The 2011 NFL season may be only nine weeks old, but for some teams at the bottom of their division, the season is already over. And, some fan bases couldn’t be happier that their team is performing so poorly.

Every year the worse team in the league gets the first pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, and this year that pick is slightly more coveted than in recent years. The reason for this comes down to the junior starting quarterback for the Stanford Cardinal, Andrew Luck. Luck, barring any unforeseen injuries will enter his name in the draft next year, and without a shadow of doubt be selected by the team with the first pick.

Luck is regarded as the most NFL ready college quarterback by football analysts across the land. He was projected to go number one in the 2011 Draft, but elected to finish his degree at Stanford and play one more season. NFL teams have been salivating over Luck because his ability to play the quarterback position has franchise savior written all over it.

In 2010 Luck threw for over 3,000 yards, completed 70% of his passes, and had a dizzying touchdown to interception ratio of 32 to 8. Luck is also proving that last year was not a fluke; he is currently on track to outpace his phenomenal numbers from last year.

The image now becomes clear as to why some teams fan bases want their favorite team to stink it up for the rest of the season. What’s one bad year, when we can acquire Luck, and possibly have the next legendary quarterback on our team?

The current teams that are in line to win the Andrew Luck jackpot are the Miami Dolphins, St. Louis Rams, and the Indianapolis Colts. These teams are the bottom of the bottom and their combined record is an atrocious 2-23. As of Week 9 while all three teams look hapless, Indianapolis is the clear frontrunner at 0-9.

The Dolphins could easily be 4-4, if not for a miraculous 4^th quarter comeback by Tim Tebow, and a couple of losses in close games, so it is doubtful that they will finish at the bottom. The Rams recently acquired Sam Bradford with the number one pick in 2010.Bradford was last year’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, so it is likely that the Rams would trade the pick for more draft picks to fill other personnel holes.

Then there are the Indianapolis Colts who are going in the wrong direction, with each performance looking worse than the one before. What’s odd is that the Colts, for the last 11 years, have been stout at the quarterback position thanks to future Hall of Famer, Peyton Manning.

If Manning would’ve been healthy at the beginning of the season, the Colts would probably be in contention for a playoff spot and not the first draft pick. However  with Manning’s neck injury lingering and people close to the situation doubting if his production value will be anywhere close to the Manning of old, Luck is now a serious option.

The popular school of thought is that if Luck goes to the Colts one of two things will happen. The first is that after drafting Luck, if Manning can return next year, Luck will sit on the bench and learn from one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. In 3-5 years when Manning’s contract extension is up, Luck will take over and be the new heir to the Colt’s offense.

The second option is that if Manning can’t make his return the Colt’s would trade or cut Manning, and begin the Luck era in Indianapolis. A crude way to treat your former savior, but the NFL is a business where tough decisions need to be made.

With 8 weeks left in the season it’s anybody guess as to who will wind up with the first pick in the draft.  What is certain is that one NFL team is going to win by losing.

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Around the middle of the NFL season, usually week 7-9, teams hit that proverbial fork in the road. Coaching staffs around the league have personnel decisions to make at the most important position, the starting QB. Option A is pretty simple, and it consists of staying with the starter QB you selected at the beginning of the season with the hopes that he will lead your team to the playoffs.

However Option B is a complex situation full of hard decisions and calculated gambles. Option B requires a coaching staff to replace the starting QB with someone on your bench for the remainder of the season. The complex part revolves around why replace the starter, who you do replace the starter with, and when do you finally pull the trigger.

Well in Week 7, six NFL teams have gone the route of Option B and that got my editorial partner, Kristian Winfield, and me to thinking. Which one of these fresh faces will have the better season? The candidates are as followed Charlie Whitehurst (SEA), A.J. Feely (STL), Christian Ponder (MIN), Carson Palmer (OAK), Tim Tebow (DEN), and John Beck (WSH).

It’s almost a loaded question against us because a QB swap is usually only made after a team has had an unproductive 7 weeks. We will admit that there are some exceptions, and injuries sometimes force the hand of a coach. More often than not, the former is the underlying factor in a change at the QB position.

