Primer NFC '21 Midseason Recap
by jhward19 | 3 years ago | 0 Comments
The NFC’s top dogs are a bit less clear than the AFC but the wildcard race is shaping up to be a bloodbath as there are currently a whopping 11 teams with 5 or fewer losses. That is nearly 70% of the conference. Let’s get right into the divisional breakdowns:
The NFC East has played a hell of a lot better than it has been in recent years in real life. 3 teams sit at 7 wins and the 3-7 Cowboys are no slouches either with Blades at the helm. This is a division to keep an eye on as a surprise contender for best division in the league if the upstart Giants and Gudda and the Eagles can keep on rolling.
The Giants are perched atop the division at 7-3 so far and have been tearing it up on offense feeding Saquads any and every opportunity he gets. Saquon has put up respectable rushing stats with 100/560/9 but has made a killing on wheel routes and checkdowns coming in at 5th in the league in receptions with 53/904/9 en route to a Marshall Faulk-esque season. Also Danny Dimes deserves a shoutout for a positive TD:TO ratio and for leading a winning team for once in his life. Under the radar story with this team is Newbs’ user/defense which is 2nd in the league with 29 total INT. The Giants do face a difficult schedule coming up with a DuckKings GOTW week 12 vs Gudda and the Eagles followed by a run of Strawblacks Dolphins/My Chargers and then finishing out the season with Cowboys/Eagles again/now rising Bears and WFT week 18 in a game that may determine the division. When asked about his chances to seize the division Little Newbs had this to say “I feel pretty confident in my ability to lock up the NFC East. I'll be shocked if I don't at least split with all of the NFC East, but hey, I'm excited to see what kind of competition we've got over there.” Due to this rough stretch coming up I however expect the Giants to finish as a WC team however that is when the Giants make deep playoff runs and watch out if they can go 5-2 to end the season and come into the playoffs hot.
Spades and the WFT were playing like they were spayed to start the season going 1-3 out of the gate. The Washington Jackson Mahomes’ have rebounded nicely, ripping off 6 straight wins including victories over the 9-1 Broncos, 7-4 Packers and Jonesy’s Panthers. Spades appears to have found his groove and given his history of regular season success appears to be in the driver’s seat for the division moving forward if he can win some tough division games. Antonio Gibson is 3rd in the league in rushing with 963 yard and a league leading 16 TDs which is enough to vault him into 2nd place in MVP voting since Madden is backwards and thinks RBs deserve MVPs not QBs. Scary Terry has also been a beast coming in at 33/1024/13 which places him 3rd amongst WRs in yards and TD’s despite only 33 receptions for 31 YPC, 2nd only to DK amongst qualified WRs. When asked about his slow start Marcus had this to say: “I think we are starting to catch our stride though. Jordan love has been way more efficient. If we can just make it to the playoffs I’m expecting a deep playoff push”. Spades has so far done exactly that going on a run of late and I expect the WFT to secure this division, however I would not be surprised to see it come down to week 18, especially with 5 division games left including 2 against Blades who knows more about this man than his wife does.
Gudda (not Gouda) has also made his presence felt with a 7-4 record, putting him firmly in the WC and Division race despite Jalen Hurts having 32 turnovers and only 25 TDs combined. Gudda’s resume is bolstered by a marquee win over Jonesy, however that is the only team with a winning record he has defeated so the week 12 GOTW will be a good litmus test for his chances moving forward. That said, all but one of his losses have been close and his defense is balling out so if Hurts can cut down on the turnovers this is a team that could sneak into the playoffs or the division crown with a couple well timed wins. Eagles have been winning games on the strength of their defense which boasts 4 guys with 4+ INTs including DPOY favorite Darius Slay and his 9 INTs having a bit of a renaissance in Philly.
Rounding out the division we have the 3-7 Cowboys and Sawblade6699 (nice). The boys are one of the better teams in the league with a losing record and the 3-7 start has surprised me after he smoked my Chargers in week 2. As any bad owner will tell you it is hard to win games with a QB throwing 3 INTs for every 2 TDs and that is where Dak stands so far. Blades’ hyper aggressive defense has not been able to overcome all these short fields and his record has paid the price. Zeke keeps rumbling with 659 yards however has only found the end zone 4 times which tells me Blades needs to run the ball more in the red zone instead of throwing picks and reiterated this exact statement to me when asked to comment on his season so far: “We are looking to turn it around by focusing on our run game and minimizing mistakes. Cowboys going 10-7 would be my prediction.” Once again this is not a team to be underestimated and expect an upset over Spades later this season as well as more opportunities to play spoiler in the division.
