2013 NFL Offseason

Peyton Manning was one of the biggest offseason stories in 2012.
What stories will share the spotlight in 2013?
Photo credit to Bustasports.

First I would like to thank everyone for reading my updates throughout the 2012 regular season and playoffs. Since September my blog has had over 9,900 page views after getting just 2,000 over the previous two NFL seasons combined. My blog posts show up regularly on Bing and Yahoo searches now, and Google is gradually getting me hits as well. So continue your support by reading my updates throughout the 2013 offseason so I can get my name out there. This is what I want to do full-time in a few years and just by reading my updates you are helping me get closer to that goal. So thank you!


This offseason I will be much more active than I have been in the past. During the 2011 offseason I spent eight weeks writing about what I thought each team needed to do during the spring and summer to have success the following year. I did not do that during the 2012 offseason but I will do something similar this year. Rather than going team by team, I will do it division by division.

I follow the entire NFL very closely, but because I cover the whole league I only know a handful of teams intimately, particularly the Redskins and Colts (my favorite teams), the Broncos (because I am a very big Peyton Manning fan) and the other playoff teams.

So as I go through the divisions and write about what I think each team needs to address this offseason, feel free to correct me or to inform me of team needs I do not talk about. All I ask is that you do so respectfully.

Mondays during the offseason will be my day to update you all on NFL-related stories of the previous week that I did not cover individually.

I will be taking the rest of this week off and I will only write on weekends for major news stories, such as the NFL Draft. Other than that I will be writing pretty much every day so be sure to check back regularly.

Again, thank you so much for following my blog all season and for giving me constructive feedback. Enjoy the rest of the college basketball, NBA and NHL seasons, and of course players start reporting for MLB training camps soon so enjoy that season, as well.

To keep up with new blog posts, ‘like’ my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl. Also, be sure to listen to my radio show, The All-Sports Crew, Wednesdays from 7-8 p.m. on WMUC Sports. Congrats to the Super Bowl XLVII Champion Baltimore Ravens and good luck to all 32 teams that will start 2013 with a clean slate at 0-0.

10 Things You Need to Know: NFL Regular Season Week 13

After a rough career in Dallas, Wade Phillips has turned
the defense around with in-state rival Houston. If they
made a coordinator-of-the-year award, he'd deserve it.
Photo credit to lonestarvarsity.com.

‘Like’ The All-Sports Crew on Facebook to keep up with updates! The All-Sports Crew will air on WMUC Sports, live, tonight from 7-8.

10.            Big D Calls on the Big O

Dallas fans are petitioning President Barack Obama to take Jerry Jones out of the Cowboys organization, under category of human rights, no less!

According to NFL.com, the petition reads, “We, the Citizens of the Great State of Texas, and Dallas Cowboys fans worldwide, have been oppressed by an over controlling, delusional, oppressive dictator for way to long. Request the Executive Branch’s immediate assistance in removal of owner and GM, Jerry Jones. His incompetence and ego have not only been an extreme disappointment for way too long, but moreover, it has caused extreme mental and emotion duress.”

Regardless of whether this petition ever gets enough signatures, Jerry ought to take this as a sign that he is severely letting down Cowboys fans.

9.            An Eye Toward Next Year

Though no team has been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs with five games left to play, there are plenty of teams who are looking toward 2013.

The Eagles had a good thing with Nick Foles. I say ditch Andy Reid (give him a fresh start elsewhere) and Michael Vick. Build the offensive line and get some receivers who won’t underperform as soon as they start getting the big bucks.

The Panthers need to build around Cam Newton, which they failed to do this offseason. I think Chad Henne might be the best thing that happened to Jacksonville this year, but if Alex Smith or Colin Kaepernick hit the market during the offseason, they need to push hard for them.

Once we get through the Super Bowl, I will be starting to look at each team individually and give my opinions of what they need to do during the offseason. I will be much more active this offseason than I was last year.

