The 2011 NFL season, which was threatened by the offseason lockout, will get underway next Thursday evening with the Saints vs. Packers matchup, and it can’t get here soon enough for rabid pro football fans. Here is my take on how the division races in the NFC will shape up this year.
NFC East
The Philadelphia Eagles loaded up with talent in the shortened free agency period following the lockout to the point where their newly-signed backup quarterback to Michael Vick – Vince Young – proclaimed them a “Dream Team”. On paper they are the strongest team in the division, and are the darlings of a lot of media people to win the Super Bowl this year. I personally think they are going to be a force but have too many defensive deficencies, especially in their front seven and in stopping the run. I see the Eagles finishing second in this tough division, and possibly claiming a wild card playoff spot. The New York Giants are another team that is good enough to contend for the division title, but they have been too much of a Jeckyl / Hyde team recently to pick as the NFC frontrunner. It’s not a popular pick, but I think “America’s Team”, the Dallas Cowboys, are poised to finally realize their potential and win the NFC East crown this year. The Washington Redskins will finish in the basement, even though they played a couple of impressive preseason games and won over some media members who think coach Mike Shanahan will lead them out of the wilderness this year. I say any team that is going to rely on either Rex Grossman or John Beck as their quarterback is not going to stay in the race very long. This division is the weakest in the NFL as far as providing impact rookies. The top rookie may be Eagles offensive lineman Danny Watkins, who is a 26-year old that inherits the job of protecting Vick’s blind side.
NFC North
This is one of the NFL’s toughest divisions. The Chicago Bears won the division last year, but the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl. This season, I see the Pack riding the momentum of their championship season to the NFC North title this year. Their closest competitors, somewhat surprisingly, will be the young and building Detroit Lions, who are poised for a break-out year. The Bears and Minnesota Vikings, in my opinion, are both quarterback-challenged. The Bears rely on Jay Cutler, and he is never going to be an elite signal-caller. Chicago will go as far as their defense carries them, and that will be third in the division. The Brett Favre experiment in Minnesota is over, and apparently they were ready to turn the offense over to rookie first round draft pick Christian Ponder. Then suddenly they made the move to acquire Donovan McNabb, which looked like a move that could catapault them to the division crown. I feel that McNabb’s best years are behind him, and that the Vikes are destined for the NFC North cellar. My pick for top NFC North rookie is a player who is currently injured – Lions’ defensive lineman Nick Fairley, who should be impressive once he’s ready to team up with last year’s rookie sensation Ndamukong Suh.
NFC South
There’s only one certainty in this division – the Carolina Panthers will finish last. Cam Newton will probably claim the starting QB job and the team still has a decent running game, but the other teams in the division are just too good. The New Orleans Saints, a year removed from a Super Bowl title, will reclaim the division title this year behind Drew Brees. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have one of the league’s best kept secrets in their rising young QB star, Josh Freeman, and will give the Saints all they can handle. Atlanta won the division last year, but their playoff drubbing against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers was an omen. They will fall to third in the NFC South this year and miss the playoffs. Top rookie in the division will be Newton, even though his team won’t win many games.
NFC West
The Seattle Seahawks won this division in 2010 with a losing record, the first time in NFL history a team with a sub-.500 record made the playoffs. The Hawks made moves in free agency to try to improve and stay atop the division, but lost veteran QB Matt Hasselbeck and won’t repeat. San Francisco hired Jim Harbaugh as coach and should be improved, and Arizona, which crumbled after Kurt Warner retired, acquired Kevin Kolb to try to improve the offense. The Cardinals have possibly the NFL’s best player in Larry Fitzgerald, and will be in the race. The 2011 NFC West division champ will be the St. Louis Rams, a young, improving club that had a chance to win the division in the season’s final week last year. Look for QB Sam Bradford to move up the ladder of elite QBs this year and guide the Rams to the playoffs. The top rookie in the division, by far, will be Cardinals’ cornerback Patrick Peterson.