One Thing Every NFL Fanbase Can Look Forward To

Since Bruce Arians took over the Cardinals in 2013, the team has experienced one of its’ best periods of prolonged success. The Cardinals have had three 10-win seasons under Arians, compared to just one in the 36 before he got there. And Carson Palmer’s rebirth as a star quarterback has no doubt contributed to this phenomenon—as has Larry Fitzgerald’s recent resurgence over the last two seasons.

This could be the last year for all three though of them; Arians hopes to finish his deal, which runs through 2018, but obviously his kidney cancer diagnosis from last season will dictate whether that can happen. The 37-year-old Palmer has been non-committal about next season, as has Fitzgerald. This could be the last year all three have to contend for a championship—something the Cardinals organization hasn’t had since the 1940s.

We all know what happened during the Super Bowl. And nobody remembers better than the team that actually blew the 28-3 lead.

Luckily for Atlanta, all of the main contributors from last season are coming back—and they’ve added Dontari Poe to shore up that D-Line. The Falcons will need to hope that Matt Ryan can continue to play at an MVP level this season so that Atlanta can get back to the Super Bowl—and not blow another 25-point lead.

The Ravens made a fantastic move by signing Jeremy Maclin this spring, after the Chiefs shockingly cut him. Maclin will be playing alongside Mike Wallace and 2015 first-round pick Breshad Perriman, which will give Joe Flacco plenty of weapons to play with on offense. This is by far the best receiving corps Flacco has had since being drafted in 2008.

Every year, everyone says that this is finally the one the Bills make the playoffs. Every year, Buffalo falls short.The Bills still haven’t made the playoffs in this millennium—their last appearance was in 1999.

Over the last couple of years though, the Bills have come close. They’ve been exactly .500 since 2014, which is pretty good by their standards. And this year, they’ve kept most of their core intact on both offense and defense. They lost corner Stephon Gilmore, but added safety Micah Hyde. And Rex Ryan isn’t their coach anymore, which is probably a bonus.

It’ll still be an uphill battle, but the Bills do have a realistic chance of making the playoffs. Which is probably as good as it’s going to get for Bills fans.

The Bears took a lot of heat for giving Mike Glennon a three-year, $45 million contract in free agency. But while he might lack starpower or a big name, Glennon has proven himself (albeit in a very small sample size) to be a capable NFL starter.

In 19 games from 2013-2014, Glennon threw for 4,025 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. His quarterback rating was 83.7 over those two years—and that was for some very bad Bucs teams. He’ll be on a slightly better team this season that includes options like Zach Miller, Kevin White, Kendall Wright, and Victor Cruz.

Glennon may not be the second-coming of Tom Brady, but he’s certainly capable of starting in this league.

The Bengals lost two stud offensive linemen in Kevin Zeitler and Andrew Whitworth this off-season. This is bad news for a team that is coming off its first year out of the playoffs since 2010.

But the team still has a pretty solid defense, shored up with guys like Dre Kirkpatrick, Geno Atkins and—yes, Adam Jones. They’ve also still got one of the best receivers in football in A.J. Green, and a solid quarterback in Andy Dalton. Cincy is worse than they’ve been in a while, but as long as they’ve got this kind of talent they’ve got a chance to be in the mix for a playoff spot.

Winning a playoff game though? That’s a different story. They haven’t done that since 1990, but that will still be the hope this season.

The Browns have nowhere to go but up.

Not that this is saying much, but this year’s Browns are leagues ahead of last year’s. They’ve shored up their offensive line with the addition of Kevin Zeitler and J.C. Tretter, and they’ve got three first-round picks suiting up in Myles Garrett, Jabrill Peppers, and David Njoku, who all have potential to be instant-impact guys.

Cleveland fans will get to see this wave of their youth movement this season, and they’ve got some pretty nice pieces to look forward to. So plenty of reason to be excited here. The Browns could win—wait for it, Browns fans—as many as six games this year!

Cowboys are usually the loudest ones on your Facebook and Twitter feeds. These people never pass on a chance to let them know that their team is indeed “Dem Boyz.” Whatever that means.

And unfortunately for most NFL fans, Cowboys fans are probably going to have a lot of chances to Tweet this out this year. The Cowboys won 13 games last season on the backs of Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, and the best offensive line in football. All of this remains unchanged this season.

The Broncos are two years removed from their all-time great defense carrying them to a championship, and still have most of those pieces intact this season—namely Von Miller. The future Hall of Famer will be the player to watch for the Broncos, as always. He’s coming off a year in which he posted a career-high in tackles (78) to go along with 13.5 sacks.

But Denver will need its’ offense to play well enough to supplement its’ defense. During a crucial three-game losing streak in December last season that sunk the Broncos’ playoff chances, they scored just 23 points total. They’re going to need to hope that one of three things happens:

1. Trevor Siemian improves


2. Paxton Lynch emerges as a starting-caliber quarterback


3. That C.J. Anderson can stay healthy, or that free-agent acquisition Jamaal Charles can reinvent himself in Denver to turn the Broncos into a run-first team.