8.            Playoff Hunt

On the other side of the playing field, we have a pretty good fight on our hands for the final spots in each conference. The Giants are not yet a lock to win the NFC East, and the Packers’ performance on Sunday Night shows that they’re hardly a lock for the NFC Wild-Card. I don’t expect the Seahawks to make it, and I’m thinking Buccaneers and Redskins or Buccaneers and Saints.

In the AFC, it’s more a race for the last spot. The Steelers are fading without Big Ben, and they weren’t looking all that hot with him either. The Bengals will catch them, but there really isn’t any one else I can see pushing for the postseason.

7.            Fantasy Disappointments

There were plenty of fantasy disappointments this week, so I’ll just list a few that stood out to me.

• It was mostly Charlie Batch’s fault, but Mike Wallace only recorded one reception for 9 yards against the Browns. Disappointing, indeed.
• DeSean Jackson had an identical line to Wallace, but at least he had the excuse of an injury worthy of IR placement.
• James Jones has been getting fewer and fewer targets each week, but zero receptions on zero targets in Week 12 is bad news.

6.            Fantasy Surprises

• Cam Newton had a phenomenal game with two touchdown passes and two touchdown runs, leading to 41 fantasy points in my league.
• Bryce Brown was without a doubt the fantasy surprise of the week. 30 fantasy points in my league, hurt only by his two fumbles.

5.            Games to Watch

Like last week, I’ll be more specific on why these are the biggest games to watch in my predictions post tomorrow.

• New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons (Thursday, 8:20 p.m.)
• Indianapolis Colts at Detroit Lions (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens (Sunday, 4:25 p.m.)
• Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys (Sunday, 8:20 p.m.)
• New York Giants at Washington Redskins (Monday, 8:30 p.m.)

4.            Power Rankings

For the sake of space, I will list just the top 6 and the bottom 6 here. You can see the rest on NFL.com.

1. Houston Texans	27. Tennessee Titans
2. Atlanta Falcons	28. Philadelphia Eagles
3. San Francisco 49ers	29. New York Jets
4. Baltimore Ravens	30. Jacksonville Jaguars
5. New England Patriots	31. Oakland Raiders
6. Denver Broncos	32. Kansas City Chiefs

The Packers suffered a significant drop in the rankings, from the 4 spot all the way to number 9. The Titans, Cardinals and Jets also suffered sizeable slips. The Rams jumped four spots, and the Bengals jumped five. They were only outdone by the Browns’ jump from 29 to the 23 spot.

The Power Poll is a better representation of where the teams stack up, in my opinion. Check that out here.

3.            Puff’s Rankings

For the first time ever, I’ve taken the liberty of ranking every team in the NFL for myself. I ranked each team in a number of categories and then used a math formula to take each of them into consideration in my overall rankings of the teams. Here are my rankings heading into Week 13.

1. HOU (3.73)	9. GB (7.71)	17. TB (9.40)	25. NO (10.76)
2. SF (4.58)	10. DET (7.82)	18. StL (9.41)	26. CLE (11.37)
3. DEN (5.33)	11. WAS (8.13)	19. ARI (9.52)	27. KC (11.50)
4. NE (6.45)	12. PIT (8.27)	20. CAR (9.67)	28. BUF (11.53)
5. ATL (6.69)	13. SEA (8.28)	20. MIN (9.67)	29. OAK (11.93)
6. DAL (7.49)	14. BAL (8.86)	22. SD (10.59)	30. MIA (12.37)
7. NYG (7.53)	15. CHI (9.00)	23. NYJ (10.63)	31. TEN (12.80)
8. CIN (7.55)	16. IND (9.17)	24. PHI (10.68)	32. JAC (14.07)

Keep in mind this is essentially a ranking of where each team should be at this point in the season, based on various aspects of performance, with certain aspects weighted more heavily than others. Some teams have over- or under-achieved, such as the Ravens and Cowboys, respectively.