Before we each give you our picks, let’s review why each QB is starting in the first place.

John Beck: John Beck impressed people during the preseason with his picture perfect passes, but because of a single interception thrown, the start was given to Rex Grossman. In five games Grossman might have hauled in 1,132 but it was clear Grossman was driving the Redskins’ offense into the dirt. Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan decided to make a change and Beck was named the new starter.

Carson Palmer: After losing starting QB Jason Campbell for the season because of a broken collarbone, coach Hue Jackson came face to face with his biggest crisis as new head coach, who was going to start at QB. In a surprise move the Raiders traded away multiple draft picks for former “retired” Cincinnati Bengals QB Carson Palmer.

A.J. Feely: Feely was the back up on the St. Louis Rams to Sam Bradford. In last week’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Bradford suffered a high ankle sprain that forced him wear a protective boot during the week. With a 0-5 record and the Rams clearly out of the divisional race there was no need to rush Bradford back, so head coach Steve Spagnuolo handed over the reins to Feely.

Tim Tebow: Late in the season last year Tim Tebow was named the starter on the Denver Broncos after the Broncos’ playoff hopes were dashed. Tebow was supposed to remain the starter this year but due to a coaching change and horrible pre-season play by Tebow, Kyle Orton was given his starting position back.

Under Orton this year, the Broncos went 1-4 and new coach John Fox gave Tim Tebow a chance to reclaim his starting position back. Charlie Whitehurst:  Charlie Whitehurst was given the starting position after Tarvaris Jackson injured his pectoral muscle against the Giants.

Whitehurst had been previously named the starter late into the 2011 season, winning a game against the St. Louis Rams that sent the Seahawks to the playoffs. Christian Ponder: After Donovan McNabb’s abysmal 1-5 start for the Minnesota Vikings, head coach Leslie Frazier made a power move, inserting Christian Ponder into the lineup as the starting QB.

Now for what you’ve been waiting for, our “expert” picks.

Kristian’s Pick

The Vikings season was going nowhere fast, to put things into perspective, Donovan McNabb played absolutely terrible for the six games as the Vikings starter. In the first game of the season, he only threw for 39 yards—worst among starting QB’s in the NFL for season openers. Through five-and-a-half games, McNabb threw for four touchdowns and two interceptions.

I can name some wide receivers that have more receiving TD’s than McNabb has passing. Either McNabb was going to drag the franchise into the dirt, or a change was going to be made. Enter my pick, the pure passing rookie QB out of Florida State, Christian Ponder.

In their win last week over Carolina, Ponder played very well, considering the situation, throwing for 236 yards and a touchdown, while completing 18-of-28 attempts. And the week before, against the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers, Ponder threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns.

He’s still got a long way to go, but for a rookie that was pretty much dumped into the rotation after six weeks, Ponder is a significant improvement from the lackluster performances of McNabb. Ponder IS NOT the short term solution, but by showing promise and glimpses of greatness, he definitely is the Vikings’ QB of the future.

Terrance’s Pick

My pick is the man who can do no wrong, the Christian crusader, the legend himself, Tim Tebow. All of the reasons why I think Tebow will have the better season are not intrinsically football-related.  Tebow has the will to win, and has proven that he can win on every level of football.  You can’t teach a man how to be winner, that is something you have to be born with, and Tebow has it in spades.

For example take his performance in week 7 against the Miami Dolphins into consideration.  Tebow played like absolute crap for 55 minutes of a 60 minute game, but when you have that never-say-die mentality, sometimes five good minutes is all you need. Tebow lead his Denver Broncos to score 15 points in five minutes, throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for a two point conversion.

Being down 15 points and subsequently scoring 15 points in the final five minutes of game a feat that hadn’t been accomplished since the merger of the NFL and AFL in 1970. During the Broncos’ improbable comeback, Tebow consistently made big throw after big throw, performing so well that ESPN analyst Skip Bayless compared him to Steve Young.

However if there is one factor that could trump all of Tebow’s intangibles it would be his poor throwing mechanics. This has been the one gripe about Tebow since he entered the NFL last year. His awkward throwing release causes him to be inaccurate and overthrow receivers.