If one of those three things happens, Denver can be a Super Bowl contender. But even if they’re not, that defense is going to still be fun to watch.

MLive.com reported last week that the Lions are going “all in” on Ameer Abdullah. That means that this will be the year that will determine whether or not Abdullah, a 2015 second-round draft pick, can live up to the hype of his stellar college career at Nebraska.

Abdullah played mostly a reserve role as a rookie in 2015, and suffered a season-ending foot injury in Week 2 last year. This will be the first year he is handed the reigns in the backfield and if he does well, it could bode well for the Lions—they had the third-worst rushing yards in the league last season.

Aaron Rodgers’ play over the final six games of last season was perhaps the best stretch of his career. The future Hall of Famer completed 71 percent of his passes, threw for 15 touchdowns and zero(!) interceptions as the Packers won all six games. It’s amazing to think that Rodgers, who turns 34 later this year, a six-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion, could have his best days ahead of him.

The Texans made it all the way to the divisional round of the playoffs last season despite not having their best player.

Watt played in just three games last season, but that didn’t stop the Texans from allowing the fewest yards per game in the NFL. Adding Watt back into the mix should only make things better for the Texans on defense (and maybe on offense, too). And if DeShaun Watson has a good rookie season, they could be right next to the Patriots at the top of that conference.

This is both a pun and a hope for the Colts. Luck is still recovering from a shoulder injury, and there is no timetable for his return.

If Luck is forced to miss any time, then the team is, put bluntly, screwed. Indianapolis has a weak offensive line, a so-so (at best) run game led by 34-year-old Frank Gore, and a pretty awful defense. The Colts were 8-7 in games that Luck started last season, but if they had anyone not named Luck at quarterback they might be lucky to win five games. Getting him under center will be key to any potential contention in Indy.

This year will define whether Blake Bortles, who is going into his fourth NFL season, is still the Jags’ QB of the future.

Last year at this time, it looked as though the former would be the case. Bortles threw for 4,428 yards, 35 touchdowns and 18 interceptions in 2015, showing major upside. But he regressed big-time last year, throwing for just 3,905 yards, 23 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. His QB rating dropped from 88.2 to 78.8, so Bortles will need to play more like he did in 2015 if he is to remain in the Jags’ future plans.

It’s not often that a rookie fifth-round draft pick becomes your most consequential offensive player. But that’s just what Hill did last season.

He made impacts in the kick return, passing, and rushing games last season, scoring 12 times. And this year, Kansas City plans to integrate him even further into the offense. They’re so serious about it that they’re taking Hill off of kick returns. With Jeremy Maclin gone, much of the slack that he left behind will fall on Hill’s shoulders. Take note, fantasy owners.

So the Chargers will be playing in L.A. this season—much to the chagrin of just about everyone. The Chargers have missed the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, and probably stand to do the same again this season.

But one thing that will be cool(?) about their move to L.A. is that they will be playing at the StubHub Center, home to Major League Soccer's L.A. Galaxy, that seats about 30,000 people. This makes this by far the smallest stadium in the NFL. The next smallest NFL stadium seats about 60,000. The Chargers’ new home is smaller than every MLB stadium as well.

This is good news for both the Rams and Fisher: When L.A. gave Fisher the boot, he was tied with Dan Reeves for the most coaching losses in NFL history. Fisher finished his coaching career with six consecutive losing seasons—including all five that he spent with the Rams.

The Rams now turn to 31-year-old Sean McVay to coach the team. McVay has had success as the Redskins’ offensive coordinator over the last three seasons, and has former No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff and former Pro Bowler Todd Gurley to work with on the offensive side of the football.

It's been 14 seasons since Dolphins made consecutive playoff appearances. They’ll have a chance to do it this year considering the 2016 squad was by far the most talented Dolphins team to surface since Dan Marino retired and Ryan Tannehill—love him or hate him—has another year under his belt. 

For the first time since 2006, the Vikings will be starting the season without Adrian Peterson at running back. And that could be a very good thing for their offense.

The Vikings had the fewest rushing yards in the NFL last season, as Peterson appeared in all but three games last season. And in the games he did play, he averaged just 1.9 yards per carry. Minnesota will have a much better backfield this season; they’ve signed former Raiders running back Latavius Murray and drafted Florida State standout Dalvin Cook in the second round. This combination should be able to supplement both Sam Bradford and the team’s stellar defense, making the Vikings a playoff contender.

The Patriots, who went 14-2 and won the Super Bowl last season, are even better this in 2017. They’ve added Stephon Gilmore, Brandin Cooks, David Harris, and Dwayne Allen so they’re already a superior squad on paper comapred to last season. Ten years removed from their last 16-0 season, and with a healthy Rob Gronkowski and 40-year-old Tom Brady slinging it, the Patriots have a real shot to do it again.

While Tom Brady has dominated the NFL’s G.O.A.T. conversation the last few years, Drew Brees is quietly becoming the league’s greatest statistical quarterback of all time. And this year, Brees has a real shot to reach two big plateaus.

