The Preseason has come and gone, Aaron Hernandez has been
arrested and the Tim Tebow saga has left New York only to be replaced by a controversy of a whole new sort. Joe Flacco remains one of the few holdovers on the Super Bowl champion Ravans while the 49ers and Seahawks have only gotten better and through all this the annual "oh the Bills will be better this year," cry has still surfaced only to be replaced by the stunning slap in the face that came as Buffalo's prime running-back: CJ Wilson went down with a knee injury.
For 5 hours we were convinced that Tom Brady had torn his ACL all before he came back in preseason game #2 and threw just one in-completion. Coaches have changed teams, players have come and gone but still the league that is the NFL continues to grow. It orchestrates 32 teams of stunning diversity and postseason probabilities all while spawning millions of dollars for countless industries outside its own. Every year these changes happen: a player suspended, a coach retires, injuries are suffered while surprise stories emerge yet still even in a pattern so firmly sustained year in and year out, we keep coming back.
So without further ado, here is your 2013 NFL preview where Go Titletown looks at the top stories, probabilities and predictions of the season that will begin in almost 1 week.
Story One: The year of the running QB (Who can throw) - Why Russel Wilson, Colin Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III will dominant as Sophomore NFL'ers
We saw what quarterback Tim Tebow was CAPABLE of in 2011 but then we saw who he actually was in 2012 and in this 2013 preseason. Let’s face it, the NFL is not like the NCAA where the running QB will dominate. No, NFL linebackers and offensive linemen are just way to large to allow a slightly mobile guy like Tebow to rip them apart like he did in college. The style of game Tebow tried to play was a hard one and Tim just did not have the power to make it work.
But while Tim Tebow failed in forcing things to go his way, that does not mean that no one else can.
But while Tim Tebow failed in forcing things to go his way, that does not mean that no one else can.
Last season the NFL was quickly overrun by a whole host of premium Tebow esque players as the trio of Russel Wilson, Colin Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III or RG3 took us all by suprise.
Wilson, a 5 foot 11, 206 pound kid out of Wisconsin was dominant right from day one, hurling 4 TD passes in his first 3 games. He was accurate with the football and would end the season with only 10 interceptions to his name...just 2 more than Tom Brady. Wilson had a year better than almost any Seattle quarterback that had come before him yet in a crown jewel to his Pro Bowl season, Wilson dominated our own New England Patriots. Call it good offence or bad defense
but whatever label you lay upon that Week 6 meeting between Seattle and New England was the moment that we all really began to understand what this kid was made of.
Wilson would be credited with 3 touchdowns in that game. He threw no interceptions and singled out a weak Patriots deep pass defense to bring Seattle to a strong record of 4-2. He threw for 293 yards in a 24-23 win.
As it stood, the fact that New England had been beaten by this tiny little rookie was hard enough. It was only made rougher when, 7 weeks later they found themselves in an almost identical situation handed to them by an almost identically talented quarterback in Colin Kaepernick.
Amidst a cold rainy December night, Kaepernick- a 25 year old Nevada native- dominated the Patriots for the majority of his offensive night. Colin hurled 4 touchdown passes to compliment a 221 yard night. Much like Wilson, Kaepernick finally proved what he was fully capable of by
dominating one of the best teams in football. So we have Kaepernick, we have Wilson but when you think about it one man in particular had a season possibly far greater than either of them. RGIII.
In an injury that made you cringe and want to go and cry in a corner, the season of poor Griffin was cut short when his knee literally quit on him. He wrenched it backwards and fell to the ground writhing in pain...but not before he put up a strong rookie of the year campaign. Griffin played 15 games in 2012 hurling 20 touchdowns and just 5 interceptions. Emphasis on FIVE! Griffin chucked for 3,200 yards through the air while rushing for 815 yards on just 120 attempts.
When you look at these 3 Quarterbacks they all have one thing in common: the ability to run the football as well as throw it and with all of them fielding far more experienced passing targets this year, the 2013 prosperity of Colin Kaepernick, Russle Wilson and Robert Griffin III is almost inevitable.
Quarterback Name | Russle Wilson | Colin Kaepernick | Robert Griffin III |
TD Passes | 26 | 10 | 20 |
Passing Yards | 3,118 | 1,814 | 3,200 |
Rushing Yards | 489 | 415 | 815 |
Note: Robert Griffin III played just 15 games while Kapernick played only 7 regular season games.
Story 2: When Dreams are Annually Crushed - looking into the sting of the preseason cuts
I turn to the scout and reluctantly start following him. My breath starts to shorten and my chest feels like a microwave in a washing machine, the only relief being if my heart tears out of my chest and spills on to the floor. I mean, it’s hard to control my emotions. Very hard. I notice another player in the same predicament I’m in. That player became my shield to block out everything in my mind, because in that instance my focus shifted directly towards him. He was a rookie who I had a few conversations with. We crossed paths often. I tap him on the shoulder.
“Keep your head up,’’ I said. “You will be okay.”
He gives me a nod but doesn't look me in the face. I don’t blame him. As football players we are taught at a very young age not to show pain or emotion. We are engineered not to show tears; the liquid that comes down our faces represents being less of a man. I hold back any emotion, just as my teammate walking along side of me does. We finally arrive to the main office, walking in what seemed to be slow-motion. The scout tells us to grab a seat. ~ Austin Lane: via MMQB article
“Keep your head up,’’ I said. “You will be okay.”
He gives me a nod but doesn't look me in the face. I don’t blame him. As football players we are taught at a very young age not to show pain or emotion. We are engineered not to show tears; the liquid that comes down our faces represents being less of a man. I hold back any emotion, just as my teammate walking along side of me does. We finally arrive to the main office, walking in what seemed to be slow-motion. The scout tells us to grab a seat. ~ Austin Lane: via MMQB article
Cruel. That seems to be a word that fits many players feelings when the month of August rolls around. Cruel.