Before the 2010 NFL Draft Tebow worked tirelessly on correcting his throwing motion, when under pressure old habits tend surface and his team suffers. That same awkward delivery was on display during the first 55 minutes of the Dolphins game; Tebow consistently missed open receivers.

The one upside to Tebow’s glaring flaw is that his throwing motion can be fixed, and there are instances where he has shown that, just not on a consistent basis. Only time will tell us which one these six QBs will have the better season.  The only that is for certain is that each NFL season is highly unpredictable.

For all we know, both Ponder and Tebow could perform miserably the rest of season, and make our expert picks null and void. If that happens let’s just hope that Toonari Post doesn’t swap us out for some fresh journalistic faces.

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The NFL season is a quarter of the way through after four weeks and what a start we have witnessed. Despite the lockout and no training camps, teams have not missed a beat. The offensives have put up historic numbers, setting NFL records in passing yards for a single week by week one and breaking that record in week two.

Also for the first time in history, in weeks two and four, there were no divisional games. The league protected itself just in case of a lockout. Now bye weeks come into play, where teams will be giving off selected weeks from week five to eleven. Here is how the teams stack up through four weeks:

The Real Deal

No Surprise

.500 Club

Overachievers: 

Underachievers: 

Andrew Luck Sweepstakes

Rebuilding

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As we enter week four of the NFL regular season, teams look to prove if they are contenders or pretenders. This week does not feature a divisional game, like in week two, because of fear of the lockout. Still, there are intriguing match-ups to be played in week four.

Carolina Panthers @ Chicago Bears: Cam Newton came away with his first career win last week despite the horrible weather conditions. Bears look to confuse the rookie with their cover 2 schemes. Bears 24-17

Buffalo Bills @ Cincinnati Bengals: Ryan Fitzpatrick leads the Bills into Cincinnati after another amazing comeback, this time coming against the New England Patriots. They are 3-0 but this game might be a must-win. They still have to play the Jets twice, the Patriots in New England, a game in San Diego and the NFC East Division. Bills 28-24

Washington Redskins @ St. Louis Rams: Redskins let one get away at Dallas Monday night. They stay on the road to play a Rams team in the lower echelon in total defense. Washington is looking to bounce back. Redskins 23-14

San Francisco 49ers @ Philadelphia Eagles: Michael Vick left last week against the Giants with a broken right (non-throwing) hand. The CT scan on Monday reported it was just a contusion. Vick should be able to make the start. 49ers have to travel from east to west — not good. Eagles 26-17

Minnesota Vikings @ Kansas City Chiefs: For the third straight game, the Vikings blew a double-digit lead and lost the game. The Chiefs competed for the first time this season last week against the Chargers, but fell short. McNabb’s job is in jeopardy. Vikings 27-14

New Orleans Saints @ Jacksonville Jaguars: Blaine Gabbert looks to capture his first win of his career. He’ll have to do it against the high-powered Saints who hung up 40 points on the Texans and 30 in the second half. Saints 28-14

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Houston Texans: Big Ben looks to stay upright against Mario Williams and the Texans’ improved defense. Texans defense failed their first test against an Elite quarterback last week. Ben Roethlisberger is of that caliber. Steelers 27-24

Detroit Lions @ Dallas Cowboys: Lions have not run the ball well this season and are using their TEs to get yardage. Detroit plays back to back games on the road. Dallas looks to win the time of possession battle. Dallas 23-17

Tennessee Titans @ Cleveland Browns: Titans are taking a huge hit after losing WR Kenny Britt for the season. He tore both his ACL and MCL. There is cause for concern as RB Chris Johnson is yet to get it going. The signing of Matt Hasselbeck has looked good thus far. Titans 20-17

Atlanta Falcons @ Seattle Seahawks: Falcons always struggle on the road, while Seattle plays better at home. Falcons are the better team. They’ll get it done. 21-13

N.Y. Giants @ Arizona Cardinals: Giants could be in for a letdown, coming off a huge divisional road win last week. The Cardinals secondary has been horrible so far in the first three weeks. Giants 31-24