Brees needs 464 completions to break Brett Favre’s career NFL mark—he had 471 completions last season. And with just 35 touchdowns, Brees will join Peyton Manning and Brett Favre as the only quarterbacks in NFL history with 500 passing touchdowns. Both of these could easily be reached this season.

The Saints’ quarterback is also 5,829 yards from breaking Peyton Manning’s all-time record for passing yards. He’ll probably have to wait until next year to break that one though.

The Jets went 5-11 last year with Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker, David Harris, and Nick Mangold on the roster. Now, they have none of those guys, and they did almost nothing to replace them.

Given the Jets’ off-season purge, the team’s youth, and lack of talent, fans should take a page out of the Sixers fans’ book and just root for them to tank. Next year’s quarterback class could include franchise-type guys like USC’s Sam Darnold and UCLA’s Josh Rosen. Darnold was said to be the most-talked about player at the NFL Combine this season, despite the fact that he wasn’t even in the draft this year.

As a lifelong Jets fan, I have to say that I am fully expecting the Jets to play just well enough this season to avoid getting a good draft pick, while playing bad enough to be far out of playoff contention. Just like they do every year.

Unlike last year’s No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff, No. 2 overall pick Carson Wentz showed ample signs of promise. Wentz led the team to a flying 3-0 start, and posted a more than solid 62.4 completion percentage. All things considered, 2016 was a good season for Wentz.

Wentz will have the benefit of a legitimate No. 1 receiver in Alshon Jeffery—something he did not have last season—along with new acquisitions Torrey Smith and LeGarrette Blount. The Eagles improved greatly over last season on defense as well, adding Chris Long and Timmy Jernigan as well. They stand to be one of the most improved teams in the NFL this season, and the degree to which they improve (or regress) will be largely contingent on Wentz’s performance in 2017.

While various injuries and suspensions have kept Le’Veon Bell off the field at times throughout his four seasons in the NFL, there’s no stopping him when he is on the field. Bell has increased his yards per game average each season he’s been in the NFL; he ran for a career-high 105.7 yards per game last season. Over 16 games, that would be 1,691 yards. It’s not unreasonable to think there is still room for improvement—he’s only 25—so 2,000 yards is a real possibility with Bell.

This all, of course, is contingent on the Steelers paying him. Which they would be stupid not to do.

Shanahan will finally get to be a head coach after what seems like an eternity of him being just an offensive coordinator. He has been a fantastic with the Redskins and Falcons, and now we get to see if he’s merely a great coordinator or if he is truly cut out to be a head coach.

New GM John Lynch has already made his mark on the roster, improving it on paper after last year’s two-win campaign. He went out and got Pierre Garcon, Elvis Dumervil and former Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith among others. This could be the beginning of something beautiful in San Fran. Or not. 

Seattle might have found their ticket back to the Super Bowl in the flier they took with Lacy.

The Seahawks’ run offense—typically a staple in Seattle—was ranked just 25th in the NFL last season. Lacy could change this in a big way; he rushed for 1,000 yards back-to-back seasons with the Packers before gaining a ton of weight and disappointing in the last two. His new contract, which is only a one-year deal, includes incentives for making weight.

Lacy in this stage of his career bears some resemblance to Marshawn Lynch at the time of his trade to Seattle: Like Lacy, Lynch was a high draft pick who had had some success in the NFL up to that point, but was never truly a dominant runner. Lynch thrived in Seattle’s run-heavy system, and Lacy could too if he stays slim. 

Winston's thrown for at least 4,000 yards and at least 20 touchdowns in each of his first two NFL seasons, even if he has struggled with turnovers. That’s not bad for your first two campaigns.

But entering year three of his NFL career, Winston will now be expected to take a major leap into becoming the franchise quarterback the Bucs were banking on him becoming. And he’ll have plenty of weaponry at his disposal to do so in Mike Evans, DeSean Jackson, and first-round draft pick O.J. Howard. Winston’s got no excuses if he doesn’t make a major step towards becoming an elite quarterback this season.

Tampa narrowly missed out on a playoff appearance last year, but playoffs will be the expectation this year. Bucs fans are hungry for the postseason; their last one came in 2007—when Jeff Garcia was the quarterback.

Speaking of playoff droughts…

The Titans made several titanic moves in the offseason—moves that will make the Titans legitimate playoff contenders for the first time since they last made when Kerry Collins was quarterback back in 2008.

Tennessee signed Logan Ryan to bolster their secondary, and Eric Decker to give the team the star veteran wide receiver that it lacked in 2016. They also drafted wideout Corey Davis fifth overall, who will give Marcus Mariota a new weapon with a major upside on offense. The Titans surprised a lot of people last season by going 9-7, but nobody would be surprised if they do even better this season.

The former Raiders quarterback experienced a fantastic degree of success in his first season as a wide receiver with the Browns, garnering 1,007 yards for the worst team in the NFL. He’ll have a much more capable passer tossing him the rock this year in Kirk Cousins, so Pryor has to show the league that 2016 was no fluke.

This signing will also help Cousins, who has played just short of elite over the last two seasons. Maybe a big 2017 will finally score him a long-term contract if him and Pryor can develop a rapport.