The NFC North race has evolved a bit over the past few weeks as the Vikings have emerged on top behind strong play from Vally despite becoming more of a lurker in the chat. The Purple People Eaters are 8-2 as kellen mond has done a fabulous job of taking care of the ball with only 8 INTs to 22 TDs. The Vikes have an aggressive downfield passing attack with JJ/Thielen/Hamler all over 20 yards per reception. Dalvin only has 431 yards but has 6 rushing TDs as does Mond scrambling in the red zone. Valley really put his stamp on the division race last week handling the Packers with ease 45-27 and gaining an important game up in the win column and in the tiebreaker for the division. I see no reason not to pick the Vikes to win the division, especially with 3 CPU games left on the docket.
The Bears and Kav1k (go Huskies) have also rebounded nicely from a brutal first 2 games in which Justin Fields threw 1 TD and 8 INTs. Since then he has thrown for 20 TDs and only 5 INTs so clearly the rook has made some adjustments. The Bears operate as the Bears have historically and ground and pound teams to death as they feed the other Monty in the league, David Montgomery (111/780/11 scores) and Tarik Cohen (65/308/3). True to the style the Bears are one of the few teams that doesn’t pass to their RBs that much and instead feeds the TE with Cole Kmet emerging as a premier TE threat with 36/736 and 10 TDs. Defensively Khalil Mack is still a beast with 8.5 sacks and they lead the league in sacks, while the secondary has played fairly well with 19 picks given the limited talent pool besides Eddie Jackson. The Bears face an uphill battle for the divsion/WC race as they have a brutal upcoming schedule with Cards/Packers/Vikes 2x/Giants/Seahawks lined up however were just a chip shot FG away from beating the Packers so it is definitely doable. Kav1k is “Looking to focus on one game at a time and winning some division games coming up to get a playoff spot”. The only way he makes the playoffs is if he can win 4 of those aforementioned games with the way the WC race is shaping up, but one game at a time is the right mindset and he has put himself in a place to succeed.
Fink and the Pack come in guns blazing with the best offense in the league led by leading passer Aaron Rodgers (3859/41 TDs/14 INts), league leading receiver Davante Adams (63/1650/23) and league leading rusher/MVP favorite Aaron Jones (180/1269/14 and 56/804/8 through the air). That said they are only 7-4 as they have the worst defense in the league with 4247 yards allowed (239 more than any team) and the 2nd most points allowed behind only the 0-10 Aints. This is a team nobody wants to face as that offense is more potent than potent potables and Fink has gone entire games without a punt or a turnover. When asked about his successes so far, HC Al Fink had this to say: “I’m kinda shocked at how well I’m doing. I gutted my defense pretty hard in the preseason and hardly played the game before the season started but seem to have really found a groove on offense making myself a tough out.” The defense poses a great hindrance to his contention hopes but that is fixable and I expect to see the Pack as a tough WC out in the playoffs. Moving forward Fink is excited to build the team as “with 6 picks in the first 3 rounds to rebuild my defense and hopefully (I’ll) be able to pair some stops with a potent offense”
The Lions are who we thought they were. As a former Lions owner I am sad to see them fall back to irrelevance.
Jonesy has a firm grasp on the division at 6-5 with nobody really in striking distance nor threatening a WC push. William has proved to be human this cycle already dropping 5 games but his recent win over Warrior shows he still can still play with the best of them. Last week's loss to Spades may be foreshadowing a playoff bout and shows the Panthers still have room to grow. The midseason switch from SaMVP Darnold to Feliepe Franks has proven to be incredibly lateral as in 6 appearances each: Darnold is 71/111 with 1282/10 TDs/11 INTs while Franks is 67/116 for 1248/11 TDs/11 INTs. Remarkably similar and prob shows that mid to low end qbs do not really matter for someone of Jonesy’s caliber. CMC is still arguably the best rb in the league with 858/10 on the ground and 37/411 through the air. Moore and Robby have proven to be a dynamic duo as both have 25+ yards per reception and over 600 yards and 6 TDs. I don’t think we will know much more about this panthers team until the playoffs when he gets a tough WC matchup in round 1. Despite the grasp on the division, William L Jonesy was not too thrilled with his performance so far citing mediocre offense numbers and reiterating my sentiment about his squad as well: “As for myself, my lack of offense has been the most frustrating part. Especially with the players I have. Every year I have few problems putting up points/yards but right now both are hard to come by. I'm sitting at the bottom half of the league in every category. But I'm sitting at a decent spot at 5-3 and leading the division so I have some wiggle room to get things cleaned up by the postseason.”