Miami Dolphins @ San Diego Chargers: Dolphins are still searching for their first win this season. Phillip Rivers looks to pick apart their secondary. Chargers 27-14

New England Patriots @ Oakland Raiders: Patriots almost never lose back to back games. Raiders looked impressive against the Jets and look to take advantage of one of the worst defenses in the league. Tom Brady finds a way to win. 28-27

Denver Broncos @ Green Bay Packers: Denver has had trouble stopping anybody. It might be time to see Tim Tebow. Packers look ready to repeat. Packers 31-20

N.Y. Jets @ Baltimore Ravens: Jets were embarrassed last week and they know it. Rex Ryan and his old team meet again. This game could be a shootout. Jets 28-24

Indianapolis Colts @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Colts played well last week but can they take it with them on the road. Tampa is back after a tough week one loss. Tampa 17-10
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New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills: Buffalo is 2-0 after coming back from a 21-3 halftime deficit last week against the Raiders. The Patriots are coming to town and have won 15 straight meeting against the Bills. They look to make it 16. Patriots 38-24

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Carolina Panthers: The quarterback carousel continues for the Jaguars. They will now start rookie QB Blaine Gabbert after Luke McGown’s awful performance against the Jets. Panthers found their guy in Cam Newton but he is still searching for his first win. Panthers 27-24

Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans: Denver’s defense has been bad over the first two weeks. Gave up 150 yards to McFadden in week one. In week two they allowed two receivers to go over 120 yards. The Titans might finally be able to get the run game going. Titans 24-17

N.Y. Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles: Since last year Vick is 9-2 in the regular season as the Eagles QB when he plays all four quarters. When he stays healthy, they have a good chance of winning. He’s cleared to start after he left last week with a concussion. Eagles 28-14

Houston Texans @ New Orleans Saints: Statistically, the Texans have one of the best pass defenses in the league. They will get their first real test on the road in the Dome when they take on Drew Brees and the Saints. Saints 24-23

Detroit Lions @ Minnesota Vikings: The Lions are off to an amazing start. Detroit has to come back to earth sometime. They haven’t won a divisional road game in years and Adrian Peterson runs well against them in his career. Vikings 23-16

Miami Dolphins @ Cleveland Browns: Dolphins have found their RB in rookie Daniel Thomas. He ran for over 100 yards in his first game last week. Browns had an impressive road victory in Indianapolis for their first win last week. Dolphins have been better on the road. Dolphins 20-14

San Francisco 49ers @ Cincinnati Bengals: The 49ers run defense has been stout during the first two weeks. As good as their run defense has been, their pass defense has been just as bad. Andy Dalton has been a surprise for the Bengals. Dalton and the rookie WR A.J. Green have had a nice connection thus far. Bengals 16-10

N.Y Jets @ Oakland Raiders: The last time these two met at Oakland, the Jets won in a blowout 38-0. One of the storylines ended up being that Mark Sanchez was caught eating a hotdog on the sidelines. Do you mean that this was one of the stories on the side? Reports are the Raiders are using that as motivation. Jets are looking to repeat more of the same of the last meeting. Jets 24-21

Baltimore Ravens @ St. Louis Rams: The Ravens couldn’t stop the pass against the Titans. That seems to be their weakness over the past year. Lucky for them they go into St. Louis and face a struggling QB, and banged up receivers and backs. Ravens 23-10

Kansas City Chiefs @ San Diego Chargers: This could be a trap game for the Chargers. Despite the loss last week and the Chargers desire to win this game, it is a division game. It is also a game in September and these Chargers have struggled early in past seasons. Chiefs have not competed yet this year. Chargers 28-24

Atlanta Falcons @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Falcons take their balanced offensive attack into Tampa Sunday. Tampa had trouble defending the pass in week one and the run in week two. They could struggle with both in week three. Falcons 21-17

Arizona Cardinals @ Seattle Seahawks: Cardinals have played well in the first two games, going 1-1. The same can’t be said for Seattle who’s 0-2. This is the NFL, where unpredictable happens. Seahawks 21-20

Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears: The Packers have had the worst pass defense in the NFL giving up 800 yards in the first two games. Bears don’t have a downfield threat to make that trend stand. Packers 31-17

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Indianapolis Colts: This won’t be pretty. The Steelers showed what happens when they play a bad team. It was a shutout victory for Pittsburgh. The Colts are lifeless without Manning. Steelers 28-7

Washington Redskins @ Dallas Cowboys: Coach Mike Shanahan looks like a genius after letting McNabb go, going with Grossman at QB and trading for Hightower. The Cowboys home openers start on Monday Night Football but comes with a cost. Injuries to Romo (punctured lungs) Dez Ryant (thigh) and Austin (hamstring) will set them back. CB Terrance Newman is back and the defense will keep them in it. Cowboys 24-17

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Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens: Ravens QB Joe Flacco, including the playoffs, has a record of 2-6 against the Steelers and both of those wins came without Ben Roethlisberger out. It will be a “knock ‘em down, drag ‘em out”-kind of game which comes as no surprise. Steelers 17-13

Atlanta Falcons vs. Chicago Bears: Both teams lost to the Packers last year in the playoffs. After an ugly beating by the Packers, Atlanta bounced back with a good offseason. They drafted the outstanding 6’3 wideout out of Alabama Julio Jones and signed Free Agent DE Ray Edwards. Meanwhile, Bears have OL problems after losing C Olin Kreutz. Atlanta 27-21

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Cleveland Browns: Rookie Andy Dalton plus Rookie A.J. Green equals a promising future. Right now, this isn’t the future. Now the Bengals start on the road in the “Dawg Pound”. The Browns beat up New England at home last year and almost came up with a win against the Jets. Browns 24-10

Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans: With Peyton Manning declared out for week one and maybe longer, it’s time for the Texans to win the division and finally get into the playoffs. Houston has an injury concern of their own. Last year’s rushing leader, Arian Foster, didn’t practice Friday (hamstring) and his status is up in the air for Sunday. Even if he’s out, Houston still has enough to beat a Manning-less Colts. Houston 28-17

Tennessee Titans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: Chris Johnson gets his 4 year $53 million deal with $30 million of it guaranteed. Jaguars cut QB David Garrard only days before the season opener. That’s too quick of a turnaround for the team to overcome. Titans 21-17

Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs: Buffalo might be a better defensive team than people expect coming into the year. And understandably so after being a horrible run defense. They took Marcell Darius with the third overall pick and have a healthy pass rusher in Shawne Merriman. Chiefs may have been exposed after the blowout home loss to the Ravens in the playoffs. Upset alert. Bills 20-16

Philadelphia Eagles vs. St. Louis Rams: The “Dream Team” Philadelphia Eagles finally get to see how good they really are. They will be tested on the road against an upstart Rams team. One free agent the Eagles didn’t sign was WR Mike Sims-Walker who went to the Rams. Rams hope he can help stretch the field in the passing game. Eagles should pass their first test. Eagles 35-21

Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: This game could mean a lot to both these teams by the season’s end. The winner gets an advantage in the head to head battle as both teams most likely will be battling for a wildcard playoff spot. Stafford is healthy –for now. Raheem Morris will have his guys ready. Toss up. Lions 28-27

Carolina Panthers vs. Arizona Cardinals: Panthers rookie Cam Newton starts week one after winning the preseason QB battle. New team, new offense, new weapons for Cardinals QB Kevin Kolb.  A home start against the league’s worst team last year should be enough for Kolb to get his first win for Arizona. Cardinals 24-17

Minnesota Vikings vs. San Diego Chargers: Everybody is healthy for the Chargers and Phillip Rivers and company are looking for a fast start to the season. Did McNabb get enough time to learn the offense with the shortened offseason? Chargers 30-20

Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers: Is the marquee matchup in this game really between the coaches? The same coaches who last played against each other when they were coaching for USC and Stanford? Jim Harbaugh won last time so we will take him again. 49ers 19-10

NY Giants vs. Washington Redskins: These two division rivals battle in remembrance of 9/11. Giants seem to always get hit with the injury bug. Osi Umenyiora may be out. With that said, they always compete and that defense is good enough to shut down Rex Grossman. Giants 24-20