Feel free to ask about this, but please be clear that this is not necessarily how I would rank the teams, this is all math based.

2.            Denver Broncos

The Broncos are finally in the top 6 of the NFL.com Power Rankings. They have a great quarterback, an up-and-coming run game, and they have a terrific defense. Their only problem? They will likely have to face the Patriots in the postseason, where they have been vulnerable in the past, but not so much in 2011. And if they win that game? Look below.

1.            Houston Texans

The Texans remain number 1, and for good reason. They have the third ranked offense and the sixth ranked defense. Their turnover differential is solid and they also have the best average time-of-possession per game in the NFL. This is my Super Bowl favorite in the AFC right now.

10 Things You Need to Know: NFL Regular Season Week 12

The Cowboys host the Redskins in their 7th Thanksgiving
meeting. The Cowboys are 6-0 in the series.
Photo credit to noontimesports.com.

‘Like’ The All-Sports Crew on Facebook to keep up with updates! The All-Sports Crew will air on WMUC Sports, live, tonight from 7-8.

10.            Hits, Suspensions and Fines. Oh my!

Ed Reed has never been labeled a dirty player by anyone but Steelers fans. For what looked to me like a good hit with incidental helmet-to-helmet contact, he received a one-game suspension. Yesterday he got that suspension reduced to a $50,000 fine, which is better but still pretty unfair in my eyes. No wonder he said,

“It’s starting to become a flag football thing. It really needs to be discussed – it’s a contact sport.”

9.            Injury Updates

Brady Quinn, who lost his starting job in Kansas City due to a concussion in late October, will start Sunday against the Broncos. Fred Jackson has also been cleared to play Sunday against the Colts, though C.J. Spiller will keep the starting job. Also, the Cardinals activated Beanie Wells for their game against the Eagles.

It isn’t all good news in the injury world, however. In Jacksonville, both Blaine Gabbert and Laurent Robinson have been placed on season-ending IR. Gabbert has a torn labrum and Robinson has suffered four concussions this season. And in Pittsburgh, Charlie Batch will start Sunday because Byron Leftwich suffered a fractured rib in their loss to Baltimore Sunday night.

8.            Playoff Implications

The Thanksgiving game between the Redskins and Cowboys is very important. The if the Packers beat the Giants this weekend, the Redskins and Cowboys could both be just a game back with a Washington victory or the Cowboys could be tied for the division lead with a Dallas win.

Cincinnati plays at home against Oakland, a game that leans heavily in their favor. With Pittsburgh recent struggles, it stands to reason that the Browns could upset them and put Cincinnati in a tie with the Steelers and in the hunt for a second consecutive playoff appearance.

7.            Fantasy Disappointments

There were plenty of fantasy disappointments this week, so I’ll just list a few that stood out to me.

• Danny Woodhead has been fairly consistent in picking up decent fantasy points. His worst game had been 2 points in Week 1 but usually he can be counted on to get 6 or more. He even had a 19-point outing in Week 10 against Buffalo. Then he barely touched the field and scored nothing in Week 11.
• A week after combining for nearly 30 points, DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin combined for just one point in Week 11. Too bad one of the members of my fantasy league had and started both of them. Surprisingly, he still won his matchup.
• Torrey Smith has been great all year and he had back-to-back double-digit performances off Baltimore’s bye. Then he scored just half a point against Pittsburgh.
• Denarius Moore has consistently scored double figured all season. His only two games that he’s played in and didn’t score 10+ were an 8-point performance against Tampa Bay and a 9-point performance against Denver. But he scored just half a point against New Orleans’ shoddy defense.

6.            Fantasy Surprises

• Matt Shaub’s 44-point performance pales only to Andre Johnson’s 42-point performance. Johnson has been inconsistent to say the least all year, but that game made it worth it for those who have stuff with him.
• Who knew the Patriot’s defense was that good? They scored 40 on Sunday.
• Perhaps most impressive was Chad Henne’s 38 points against a usually stingy Houston D. With it came a 34.5-pointer from Justin Blackmon, who only had one game with 10 or more fantasy points all season leading up to Sunday.