The Falcons have been playing with clipped wings (25th in total offense) after an exciting preseason circuit from STD that had some “experts” excited for what was to come. Overall it has been a disappointing season for the Birds, but there is some hope to build on with a strong win over the WFT and Kyle Pitts emerging as a premier TE behind 51/784/8. An offensive curiosity here is the usage of superstar wr Calvin Ridley who despite appearing in 8 games, only has 12 catches on the year for 237 yards and just 1 score. He appears to have been usurped in the pecking order by Pitts of course and also by Tyler Boyd (26/565/4) and Russell Gage (18/361/3) This is a storyline to track in the 2nd half of the season as STD could pose a threat to teams vying for seeding if he can find a way to get his best WR involved while still threatening with Pitts across the middle. The Falcons’ D also needs some work and an offseason and a draft will go miles to improve that. The Falcons owner could not be reached for comment.
Hova and the Bucs have been remarkably middling despite a loaded roster and are destined for mediocrity with their user on leave, although the Bucs CPU may be a tough out for some guys who aren’t used to playing the CPU and Brady going 25/25 passing. Not much more to say other than look for this roster to still be one of the best in the league next year.
The Aints are back to their paper bag Archie Manning ways as Madnaiss just cannot catch a break. The switch to Taysom Hill has been a tad more effective and definitely more fun than Jameis and MT has reaped some benefit with 33/799/8 scores on the year. The Saints need to do a better job of getting Kamara the ball on the ground instead of just feeding him through the air where he has 62/715/4. Only 2 rushing TDs is tough for someone of his caliber. I expect Madnaiss to steal a couple games in the 2nd half of the year if only to tank his draft stock.
A preseason favorite for the strongest division, the NFC west has done nothing but disappoint as the inferior western division. Ostrich currently sits atop the division but will also never be seen or heard from again since MikeFML banished him to the shadow realm leaving the west wide open.
The Cards come in at 6-5 however all 5 of those losses have been to winning teams so I expect to see Warrior continue to make noise be it as the division winner or as a WC threat. This team revolves around Kyler Murray and he has been an effective dual threat with 26:18 TD/INT ratio and 423 yards on the ground. The Cards passing attack looks for Hopkins first and foremost (35/788/10) then looks to feed Rondale Moore now that Kirk has been developed and shipped out. James Conner has been solid on the ground with 120/730/8. The defense possesses lots of speed with Isaiah Simmons as the lynchpin and look for this team to be a threat come playoff time with playmakers on both sides of the ball.
At 5-5 the Seahawks do not wow on paper but much like the Cards every loss has come to either a winning team or the 4-5 9ers who are very solid. Russ (3353/35 TDs/14 INTs and DK (43/1367/18) and a league leading 31.8 yards per reception have taken the league by storm, although questions linger can the Seahawks win games if DK is contained and can you actually contain him? Also note that the Seahawks have had a couple games slip through their grasp as an exhausted DRNB spiked a ball on 4th down in the redzone vs Stavo. When asked about his season so far, Rice was quick to take ownership for his failures as a HC and had this to say: “Games were winnable but I made so many careless and uncharacteristic blunders that were totally in my control. The worst game I played was against DW other than that all of my other games have come down to last minute errors. I played poorly in all of them so the losses fall on my shoulders and there’s nothing to blame EA about. Those ones have hit me the most. If I played all of my games to even a high degree of my potential I believe I’m sitting undefeated”. This is a team I would not want to see come playoff time if he can tighten up the coaching blunders and utilize an elite escape artist QB and a dynamic offensive attack as well as difference makers on defense in Jamal Adams and Bobby Wagner. Seahawks vs WFT this week and then against SF next week will be crucial to Rice’s push for the division. Look for Rice and Warrior to go head to head for the division crown and for both to make noise come playoff time.
Last but certainly not least in a strong top to bottom division right now sits DW at 4-5 with the 9ers. Jimmy G is an afterthought as this is now Trey Lance’s team and Sir Lancelot has been serviceable in his first year with 17:15 TD:INT with only 2271 yards through the air but a promising 23 carries for 219 on the ground. DW is traditionally a conservative offensive player and that is also evident in Sermon’s 158 rushes for 853 and a staggering 21 TDs en route to an OROY award. Philip Dorsett surprisingly leads guys not named George Kittle in receiving as the primary downfield weapon w/ 15/437/4 and the ball has been distributed all around with 5 guys over 300 yards. I would not rule out DW from the WC race yet as he has a solid team fit to his playstyle and a relatively easy schedule left with potentially multiple cpu games and a few teams with losing records.
Be on the lookout for playoff picks and superbowl predictions to come.
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