49ers Will Not Make The Playoffs
Harbaugh is entering his fourth season in San Francisco, which is right around when teams get sick of his shtick. There were already rumors that the front office was looking into trading him during the off-season. Aldon Smith might miss up to half the season in suspensions, and Navarro Bowman will miss at least six games after tearing his ACL last season. To make things worse they are stuck in the toughest division in football.
Jordan Matthews Will Win Rookie of the Year
All six of the teams that took wide outs ahead of him will be shaking their heads at the end of the season. Not only does he have the skill to win ROY honors he’s also in the perfect offense to thrive and he does not have much competition on the depth chart.
15 Quarterbacks Will Throw Over 4,000 Yards
Passing is becoming more and more prevalent in the NFL and the rules continue to protect the quarterbacks and favor the wide receivers over the defensive backs. The changes are a recipe for an offensive explosion. Last season nine quarterbacks eclipsed the 4,000 yard mark: P.Manning, Brees, Stafford, Ryan, Rivers, Brady, Dalton, Palmer, Roethlisberger, Tannehill, Romo, Luck, Foles, E. Manning and Cutler will all do the same.
Adrian Peterson Won’t Rush for Over 1,000 Yards
Last season Peterson rushed for career low 1,266 yards. The offense under Norv Turner will be much more focused on the passing game. Don’t think Turner will be scared to pass because of the quarterback situation; last season at Cleveland Turner’s offense threw the ball more times than any other team in the NFL and was 30th in rushing attempts. While the ratio will not be as skewed towards the pass this season, expect Peterson to see a drop off in workload, especially at age 29.
The Jaguars Will Win The Same Amount of Games As The Panthers
The Jags and the Panthers came into the league at the same time so they will always be compared to each other. Last year the Panthers were 12-4 and Jacksonville was the inverse. However the Jags showed some signs of life after their abysmal 0-8 start by going 4-4 in their last 8 games. They also will have the 4th easiest schedule in the NFL based on their opponents’ records from last season. The Panthers have let almost their whole receiving corps leave and didn’t do much to replace them. They also lost starting CB Captian Munnerlyn and both of their starting safeties including Mike Mitchell. Running back DeAngelo Williams is now 31 and his running mate Jonathan Stewart has trouble staying healthy. Expect both of these teams to have 7 wins.
Joe Flacco will be This Year’s Matt Schaub
Flacco signed a six year $120.6 million deal last season, which deflated the talent around him and led to him having his worst season ever. Baltimore struggled as a team as well going 8-8 and missing the playoffs. They will be even worse this year. The Ravens start the season playing all three divisional rivals and then Carolina and Indianapolis. When Flacco struggles through those first five games expect fans to be calling for him to be pulled.