5.            Games to Watch

Like last week, I’ll be more specific on why these are the biggest games to watch in my predictions post tomorrow.

• Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys (Thursday, 4:15 p.m.)
• Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints (Sunday, 4:25 p.m.)
• Green Bay Packers at New York Giants (Sunday, 8:20 p.m.)

4.            Power Rankings

For the sake of space, I will list just the top 6 and the bottom 6 here. You can see the rest on NFL.com.

1. Houston Texans	27. Philadelphia Eagles
2. Atlanta Falcons	28. Carolina Panthers
3. San Francisco 49ers	29. Cleveland Browns
4. Green Bay Packers	30. Oakland Raiders
5. Baltimore Ravens	31. Jacksonville Jaguars
6. New England Patriots	32. Kansas City Chiefs

The Redskins and Bills both jumped six spots while the Rams dropped five and the Colts and Dolphins fell four.

The Power Poll is a better representation of where the teams stack up, in my opinion. Check that out here.

3.            New England Patriots

The Patriots make their debut in the top 6 of the NFL.com Power Rankings after thrashing the Colts. They seem to be coming into gear and at 7-3 should definitely be considered a force in the AFC. They are right on the heels of the Ravens and are trying to outrun the Broncos.

2.            Houston Texans

Houston’s defense struggled against the Jaguars, but at least their offense did not. It took two scores in overtime – the Texans are the first team in history to do so – but they got the win over their division rival and are 9-1 with six weeks left.

1.            Thankful for Football

Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday of the year. We get three football games, eat enough to be full until Christmas, and it’s a Thursday with no school! What could be better? The Redskins and Cowboys play on Thanksgiving for the first time since 2002, the year my family had lobster for the holiday. The Redskins lost that matchup 20-27.

The Lions will host the Texans, who are making their Thanksgiving debut. The Lions have not won a Thanksgiving game since they beat the Packers 22-14 in 2003.

The late game will feature the Patriots and the Jets. The Jets are coming off a big win against the Rams and they always seem to make a game out of their meeting with the Patriots. New England crushed the Lions, 45-24, in their last Thanksgiving appearance (2010). The Jets played in the late game in 2010 and beat the Bengals 26-10. Before that, they played, and lost to, the Cowboys in 2007.

10 Things You Need to Know: NFL Regular Season Week 10

The 49ers are overcoming every obstacle and are again
considered Super Bowl contenders.

‘Like’ The All-Sports Crew on Facebook to keep up with updates! The All-Sports Crew will air on WMUC Sports, live, tonight from 7-8.

10.            Sean Payton

By now you all have undoubtedly heard about Sean Payton’s contract situation. Just to clarify for people who may not realize, this is something that happened shortly after Payton and the Saints had agreed on an extension. It did not just happen this week; news of it only surfaced this week.

People are saying that the Cowboys can lure Payton away, which technically is true but I don’t see it happening. The Saints should have their coaching icon back next year after his suspension ends.

9.            Jerry Jones

Jones said a few days ago that by now he would’ve fired himself as General Manager of the Dallas Cowboys. Now he says he doesn’t see himself hiring someone else to perform GM responsibilities, saying that he will maintain his role of Owner, President and General Manager of the Cowboys. This guy seems to get more senile each year.

8.            ‘Giant’ Defensive Issues?

Tom Coughlin said his defensive unit was soft against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I saw a soft defense against the Dallas Cowboys a week earlier. New York was having a lot of issues on defense early in the season as members of their secondary dropped like flies. They seemed to have covered the holes, miraculously considering the personnel they had to replace the usual starters. It seems those holes are flaring up. The Giants are always better in the postseason, and the NFC East is particularly weak this year, so they shouldn’t be too concerned, yet. Still, Giants fans are starting to feel antsy.

