NFL Offseason Thoughts 2019

Hello readers! Long time, no blogs! The NFL regular season is coming upon us in 12 days when the Green Bay Packers visit their division rival Chicago Bears on Thursday night for Opening Night. This blog will give my take on the Antonio Brown situation, my take on the most intriguing division heading into the regular season, and my planned upload schedule for the upcoming season. Let's get to it!

Oh Woe In Oakland

Last season, the Oakland Raiders, got rid of superstars Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper via trades to the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys respectively. To make up for the losses, the Raiders traded to get star wide receiver Antonio Brown from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Brown, known for his antics during the start of training camp. Whether it be coming to camp in a limo, or this year coming to camp in a hot air balloon. As it turns out, the star wide receiver came with a bit more baggage than what the Raiders would expect.

The honeymoon of the Raiders and Antonio Brown didn't last long. The wideout went to France to go through some cryotherapy. What Brown forgot was to wear some protective socks and footwear in the cold. The result was some rather eye appealing visuals on his feet (or not). The drama would only get started.

In the endless quest to make the game safer to play, the NFL would impose rules on helmets to make them safer. Antonio Brown's helmet was deemed unsafe and he didn't like it. Brown would wage war with the league for the past few months on a helmet. Brown claimed that the "safer" helmet was harder to see the ball, and certainly the job of a wide receiver is to see the ball so that you can catch it.

The drama among Antonio Brown, Oakland Raiders, and the NFL will likely continue well into the regular season. It will be hard to see who will win in the end but one thing is for certain. Drama sells.

Remember the [AFC] North?

One of the more exciting divisions heading into the NFL regular season has to be the AFC North. At least in my opinion. You have the division winners Baltimore Ravens looking to build off of what they had the previous season, all the while the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cleveland Browns, and the Cincinnati Bengals look to get back into relevancy.

The Baltimore Ravens won the AFC North for the first time since 2012 when the Ravens won their 2nd Super Bowl. The Ravens traded Joe Flacco to Denver for draft picks. The Ravens put their hope and future on Lamar Jackson who would throw 1200+ yards for six touchdowns and three interceptions. The Ravens bread and butter has to be their defense and they still have the best defense in the division. If the Ravens want to go to the next level in 2019, their offense has to get to that next level.

The division powerhouse, Pittsburgh Steelers, were off to a hot start going 7-2-1 at one point last season. Pittsburgh was under the radar all season due to the holdout of Le'Veon Bell that lasted the whole season. As if that drama wasn't enough, the rift between quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown grew and the team took sides. Eventually Roethlisberger won the battle as Brown was traded to Oakland in the offseason. The 2019 Steelers look to put all the drama the previous year behind them with such players like James Conner and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Those two players will greatly depend on how well the Steelers do this season.

The feel-good story of last year was the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland came into last year with zero wins in 2017, and would win seven games in 2018, matching the same total in 2014. The Browns success has to be given to rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield, a solid running game with Nick Chubb, and a stifling defense. The addition of Odell Beckham Jr from the Giants via trade will surely give the Browns more dimensions in the passing game and a weapon for Mayfield to go for. A lot of expectations are on this Browns team to go far into the season and well into January. This team hasn't had a winning season since 2007 and haven't even sniffed the playoffs since 2002. Anything but a winning season for this team would be a bad season for this team due to expectations. I feel that a winning season is achievable for this team and a playoff appearance would be a plus for them.

Then there's the Cincinnati Bengals. The divsion cellar dwellers last season got rid of their long-time head coach Marvin Lewis and brought in Zac Taylor. Much of the offensive starters remain like Andy Dalton and AJ Green but it has to be questioned on their defense. How well will their defense do in 2019? Much questions surround this team and if they can get a winning season in 2019.

Upload schedule

The coming season is coming up soon. The upload schedule essentially will remain the same. The picks column will be uploaded on Wednesday or prior to the week's games start. A recap column will come on Monday after the Monday night game or possibly Tuesday. I still plan on doing picks for the 2019 season, along with Cardinal Viking, my roommate, our 3rd season doing picks. Expect a preview column come next Friday (August 30th) or Saturday. Then the Week 1 picks column on Wednesday, September 4th. See you guys next week!

-Tom