Life is easier when your quarterback is Patrick Mahomes and your coach is Andy Reid. This is the only way to explain why a team that last season had to play a good handful of rookies and that had obvious flaws in its squad, managed to win the ring. Each and every one of the five seasons that Patrick Mahomes has been their starting QB, the Chiefs have reached at least the conference finals, three of them reached the Super Bowl and twice managed to win the championship ring, including the last campaign.
The Chiefs don’t have the most complete and balanced roster, their WR corps is far from the league’s elite, they don’t have a WR1 –of Mahomes’ 41 TD passes last season, 31 of them went to RBs and TEs– , although in the Training Camp the youngsters Justyn Ross, Rashee Rice and Skyy Moree are leaving good feelings. The defense is marked by youth and although its offensive line is very powerful inside, the departure of Orlando Brown and Andrew Wylie has caused a dance in the tackle positions that leaves some unknowns with the arrival of Jawaan Taylor and the veteran Donovan Smith. It will also be necessary to check the performance in the Edge of Karlaftis, Omenihu and Anudike-Uzomah, in addition to hoping that the young secondary will once again give the stature like last year.
In return, with Mahomes and Reid at the controls, life is always much better. Kelce remains not only the best TE in the NFL but one of the top catchers in the league and Chris Jones a disruptor off the defensive line who can turn the tide of a game all on his own. That and one of the best LB corps in the entire competition, with the Bolton-Gay pairing more than established and receiving help from newcomer Tranquill and young Leo Chenal.
There is not a single doubt that the Chiefs start at the front line to achieve the objective of revalidating their title of champions.
The Eagles have faced an important challenge during this Offseason with the departure of some of the key pieces that led the team to the last Superbowl. Their offensive coordinator, Shane Steichen, is now the Colts’ coach, their defensive coordinator, Jonathan Gannon, is now the Cardinals’ coach, and as many as five starters from their terrific defense last season now have other destinations (CGJ, Epps, TJ Edwards, Kyzir White, and Javon Hargrave). In attack, on the other hand, 9 of the 11 starters from last season remain, but the departure of RB1 Miles Sanders and an important piece of OL like Isaac Seumalo has given the Front Office even more work.
Faced with this threatening situation, in which the team could see its capacity greatly diminished, its GM Howie Roseman has once again lived up to it and has alleviated the loss of talent with a large number of free agency and Draft movements that he has covered. the holes created. The achievement of retaining their two starting CBs is not trivial, both Bradberry and Slay could have left as well (in fact, Slay even said goodbye) and finally one of the best pairs of cornerbacks in the league will remain together in Philadelphia. Sanders has been replaced by Swift and Penny at a bargain price, and may even upgrade the RB job if they both stay healthy. The first round of the Draft brought Carter and Nolan Smith talent that rejuvenates the defensive line and if by any chance the Linebackers and Safeties units are the ones that cause me the most doubts, Nakobe Dean will have to step up in responsibility and Nick Morrow will undoubtedly drop the level of Edwards and White, while Edmunds and Blakenship will have to do very well to match the performance of Gardner-Johnson and Epps.
All in all, the Eagles, who were probably the most complete and balanced team in the league last season, will once again be one of the main candidates for the ring if they are able to not be affected by the classic hangover of the losers of the Superbowl and they maintain their fantastic coral tone both in attack and defense. Jalen Hurts showed a huge leap in quality last season and will continue to feature one of the best WR pairings in the NFL in AJ Brown and Devonta Smith, as well as one of the best receiving TEs in Dallas Goedert. That it starts with the band of favorites is a fact.
Joe Burrow has established himself as one of the best QBs in the NFL, it doesn’t matter if for some he is already second after Mahomes or others have him lower, the truth is that he is part of the elite and with the young Chase-Higgings couple life is easier. Starting from that base and observing the enormous evolution of the offense as a collective last season, the Bengals have to be one of the great favorites to the ring. The adaptation process that Burrow and the entire Bengal offense underwent when defenses began to switch from single high formations to much more conservative passing formations, setting up two deep safeties, lighter boxes and not blitzing Burrow as much, turned the Cincinnati’s offense is one of its richest and most unpredictable, running more from the shotgun, utilizing the Run Pass Option, and allowing Burrow to open up a range of possibilities in the middle zone, with his receivers’ deep routes clearing the field of defenders. In that formula, Perine became a very effective weapon that they will not be able to count on this year.
In return, the OL continues to strengthen and Orlando Brown arrives from Kansas City to protect Burrow. With their attack one of the sensations of the NFL and the very expensive contract extensions of Burrow, Chase and Higgins just around the corner, important pieces have been lost on defense, especially with the departure of the two starting safeties Bates and Bell. , but it seems that with Anarumo at the controls, the names are not as important in that defense as the team is.
Within a very powerful AFC and one of the most complicated divisions in the entire NFL, the Bengals will start as one of the main candidates to win it all. Let’s hope Burrow’s calf injury doesn’t cause him to miss too much time and he’s ready for the start of the season.
2023-08-07 15:39:00
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