Dallas Cowboys vs. NY Jets: Tony Romo is back but CB Terrance Newman is out for the Cowboys. A banged up secondary could open the door for Sanchez, Burress and the Jets. Rex looks to take this battle of the Ryan’s’. Jets 26-17

New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins: The Patriots usually have their trouble when they come down to Miami. Dolphins get to show off their free agent signed RB Reggie Bush and rookie Daniel Thomas. Pats defense seems to be improved. Patriots 31-14

Oakland Raiders vs. Denver Broncos: The last two teams to play week one in the Monday night double header. All the talk in the offseason was about Tim Tebow, Tim Tebow and you guessed it, Tim TebowKyle Orton is the starting QB. Along with John Fox, Brandon Llyod and what maybe an improved defense with Elvis Dumervil leading the way, watch out. Surprise team? Broncos 23-20

 
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At this point last year Jets fans were on pins and needles wondering what was going to happen with All-Universe corner Darrelle Revis and his holdout. As we know now he ended up holding out all summer and it took him a while to get back to full form injuring his hamstring shortly after his return.

The injury was due to a lack of off-season, but this year there’s no lockout and Revis is up to his usual tricks of wreaking havoc on quarterbacks and wide receivers.

With this news the rest of the league should begin preparing to face arguably the most complete corner in the game when they face the New York Jets this year. This year Revis is having probably his best training camp as a pro and is on a daily basis causing trouble for QB Mark Sanchez.

Sanchez likes to ignore the “Revis Rule” and is constantly challenging him in practice, usually to no avail. Sanchez says that it makes him a better quarterback being humbled by such an outstanding corner.

“They keep saying, ‘The Revis Rule, the Revis Rule,’ but that’s my chance to get after it in practice,” Sanchez said Thursday. “I can see what you can fit in and what you can get by with.

He keeps you sharp, he keeps you accurate…You try to take short vacations on Revis Island and try to get out of there as quick as you can.”

This is great news for Jets fans as having their best player at top form is good news for the defense and having their quarterback square off against him daily can only help Sanchez in his progress.

Rex Ryan said, “He’s the Tom Brady and Peyton Manning of defensive backs in this league. He’s the best I’ve ever been around.”

The Jets will need Revis to shutdown half the field as the question mark that remains from last year is the Jets pass rush. Having Revis do his thing forces quarterbacks to hold the ball for longer giving the line more chance to get to the opposing quarterback.

It’s looking like another Pro-Bowl year for the young DB.

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Shonn Greene is now the feature back of the New York Jets. After a somewhat disapointing preseason and a rough couple of first games last year the Jets made the decision to split the carries between Greene and LaDanian Tomlinson with LT getting more of the carries.

This season the Jets are ready to make the switch to Greene being the feature back. However, if he never makes it to the field the Jets will have to look to the veteran Tomlinson, 2^nd year RB Joe McKnight and rookie Bilal Powell.

Greene missed the afternoon practice today with a low-grade skin infection on his right foot. He took part in this mornings walk-through, but was limping toward the end of the session.

Tomlinson took most of the practice carries and Powell worked as the No.2 back, as Joe McKnight missed practice due to a concussion he suffered in the Monday night game against Houston.

The problem for Greene has always been durability and whether or not he can make it through a full season taking the majority of the carries. The Jets are looking for about 250 carries from Greene this season, but he can’t do that from the sidelines.

This means that Tomlinson will get the start at RB this Sunday against the Bengals with Joe McKnight, if he plays, and Bilal Powell taking a lot of carries as well.

This could be a big oppurtunity for 2^nd year back McKnight and the rookie Powell to make an impression on this coaching staff. Tomlinson will take more carries, but the Jets want to be conservative with him to keep him fresh later in the season if possible.

McKnight after a terrible training camp and preseason last year has been showing promise this year and this could be his chance to show the Jets brass why drafting him was a good choice.

Powell who’s been having a quiet camp could also benefit from added carries as well.

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This time around its time to break down the AFC North.

