Denver. Vic Fangio is now gone, and this team looks like it's a QB away from a playoff run. But with that being said, the Donkeys had no business being this close to the playoffs – and they’ve done pretty good. Certified overachievers, and they played well enough to beat the two-time AFC Champions. They got lots of draft picks in rounds one through three. QB has to be addressed, but how? Lock isn’t the answer and while I like Bridgewater he can't stay on the field.
Get ready Donkey fan, your franchise is going to be linked to every available QB, and quite frankly, this may not be a bad place to go.
Miami. Look, if you take a below average roster and get them from the depths of the NFL and get them to just over .500, then in my book, you deserve better. The next logical step was for the organization to add talent and build upon what they have done with Flores. You don't just jettison a Coach that overachieved like this. He got this team to beat who they should have, for the most part.
Now to be fair, Miami has absolutely sucked in September and October and it has cost them dearly come January. But to be so far back and then get so close to the playoffs then was a tribute to him and his ability to get these players to keep them focused and working.
All that being said, eight or nine wins was their ceiling - just look at what happened against the stronger teams - like Smokey says in the movie "Fridays":
Miami has a first, second, and two thirds, is coming off two straight above .500 seasons, and possesses the added advantage of playing in Florida to lure Free Agents-- so there's no excuse to not improve. And good move by the owner to publicly state he's not going after "Khaki" Harbaugh.
Cleveland. Look, let's just speak a basic truth here - Cleveland is America's Underdog. Perhaps you have to go through serious adversity before you can take that next step. I got to figure that is the case, but in the coming weeks, I suspect we are going to start hearing a lot of garbage coming out of Cleveland, which has already started via the sewer known as Skip Bayless who allegedly busted out this gem where he hears "from sources" that the team quitting on Mayfield or some racial shit or the players got butt hurt about OBJ leaving. Players want to win, and if what Skipper says is true (and that's highly debatable), Cleveland has bigger problems then finding three more wins next year to get to ten and they need to clean house.
Cleveland has a first, second, and third round pick, so building for the future will work, but they need to stay healthy and get over whatever their mental funk is. The off-season and free agency should be very interesting and I will be very curious to see what they do.
One last point, the AFC is on an upswing with Cincinnati, the Raiders, Buffalo, and Tennessee building strong, New England reestablishing, Baltimore will be coming off an injury plagued year, Indy will have something to prove, Denver is loading up, and the Chargers will be coming out pissed with something to prove, and oh, did I mention Kansas City? Meanwhile Pittsburgh won't be down long, and who knows about Miami? So Cleveland better not dick the dog here.
New Orleans. First off, I saw some douche bag talking head on the NFL Network campaigning for Sean Payton to go to Chicago and fix that organization and of course everybody would want Payton to go to their team, but there's been no indication of him wanting to leave the land of beignets.
Sean Payton should be coach of the year getting this team to eight wins, and most likely a ninth. Props to that defense. So now what? Do we start linking the Saints to a bunch of veteran QB's and have Winston take his time coming back from injury?
I see a first rounder, a second, and two very late third rounders in the draft, and not much capital to trade. But with the depth of the NFC, can they rebound?
Minnesota. To say that this was the underachievement of the year.
Speilman and Zimmer gone, taking the fall for the coordinators and players who need to take a hard look in the mirror because a lot of this shit is on them. No excuses, this defense absolutely SUCKED. A Minnesota defense giving up 426 points (nearly 26 points a game)?
Here's the thing - you go to Lambeau to face a Packer team you already beat once while you're still in the race for a playoff spot on the line and you lay an egg like that in Week 17 on Sunday Night Football? Kirk Cousins wasn't going to save you, so spare me the Mannion excuse.
And then the Vikings (in their final home game of the year) have the audacity in front of their fans to let Chicago kick you in the ass in the first half, led by Andy Dalton? You gave up 325 yards passing to CHICAGO???
Just a thought, but perhaps they need this speech:
Minny has their first, second, and third round picks and they are going to need them because it is time to clean house.
I'm a Viking fan, and the only thing I can think of is this: that quality offense in the next few years to come is going to be wasted by the poor performance of the defense - which will take years to fix. That being said, the purge should start Monday by relieving the entire defensive coaching staff, with a message to whatever players remain on that defense - what happened in 2021 is totally unacceptable. If you go that route again and your ass is on the bench never to return. I would rather lose with Rookies who try than witness that again.
You know what the coach needs to bring to day one of Training Camp come July? A match. That's right - he needs to light a fire under the Vikings players asses.
Indy. All I can do is laugh at the Colts. This one is going to sting and we will see how they respond to this adversity come September, but I'll bet they don't take Jax lightly again. No seriously, how do you get punked by the Clown Show in Jacksonville? If you allow that to happen, you have no business playing in the playoffs and in the end, they are going to know that.
Baltimore. The "best team in August" didn't get the job done against Pittsburgh - and they should be embarrassed about that especially considering how they were holding the Steelers in check. They've got a lot to think about in the off-season. They've got the talent, but something didn't go right in the 4th quarter and OT with the defense.
That being said, the injuries kicked them square in the nad all season long, so I guess if you use that as an excuse, then you can also say that they had damn sure better develop some depth this off-season.
L. A. Chargers. That was a rough break. Hell of a last game though and certainly something to build upon. Defense seemingly struggles against the run. Here's the thing about going into the off-season, the Bolts are going to have to think about that ass-whooping they took in Houston.
But this is definitely an up and coming team.
Conclusion. If I were to sit here and judge who I thought had the best chance to step up next year, I'd have to say Cleveland. They are going to get a last-place schedule, they'll get healthy, and Free Agents may actually want to go to the Lake because this team is close. Get a solid QB, and watch out AFC North...
If I were to guess which team would be the one to fall in the opposite direction, my guess is that it would be Minnesota.
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