7.            Going Bald, in a good way

If you read my Sunday Football Afterword for the early games, you may have clicked the link I provided to Chuck Pagano’s postgame locker room speech. Yesterday, several players on the Indianapolis Colts’ roster shaved their heads in honor of Coach Pagano, who is undergoing treatment for leukemia.

I don’t believe Andrew Luck was one of those who shaved his head, but I imagine he’d look pretty silly if he did that but didn’t shave his caveman beard.

UPDATE (11:20am EST): According to Adam Schefter, Andrew Luck has, in fact, shaved his head. No word on the status of his facial hair.

6.            Fantasy Disappointments

There were plenty of fantasy disappointments this week, so I’ll just list a few that stood out to me.

• The number one player to jump out at me was Percy Harvin. He hadn’t scored fewer than 10.5 points in my league all season, but he put up just two against Seattle. Granted his ankle is bothering him, and because of that he didn’t play this week, still, it’s a fantasy disappointment.
• Titus Young went nuts against Seattle, one of the best secondaries in the league. Everybody scrambled to grab him off the waiver wire, but for what? He scored just three points against a terrible Jaguars team. Hope you didn’t give up anyone important for him.
• The biggest fantasy disappointment of them all? Eli Manning. He has been a disappointment for fantasy owners and has failed to touch 20 points in the past four weeks. But Week 9 was the worst yet. He scored just three points as he threw for no touchdowns and one pick for the second consecutive week. At this rate, Eric, it might be better to start Sam Bradford, and he’s on bye!

5.            Fantasy Surprises

• The obvious starter to this list is Doug Martin. Sure it was his fourth consecutive double-digit week in fantasy, and sure he scored 35.5 points in Week 8. But if anything, that was all the more reason to bench him. Nobody scores that many in consecutive weeks. Nobody, that is, except Doug Martin, who put up 59 points in my fantasy league this past week.
• Brandon Marshall had caught three touchdown passes over four games before hauling in three on Sunday against Tennessee. For his efforts, his owner was awarded 34.5 points in my fantasy league.
• The Saints defense scored 25 points this week. Funny, then, that they are projected to finish this week five points in the red.

4.            Games to Watch

Like last week, I’ll be more specific on why these are the biggest games to watch in my predictions post tomorrow.

• Tennessee Titans at Miami Dolphins (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• St. Louis Rams at San Francisco 49ers (Sunday, 4:25 p.m.)
• Houston Texans at Chicago Bears (Sunday, 8:20 p.m.)

3.            Power Rankings

For the sake of space, I will list just the top 6 and the bottom 6 here. You can see the rest on NFL.com.

1. Atlanta Falcons	27. Oakland Raiders
2. Houston Texans	28. Tennessee Titans
3. Chicago Bears	29. Buffalo Bills
4. San Francisco 49ers	30. Cleveland Browns
5. Green Bay Packers	31. Jacksonville Jaguars
6. Baltimore Ravens	32. Kansas City Chiefs

The Saints and Panthers made fairly significant jumps after winning their third and second games, respectively. Other than that, several teams jumped or fell a couple of spots but by and large the landscape looks much the same in the NFL.com Power Rankings.

The Power Poll is a better representation of where the teams stack up, in my opinion. Check that out here.

2.            Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons are the near-unanimous number one team in the NFL according to NFL.com’s Power Poll. They are still undefeated after run-ins with the Eagles and Cowboys in consecutive weeks. Now they face a New Orleans team with a level of confidence few thought they would have at this point in the season. Oh yeah, and the game is in the Superdome. If they win this, they might not lose the rest of the way.

1.            San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers are the one team that stole away a first-place vote from the Atlanta Falcons on the NFL.com Power Poll. They’ve lost a couple of games, but they continue to fight back and not let those losses change their attitude heading into the following week. In a stacked NFC, the 49ers are here to stay in 2012.