For so many years, these now 20 year old athletes have done everything that they could. By this time of year they have logged hours in gym's chugging gallons of Gatorade and fighting the urge to vomit from overexertion all with one goal: to make the team.
These kids are no Tom Brady's, no Rob Gronkowski or Adrian Peterson like players. These are 5th or 6th round picks like Austin Lane and Ras I Dowling of the Patriots. These are the Tim Tebows of the world fighting to fulfill their dreams or fighting the reality that they know is closing in on them. It is not easy to be cut.
Each and every year the season rolls around. Towards the beginning of August, each of the NFL's 32 teams assembles a roster comprised of 90 players. For many of these kids, August 1st is a day on wonder and glee, they have signed an NFL contract. But nevertheless, as little as 30 days later, the memories of that happy day are gone only replaced by far harsher ones. At the beginning of camp, teams are allowed to have 90 players on their roster but over the course of mini-camp and preseason respectively, they must drop their roster down to just 53 players meaning that each year on each team, 37 players suffer similar feeling to those described by Mr. Lane.
Yet for Austin Lane and the hundreds of others that annually suffer from their same predicament, the pain doesn't end the moment they step out of the football stadium.
“What am I going to do now?”
“I don’t even have a college degree yet.”
“What am I going to tell my family and friends?”
“Should I just go out on a bender this weekend?“
“Do I really want to be seen in public?”
“Should I just drive for a few hours away from this city?”
“I didn’t even get to say goodbye to everyone.”
“Am I ever going to play this game again?”
“I let everyone down.”
Are all questions that are asked by Lane and all questions that sting each and every man who is ever released by an NFL football team. But in the situation suffered by Austin Lane, there still was hope.
"In a way, I thanked him." Lane said, and he had reason to. In the world of NFL cut-down day being dropped a few days earlyer than the actually deadline does still give you a chance to win a job with any of the 31 other teams who may want you. Now for Lane that did happen as he still had a week and a half to go and was eventually signed my the rebuilding Chiefs franchise. Unfortunately no matter your skill some of the NFL's coaches are not as considerate when thinking about dropping a player. For instance on Saturday August 31st, the New England Patriots dropped 11 players, the biggest name included among them being Tim Tebow.
As it stands while Tom Brady and Adrian Peterson may be more skilled, it takes a completely different kind of skill to endure the pain of being cut.
"I learned very early on in my career at Florida to worry about what I can control and the things that I can't control I'm not going to spend time worrying about," Tebow said Monday, "but I can control my attitude, my focus every single day and those are the things that I'm going to worry about." And that is just how you have to be.
Note the quotes of Austin Lane were drawn from The MMQB's
NFL Postseason Picks
Wild Card Week (AFC)
Texans def Bengals
Colts def Ravens
Wild Card Week (NFC)
Packers def Saints
Seahawks def Giants
Divisional Round (AFC)
Patriots def Ravens
Broncos def Bengals
Divisional Round (NFC)
49ers def Packers
Seahawks def Falcons
Conference Championships (AFC)
Patriots def Broncos
Conference Championships (NFC)
49'ers def Seahawks
Superbowl XLVIII
Patriots def 49'ers
Story 3: Why New England - What they will need to do to win their 4th Superbowl of the Brady era
When you look at our Patriots, one thing separates them and the 49'ers. With the roster they had last season, New England could easily down the 49'ers with their eyes closed. Yet with Welker and Hernandez gone only to be replaced by Danny Amendola and a host of rookie receivers the Patriots while better than many expected them to be, are still not the team that had them one miracle short of winning the 2011 Super Bowl.
For almost his entire career now, Rob Gronkowski has struggled with injuries as his back and arms don't seem to want to stay intact. As for Amendola well in his few years in the NFL almost everything has gone wrong for him. Hips, shoulders, knees, they all have given out on the poor wide out and each and every time those respective injuries have hurt his team.
Amendola will likely be Tom Brady's top target and when you think about it, if the two's timing is knocked off by a 4 week break for Amendola, there might not be enough season left to get it back.
But nevertheless, there is hope for New England after all...and it doesn't even start in their own locker room. The 2013 NFL in general is a weaker league than that of 2012. As said earlier, Joe Flacco remains the only major holdover from last year’s Super Bowl as deep threat Anquan Bouldin has gone to San Fransisco. Denver's offensive line has gone AWOL and no matter how good Kaepernick is he still has only started 10 games in the NFL...there is ALWAYS time to flop.
Looking right there, that firmly lists almost all of New England threats as EQUAL opponents. So what brings the over the edge? One word: Brady.
In a conference final game with say Denver, I would give Brady and the Pats the edge solely out of history. To win championships, a football team needs proven leaders and if I had to pick between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning to lead my team to victory I would without a doubt go with Brady.
Tom has won 3 titles, Peyton has won 1. Tom Brady has gone one and done just twice in his career. Peyton as done just that 5 times . Tom Brady is a proven leader, with proven history, Peyton Manning is not a leader with a history devoid of ultimate success and well, Colin Kaepernick has no history.
Tom has won 3 titles, Peyton has won 1. Tom Brady has gone one and done just twice in his career. Peyton as done just that 5 times . Tom Brady is a proven leader, with proven history, Peyton Manning is not a leader with a history devoid of ultimate success and well, Colin Kaepernick has no history.
In a year where "bad” teams will likely make big splashes, we look to a guy who has always been great to deliver the Super Bowl victory.
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