I’m a firm believer that there is a transition happening in the NFL right now. This transition are teams that have been at the top trending downward while teams who have been at the bottom trending upward.
Now even though the Patriots are the odds on favorite to win the Super Bowl next season, they have won zero Super Bowl since the Spy Gate scandal. Indianapolis proved this past year that Peyton Manning can’t win by himself and I fail to believe that the New York football Giants will win another Super Bowl with Eli Manning under center.
If you look at the other end of the spectrum, you have teams like Tampa Bay, Atlanta and St. Louis who seem to be trending upward given their strong draft choices and solid personnel moves. Tampa Bay hit a home run with Mike Williams, Josh Freeman and Lagarrette Blount while the same could be said with St. Louis and Sam Bradford and Atlanta with Matt Ryan, Michael Turner and Rodey White.
Peter Schrager of FOXSports.com highlights teams that could be on the rise in 2011, given there’s a season of course. Two teams that appear on his list are Atlanta and Tampa Bay for basically the reason’s I already stated. However his third team may come as a surprise to many given their tremendous lack of success over the past 30 years and that team is the Detroit Lions.
Here is what Schrager has to say…
The Lions? Really? You bet. After starting out the season 2-10, the Lions won their final four games in 2010 to finish 6-10. Perhaps more impressive than the four-game winning streak was the fact that the Lions beat playoff-contending teams on the road in back-to-back games in December. Prior to a 23-20 win over Tampa Bay in Week 15, the Lions hadn’t won a road game since October 2007. Detroit starting running back Jahvid Best was just a freshman at Cal that season. Both Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett were still on that Golden Bears team.
The defense, though still inconsistent, was greatly improved in 2010. Much of that, of course, had to do with the addition of 2010 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Ndamukong Suh. An All-Pro in his first year on the team, Suh provided the necessary pass rush up front for the defense to defend the pass.
In 2011, a lot will be riding on the arm (shoulder, really) of franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford. Despite being referred to recently as a “china doll” by teammate Zack Follett, the oft-injured quarterback appears to have the support of his coach, his teammates and the local fan base. Stafford, though entering his third season in the league, is still just 23 and has a lot of good football in his future. And though he’s missed more games (19) than he’s played in (13) during his two-year career, he recently had successful Grade-3 shoulder surgery in Florida and is expected to be ready for the start of training camp. I was very high on Stafford as a quarterback coming out of Georgia, loved his toughness in a win over the Browns in 2009 and thought he looked good at the start of 2010. If Stafford can stay healthy, I think 2011 could be his – and the Lions’ – breakthrough year.
As for Follett, even with the “china doll” comment, he did manage one pro-Stafford zinger when asked about the line last week: “I have no doubt that he can play a whole season. He’s a tough kid. I’ll tell you right now, I’m glad we have Matthew Stafford instead of the Bears’ quarterback (Jay Cutler), because he goes in and plays with separated shoulders and wins games.”
Ah, poor Jay Cutler.
Something I really like about what Schrager has to say his he really doesn’t mention the playoffs for the Lions in his writeup. He simply said, in a nutshell, that any chance of the Lions having a breakthrough season in 2011 rests on Matthew Stafford being healthy. It’s becoming clearer and clearer that the guys in charge, Mayhew and Schwartz can make the right picks, it’s just unclear as of now if Stafford can stay healthy for an entire season.
Source: FOXSports.com
