My Preseason Predictions:
1.Chicago Bears (11-5)
2.Green Bay Packers (10-6)
3.Detroit Lions (8-8)
4.Minnesota Vikings (6-10)
Actual Standings:
1.Green Bay Packers (12-4)
2.Detroit Lions (11-5)
3.Minnesota Vikings (7-9)
4.Chicago Bears (5-11)
Chicago Bears: As a diehard Chicago Bears fan, I kind of have to sacrifice my journalistic integrity when writing this. In my 10 years of being a fan, the Bears have had a lot of disappointing seasons, especially over the past five years or so. But I can honestly say that none of those previous letdowns came even remotely close to the soul-crushing agony they inflicted on their fans season. The 2014 Bears were a trainwreck that no one in the fanbase (or anyone else in the league for that matter) saw coming. 2014 seemed like it was going to be the year the Bears finally returned to being contenders. Their offense was only second behind the Broncos in scoring in 2013 and spent the offseason bringing in high-profile free agents (Jared Allen, Lammar Houston) and a plethora of promising young talent via the draft (Kyle Fuller, Ego Ferguson, Will Sutton) to try and fix their holes on defense.And in the early part of the year, their rebuild seemed to be working. The offense was once again great, putting up a lot of points and riding the trio of running back Matt Forte and wide receivers Alshon Jeffrey and Brandon Marshall to early-season victories over the 49ers, Falcons and Jets. The defense wasn't quite as strong, but they showed an ability to take the ball away, keep the run contained and get to the quarterback on a relatively consistent basis, all things they sorely lacked in 2013. However, all of that disappeared around mid-October, when the team started to fail miserably on both sides of the ball. Offensively, they struggled to move the ball with any sort of regularity and were turning the ball over at an alarming rate. Quarterback Jay Cutler certainly hindered the team with his erratic play and league-high 21 turnovers, but the fallman for this terrible offensive play should be head coach Marc Trestman. His terrible play-calling and lack of variation in schemes put the Bears in a position to lose just about every week. Cutler is not a quarterback you can rely on to throw 40+ times in a game and win, especially without a healthy Brandon Marshall in the lineup for about half of the season. With Cutler under center, you need to establish a strong running game and create opportunities downfield so he can showcase his top-notch arm strength. Cutler's gunslinger mentality will always prevent him from being an elite quarterback, but you certainly win with him if you give him the right scheme to work with and have a strong defense to back him up. The offensive woes were certainly problematic, but the biggest crutch for the Bears was their defense. Somehow, this defense managed to be worse than the 2013 unit, who was previously the worst defense in franchise history. Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker-who was mind-bogglingly retained after the disastrous 2013 campaign- should be permanently blacklisted from the NFL. His zone-heavy schemes are beyond ineffective and allowed any offense that wasn't a complete dumpster fire to score on them at will. Aside from his awful scheme, his inability to make any adjustments was flat-out absurd. The Patriots, Packers, Saints and Cowboys poured on the points without even breaking a sweat because Tucker didn't change any of the looks he was giving them throughout the game. Granted the talent he had to work with wasn't the greatest- especially in the secondary, but that's still no excuse for how piss-poor defense was this season. A distinct lack of leadership on the coaching staff and in the locker, and scheme/play-calling incompetence sunk this franchise and made them tortuous to watch in 2014. There were a handful of players on both sides of the ball who delivered to (Forte, Jeffrey, Martellus Bennett, Kyle Long, Willie Young, Stephen Paea, Jeremiah Ratliff) to varying degrees, but their contributions weren't nearly enough to make this season even a slight success. A team with this much pure talent just shouldn't be this bad. The ownership rightfully cleaned house at season's end, and hopefully new general manager Ryan Pace and head coach John Fox, offensive coordinator Adam Gase, and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio can put an end to annual disappointment the Bears have been delivering of late.
Detroit Lions: The Detroit Lions were able to clinch their first playoff berth since 2011 and it was largely because they changed their identity as a team. The Lions offense led by quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Calvin Johnson had been the focal point of this football team for years, so it was a bit of surprise when their defense started running the show in 2014. Their rushing defense was one of the most dominant the league has seen in a long time, as they allowed an average of just over 69 yards a game on the year. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, defensive end Ezekiel "Ziggy" Ansah and outside/inside linebacker DeAndre Levy were the primary run-stuffers and their consistency throughout the year was remarkable. Save for DeMarco Murray in the playoffs, there wasn't a single back this season that could get anything going against this stout front. However, the real surprise on this suddenly dominant defense was their secondary. The secondary had been a longstanding problem on this squad and with a generally unproven, inexperienced group back there in 2014, it didn't seem like this would be the season where they would turn things around. The emergence of second-year cornerback Darius Slay and a career year from veteran safety Glover Quinn allowed them to deify the odds and have one of the most surprisingly affective secondaries in the NFL this season. The offense may have taken a backseat to the defense this season, but they were still able to make some noise-even without Johnson being less than 100% for nearly half of the season. Matthew Stafford threw for over 4,000 yards for the fourth straight year and Golden Tate proved to be a great addition to this offense and finally gave their passing game the number two option next to Johnson that they've sorely lacked for quite some time. If this defense can retain this form and Johnson can return fully healthy next season, the Lions should be in the best shape they've ever been in as a team.
