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Which team that missed the playoffs has the best chance of being this years Bucs?


CP3MVP

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Dallas. Don’t think it’s going to happen but I’d say they have the best chance. Before Dak went down their offense was killing it and that was with almost an entire OLine of backups. If they can get the defense to even be competent they should be a dangerous team.

Edited by DontTazeMeBro
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The Niners and thats an easy one. They made the Superbowl with a healthy Jimmy G. If they move off of him and lets say make a run at Watson then the Niners are definitely the favorites in the NFC even over the Bucs, Packers, and Rams. Even if they go get Ryan to reunite with Kyle they are strong contenders with the Bucs, Packers, and Rams. If they dont move off of Jimmy G I still think the Niners are top 8 favorites in the NFL in terms of the Superbowl because they will be healthy. 

 

 

Edited by stl4life07
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8 hours ago, SkippyX said:

I just took a look at the Rams. They have some work to do

3 of their top 5 secondary players are UFA/UFA/RFA

  • Hill, Johnson, and RFA Williams

 

They are losing their edge again and their rotation olb in Ekuban is UFA as well.

They are also losing a bunch of depth pieces on offense in Everett, Brown, and Reynolds.

  • They are set at RB if Akers and Henderson stay healthy.
  • They drafted a TE who did not get a target in 2020
  • They drafted an edge LB, Lewis, who got a couple sacks last year
  • They drafted Van Jefferson who had 19 catches last year.
    • He will have to be a starting 3 and a fill in 2 when Kupp or Woods miss games.

 

They also have no money. (35 million less than no money)

Whitworth will be 40 in December.

 

They pick 57, 185, and 217 in the draft.

 

But they have Stafford, so it'll be fine.

The Rams were just in the playoffs but with the addition of Stafford they should be even better in 2021. 

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Take a team that has 1 key position hole and can address it.  And who gets a favorable schedule.  
 

Fans in the Denver Forum will attest that I’ve been very negative on our chances to be a legitimate playoff contender since the 2016-7 offseason.     So I’m dead serious when I say the Broncos would have an excellent chance to make the playoffs if they got Deshaun Watson, for 3 reasons: 

1.  The O was hamstrung by awful QB play.  The OL is a RT away from being a very cohesive unit.  The weapons are already there.  
 

2.  HC Vic Fangio has a lot of flaws in-game.   But he gets the most out of the D.   With Watson at QB, the D won’t have to be great to let Denver win games.  
 

3.  Most importantly for 2021 - Denver gets a last place schedule.   NFCE, AFCN - and Jaguars / Jets / Lions for the 17-game schedule.   
 

Add in crowds and the altitude HFA returning, with Watson I’m all over Denver returning to the playoffs.    I felt the same way with Stafford FWIW.  Lock at QB....not so much LOL. 
 

 

Edited by Broncofan
FWIW, I meant playoffs and making a run, not actually winning in 2021 - bridge too far lol
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I wouldn't be surprised if the Vikings were in the hunt.  They were in a retooling year in 2020, after losing two starting cornerbacks, and those rookies will have a year of experience under their belt in 2021.  In addition to that, their defensive line was almost nonexistent with the loss of Everson Griffen, and Hunter and Pierce being out of action.  Mike Zimmer isn't going to let that state of affairs continue on his beloved defense for long, so I expect that side of the ball to bounce back nicely next year. 

When it comes to offense, they were very good in 2020, with the addition of Justin Jefferson at WR, and the always dependable Adam Thielen.  Irv Smith Jr. was really starting to come on for them at the TE position as well, so he should be a big factor in their offense going into the future.  Of course, their running game should always be a strength with Dalvin Cook and a very capable Alexander Mattison backing him up.

As always, they need to get a better kicker, but otherwise, this team should be in good shape with the offseason addition of an OG and a capable pass rusher opposite Danielle Hunter.

I've already gone on record predicting 12 wins for them in the 2021 regular season.  They should be pretty good next year.

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18 hours ago, HoboRocket said:

I'm going to go the homer route and pick the Cardinals. The Cardinals had some quality wins against tough opponents. A lot of the pieces were there, but they couldn't put it together on a week-to-week basis.

Their offense and defense were both borderline top-10 in points, and they were the 6th-ranked offense in yardage. They were a middle-of-the-pack passing game and a dangerous team on the ground. Kenyan Drake wasn't very impressive, but they still racked up yards with Kyler putting up RB numbers to supplement Drake, and Chase Edmonds did well in limited opportunities once again, racking up nearly as many yards from scrimmage as Drake. Drake is expected to exit via free agency, but honestly, it should be fairly easy to upgrade him. He was incredible in 2019 for us, but was just so lackluster this past year. There are multiple RBs that should be able to replace or upgrade his production in free agency, and the draft is always an excellent option for RBs. There are a few guys this year that would be solid choices.

Their passing game weapons left a lot to be desired. DeAndre Hopkins was unstoppable for most of the season, but Christian Kirk was extremely frustrating. Dan Arnold failed to make the necessary steps and Larry Fitzgerald has lost a step, and at 38 years old, with a limited role on offense, he should not have finished second on the team in receptions. Chase Edmonds, the back-up RB, was third. Aside from those three players, it was a frustrating bunch of players catching the football. On the bright side, it's a really young group overall. There's still hope that guys like Dan Arnold or Christian Kirk can just take the next step in a contract year, or even if someone else from their multitude of young receivers can step up, (Andy Isabella, Keesean Johnson, Trent Sherfield, Maxx Williams, or Darrell Daniels are all still yet to enter their prime). Overall, every receiver on the team, aside from Fitzgerald and Hopkins, is still under 25. There should be some level of natural progression.