Pittsburgh Steelers: 2010 Record: 12-4 Divisional Finish: 1^st Playoff Finish: Lost in Super Bowl to Green Bay Packers

Key Off-season Acquisitions:

WR Jerricho Cotchery (Free Agency)
RB Mewelde Moore (Resign)
K Shaun Suisham (Resign)
CB Ike Taylor (Resign)

Key Off-season Losses:

Antwaan Randle El (Released)
The Steelers didn’t do much in way of big off-season acquisitions, but then again they made it to the Super Bowl last year. What they did do was resign some key pieces such as RB Mewelde Moore and CB Ike Taylor which will be vital to them making another run at winning it all.

They did lose third string receiver WR Antwaan Randle El, choosing to part ways with the veteran receiver, but they were able to pick up WR Jerricho Cotchery who was released by the New York Jets and they have high expectations for young WR Mike Wallace who really came into his own at the end of last season into the playoffs.

Having no real major roster changes the Steelers are coming back with virtually the same team from last year which should bode well for them. It should be another solid season for Pittsburgh with a very good chance to get back to and win the Super Bowl

Record Prediction: 13-3

Baltimore Ravens: 2010 Record: 12-4 Divisional Finish: 2^nd Playoff Finish: Lost in Divisional Round to the Pittsburgh Steelers

Key Off-season Acquisitions:

CB Chris Carr (Resign)
FB Vonta Leach (Free Agency)
SS Benard Pollard (Free Agency)
RB Ricky Williams (Free Agency)

Key Off-season Losses:

DT Kelly Gregg (Kansas City)
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh (Free Agency)
WR Derrick Mason (New York Jets)
DB Dawan Landry (Jacksonville)
FB Le’Ron McClain (Free Agency)
RB Willis McGahee (Released)

The Baltimore Ravens coming into this off-season had a lot of questions facing them with a lot of players becoming free agents. The Ravens had a solid season last year and where looking to take that next step toward winning it all. This off-season they were able to sign people to fill the voids left by losing some key people.

The losses of FB Le’Ron McClain and RB Willis McGahee were countered by the signings of FB Vonta Leach and RB Ricky Williams. Losing DT Kelly Gregg, WR Derrick Mason, and DB Dawan Landry are big loses for this team and they are looking within the team for some help filling those slots.

With their staunch defense, the Ravens should have another good year fighting for not only the AFC North title, but also for a high playoff seed and championship. The Ravens have all the pieces to make a run at the Super Bowl, but much of their chances rest with QB Joe Flacco and his performance this season.

Record Prediction: 12-4

Cleveland Browns: 2010 Record: 5-11 Divisional Finish: 3^rd Playoff Finish: Did not make playoffs

Key Off-season Acquisitions:

K Phil Dawson (Franchise)
RB Brandon Jackson (Free Agency)

Key Off-season Losses:

RB Mike Bell (Detroit)
QB Jake Delhomme (Released)
WR Chansi Stuckey (Arizona)

The Browns have a tough road ahead of them. With no big name signings they’re still in the rebuilding process and trying to develop young QB Colt McCoy. When a team uses there franchise tag on the kicker you know that they aren’t in the greatest of situations. Being in the same division as the Steelers and Ravens also doesn’t help being they have to play them both twice.

They haven’t lost much, but really haven’t upgraded either. It’s going to be another long season for the Browns as there division along with a lack of play making pieces will not make them contenders this year. They will again miss the playoffs and will be well short of .500.

Record Prediction: 4-12

Cincinnati Bengals: 2010 Record: 4-12 Divisional Finish: 4^th Playoff Finish: Did Not Make Playoffs

Key Off-season Acquisitions:

RB Cedric Benson (Resign)
CB Nate Clements (Free Agency)
C Kyle Cook (Resign)
QB Bruce Gradkowski (Free Agency)
TE Bo Scaife (Free Agency)
FS Gibril Wilson (Resign)

Key Off-season Losses:

MLB Dhani Jones (Free Agency)
QB Carson Palmer (Retirement)
WR Terrell Owens (Free Agency)
CB Jonathan Joseph (Houston)
TE Reggie Kelly (Atlanta)

The Bengals went from being a solid playoff team two years ago to dead last in the division last year. The team has some great pieces, but with QB Carson Palmer requesting a trade and then retiring when he wasn’t is going to resonate throughout this season. They did sign some good players, and resign a few key players, but lost some good players as well.

