny Phillips hopefully returning to form from a serious knee injury, the Giants defense should be able to carry them to the playoffs.

I know some of you guys will laugh at the fact that I did not include the Minnesota Vikings and the Arizona Cardinals in my list but until Brett Favre officially decides that he is going to return and Arizona finds their quarterback of the future, they both remain question marks.