Their defense was playoff-caliber. Part of it was just that it was hard to have consistency. A slew of injuries to the defense occurred about halfway throughout the season, and all of a sudden they didn't have the personnel to run some of those exotic looks that were working so well at times and disrupting offenses. Honestly, I thought Vance Joseph did an incredible job with the players he had. They had the 3rd-best red zone defense and held teams to a low 39% conversion rate. Hopefully the defense will get healthier this year. Patty P has lost a few steps, and he might leave. He's a really meaningful guy for this locker room, but he's also had a little bit of drama in recent years and was unhappy with playing here, so that combined with poor play means that I'm okay with him leaving. Chandler Jones is a monster and a fantastic leader, and I really hope he stays. I really like our edge rush, but we just haven't had everyone healthy. Retaining Haason Reddick is an absolute must. We still haven't been able to see much of a healthy Zach Allen, someone who the front office has been bullish on, and then we didn't really see Jordan Phillips, either. Both rookie DTs were awful, but it's not out of the question that they'll progress, as this year was a crapshoot for a lot of rookies. 

Overall, I really like our edge rush, LBs, and safety group. The corners were okay but could use an upgrade, and while the interior of the DL didn't perform very well and was injured, Vance Joseph did a masterful job as masking that with different personnel packages and interior blitzes. I honestly wouldn't really invest in an upgrade on the DL unless it was a sure thing, considering that we've drafted three DTs on day 2 over the past couple years, and we also have just had injury issues there. Overall, like I said, I really believe in this defense and in Vance. We're only a piece or two away, IMO. 3rd-best red zone D, 39% 3rd down rate.

Part of the issue is that we also had a 39% 3rd down rate on offense. We didn't really have any answers on third and long. Our best bets were when the defense made a mistake and let Nuk wreck them, or when Kyler was able to scramble for 12+ yards. Kirk was Mr. Dropsy, Dan Arnold flashed some seam ability but isn't there yet, and Fitz can't create separation beyond 10 yards anymore and he wasn't much of a separation guy in the first place. We really need some of these young guys to step up.

As far as our offensive line goes, I like it, honestly. DJ Humphries is a really good left tackle and has been nasty in the run game for a while. Justin Pugh is a very good guard. Justin Murray has played well, and hopefully he'll be the RG next year, while I thought Josh Jones was a round-1 tackle and like the idea of him starting moving forward. We're in desperate need of a competent center, though. 

Kyler was a good QB. He wasn't elite, but he was good. He needs to continue to work on his processing, but it has gotten better. There were quite a few times where he held onto the ball for too long, and there were also times where he bailed on plays with guys open downfield, settling for check-downs to Edmunds or Fitz. It's hard when your weapons fail to step up, but he still can get better about that. He also gets happy feet sometimes and that leads to sloppy throws. There were times when he was avoiding a rush that wasn't there and threw off his back foot. Overall, though, he's an accurate QB with fantastic athleticism and escapability and a strong arm. 

Honestly, I feel like we're only a couple pieces away from being a true contender. We really need a center, and I feel like even an okay center would be a massive improvement to middle of the OL. Lamont Galliard was an upgrade over Mason Cole when he got some chances this season, and this was only his second season in the league, but I'm not sure if he's the answer. A good complementary receiver would go to great lengths to improve the offense, and with so many young guys who have flashed but are just inconsistent, it's not out of the question that one of them could step up, find some consistency, and be that piece. If not, there are some options out there via the draft or free agency. Again, Hopkins is an elite alpha receiver. We just need a second guy on the team who can be counted on to reach at least 650 yards, something that didn't happen this past year. Finally, we could use an improvement at corner. Dre Kirkpatrick was good, Byron Murphy continues to develop. Maybe Murphy steps up and becomes the guy. Probably not, considering his frame and how badly he's been beaten at times, but he's also gone toe to toe with some of the league's better receivers and held them in check. Ideally, though, we'd be getting another corner.

Honestly, at all of the positions of weakness, there are potential solutions in our young guys. If we can just hit on one or two guys this off-season and the team stays mostly intact, I think we could surprise people. 

There's a natural line of progression here for both Kyler and Kliff as they enter year 3 in the NFL. They've both gotten better. The team as whole is still very young and has gotten better. We just need that trend to continue with a little bit of help, but yeah, I seriously think we could make waves next season. Do I think we'll win the Super Bowl? Nope. Would I be SURPRISED if we made a deep playoff run? Nope.

Happy Homer Simpson GIF

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7 hours ago, stl4life07 said:

The Niners and thats an easy one. They made the Superbowl with a healthy Jimmy G. If they move off of him and lets say make a run at Watson then the Niners are definitely the favorites in the NFC even over the Bucs, Packers, and Rams. Even if they go get Ryan to reunite with Kyle they are strong contenders with the Bucs, Packers, and Rams. If they dont move off of Jimmy G I still think the Niners are top 8 favorites in the NFL in terms of the Superbowl because they will be healthy. 

 

 

The 2019 49ers defense is not coming back

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