Resigning Cedric Benson was their biggest move and a move that needed to be made as they will have to rely heavily on the running game with either Bruce Gradkowski who they signed from the Raiders or TCU’s Andy Dalton who they drafted this year. The lack of receivers will hurt this team in the long run as they parted ways with Terrell Owens and traded Chad Ochocinco.

They also lost CB Jonathan Joseph who is one of the most talented in the league at his position, but were able to sign Nate Clements from the 49ers who also has the potential to be one of the tops in the league at his position. With the lack of a passing attack and a middle of the pack defense, combined with being in a tough division will spell a long season culminating in a few wins and no playoffs.

Record Prediction: 4-12

AFC North Prediction: The Steelers won the division last year due to a tie breaker, but they should win the division again this year outright. With the Ravens changing many key pieces and the Steelers not changing any the Steelers will defend their AFC North title and be on their way to a potential top seed in the playoffs.

Like the AFC East look for the Steelers and Ravens to have a rematch of their divisional round playoff game from last year.

For my next preview I will be looking at the AFC South.

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The article The AFC North: A 2011 NFL Preview appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

It’s never been easy to evaluate a quarterback and the impact a quarterback has on whether a team wins or loses.  We have had the Quarterback rating which has been used over the years to put a value on signal callers after each game.

Now ESPN has unveiled a new way to evaluate arguably the most important position on the football field; it is called the Total Quarterback Rating.

ESPN describes this new system as a way of “understanding what each play means to the team, then gives credit to the quarterback for what happened on a play based on what he contributed”

In this new approach to the position, a quarterback will be graded from a scale of 0-100, of course 100 being the highest, 50 being average or middle of the pact and 0 being the lowest; I doubt we will see any one ranked that low, unless Jimmy Clausen starts for Carolina.

The probability of winning becomes important in rewarding points to a player, in this new system every play in which a particular quarterback is involved will affect his overall rating.

A player like Michael Vick will benefit in this new system because last year, the 600 plus yards he gains on the ground did not affect his rating as  signal caller; he will be rewarded for those yards in the  system but at the same time, so will fumbles and yardage lost.

Every aspect of playing the position will be accounted for- interestingly enough, players will be penalized for overthrowing or under throwing receivers, an aspect of this that seemed to be a little hard to compute.  If a quarterback places the ball in a great spot that allows the receiver to gain more yards after the catch that will bode well for his total rating.

There are those who believe this will answer the question of who is the best quarterback in a season yet meaningless numbers won’t be rewarded like they have been in the past. In fact, you will be rewarded as a quarterback for making the right play when it means the most to the outcome of the game.

The clutch factor which we have seen in many quarterbacks and that which many other quarterbacks lack will play a large role in how their season will be judged.

“A clutch play is defined before the play by how close the game appears to be. Down four points with three seconds to go and facing third-and-goal from the 3-yard line — that is a high-pressure and high-clutch index situation because the play can realistically raise the odds of winning to almost 100 percent or bring them down from about 40 percent to almost zero percent.”

As described by the ESPN article, a play of this nature at midfield is relatively less meaningful therefore the clutch index is lowered.  The outcome of that same play at midfield will mean less to the overall outcome of the game.

The whole premise of this new approach is that, football is played by a team and the offense functions as a team.  In order to evaluate one position (the Quarterback), it is important to understand how he contributes to the team winning.  It becomes less about the totality of the yards or touchdowns scored by the team and more about the individual plays, when they were made and how they were made.

There is more to examine about this new approach to evaluating quarterbacks in the NFL.  The Total Quarterback Rating will take some getting used to, but sports fans and NFL fans will have to learn and adapt quickly.

Many former signal callers appreciate the way this has been done because it tries to incorporate everything involved in running a play in the National Football League.  As Cosell was quoted saying in the article, “Football is not complex, but it is very detailed.”  That is clearly evident in the Total Quarterback Rating.

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