Green Bay Packers: I don't know what led me to believe the Packers were going to regress this season, but let's just say I was very, very wrong. The Packers played perhaps their most dominant football since their Super Bowl run in 2010 this season. After their 1-2 start, the Packers finished the year on a staggering 11-2 run and went onto clinch the two seed in the NFC. The Packers dominance, per usual, can be attributed to the play of quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers was absolutely sensational, throwing for 4,381 yards, 38 TD's and finishing a second straight season without throwing an interception at Lambeau Field. No quarterback in the league this season was as dominant as Rodgers and considering the fact that Rodgers is just 31 years old, his reign of terror on opposing defenses isn't likely to end anytime soon. Rodgers' stellar play also allowed wide receivers Jordy Nelson and running back Eddie Lacy to have great season once again. Nelson and Cobb further solidified their standing as the best receiving duo in the NFL as they both finished with over 1,200 yards, 14 yards per catch and double-digit TD's on the year. If the Packers don't give Cobb- who is an unrestricted free agent- a huge deal this offseason, I'd be stunned. As good as Nelson and Cobb are, Lacy is the unsung hero on this offense, and a large part of why they are able to operate at such a high level. Lacy is the first running back Rodgers has had in his entire tenure with the Packers that can be counted on to produce on a consistent basis. Lacy's strong contributions in the rushing game have subsequently allowed Rodgers to be even more deadly in the passing game. Lacy is one of the handful of young guys in the league that prove the running back position is far from dead. The 2014 Packers also possessed a defense that was actually pretty damn good. They may lack the star power of the offense and struggle against the run at times, but this unit was far better than they were made out to be. They quietly finished the year as a top 10 pass defense anchored by the highly underrated cornerback Tramon Williams and safety Morgan Burnett, and their pass-rush led by the always great Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers-who rebounded beautifully from a down year in 2013-was pretty lethal. Unless something traumatic happens, The Packers are going to be serious contenders in this league for at least the next half-decade.
Minnesota Vikings: In a season where running back Adrian Peterson only appeared in one game before being suspended for child abuse and second-year wide receiver Cordarelle Patterson mightily regressed after a strong rookie year, the Vikings shouldn't have done as well as they did. It takes a lot of resilience to overcome the loss of your best player and a terrible season from your next best offensive player and their perseverance over these obstacles can be linked to first-year head coach Mike Zimmer. Zimmer is one of the toughest SOB's you'll come across in the NFL and he instilled that level of toughness into this football team. No matter how many injuries or off-field distractions mounted on this team, they kept fighting and only got better as the year went on. Not only did Zimmer lead this team through the fire to overachieve, he.successfully overhauled this defense. His choice to gamble on unproven fifth-year defensive end Everson Griffen as the team's primary pass rusher and select outside linebacker Anthony Barr, who had only played defense for two years in college, in the first round of the draft proved to be justified. Griffen excelled in his first year as a starter picking up 12 sacks and Barr looked great against the run and showed flashes of serious pass-rushing ability in his rookie campaign. However Zimmer's most impressive work was on the back-end of the defense. Cornerback Xavier Rhodes looked like a legitimate shutdown corner in his second year in the league and safety Harrison Smith was perhaps the best safety in the NFL this season, demonstrating the stellar range and takeaway ability that turned heads during his rookie year in 2012, but was forgotten about in his injured-riddled 2013 season. Another huge surprise for the Vikings this season was the development of rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Bridgewater was forced into the lineup in Week 3 after Matt Cassel went down with a broken foot and he ended up looking pretty good for much of the year. As with most rookies, Bridgewater turned the ball over a decent amount, but he showed a lot more poise and pocket ability than I expected him to at this point in his career. If he keep up this trajectory-especially after his strong December- he'll be the Vikings starting quarterback for a number of years. Despite all their success, the Vikings certainly weren't perfect. Their rush defense was pretty ghastly for much of the season and they desperately need to surround Bridgewater with more talent at wide receiver. But with a promising young quarterback in Bridgewater, a blossoming young defense that seems built for the long haul, a strong leader at head coach and the return of Peterson, tackle Phil Loadholt and guard Brandon Fusco on the horizon, the Vikings could very well find themselves in the playoff picture within the next couple of years.
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