The 2010 NFL season is set to get underway on Thursday night as the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints get set to begin their title defense against Brett Farve, Adrian Peterson, and the rest of the Minnesota Vikings. As we get set for another season of football, it’s time to take a look around the league and evaluate how your favorite team will fare in 2010:
Baltimore Ravens
The Good: Things are looking very good heading into the 2010 season for Baltimore Ravens fans. A team that notoriously is known for a strong defense spent the offseason upgrading its skill position on offense. Third year QB Joe Flacco has a plethora of options including newly acquired WRs Anquan Boldin, TJ Houshmandzadeh, and Donte Stallworth. Along with breakout RB Ray Rice and veterans Derrick Mason and Todd Heap, the Ravens offense looks ready to explode.
The Bad: Oddly enough, the defense has some question marks heading into the season. S Ed Reed will miss at least the first six weeks of the season as he continues to recover from offseason hip surgery. The Ravens secondary is the weakest part of their defense and losing CB Domonique Foxworth for the season and Reed for significant time is a big blow. LB Ray Lewis is another year older and will be entering his 15th NFL season.
Bold Prediction: Ray Rice will end the season as the top statistical RB in all of football.
The Verdict: The Ravens are one of the top teams in all of football on paper heading into the 2010 season. If head coach John Harbaugh and his coaching staff are able to sure up the secondary and QB Joe Flacco takes advantage of the weapons around him, fans will be talking about the Ravens well into January.
Cincinnati Bengals
The Good: A very strong defense returns to the field after posting the 4th best total in points against and 6th ranked defense in yards allowed during the 2009 season. Tons of options on offense highlighted by the TOcho show (Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens). RB Cedric Benson looks to build upon his outstanding 2009 season.
The Bad: Cincinnati has a lot of questionable personalities on their roster. Adam “Pacman Jones”, Tank Johnson, and Terrell Owens highlight a group of players marred throughout their careers by off the field arrests and locker room issues. Many people have joked about the Bengals bringing in players with questionable character in the past, but now that the team has so much talent on paper, will the personalities be their ultimate downfall? Additionally, QB Carson Palmer has no excuses as many feel he has not been the same player since tearing his ACL in the playoffs several seasons ago.
Bold Prediction: Rookie TE Jermaine Gresham will become a force on offense and one of Palmer’s favorite targets.
The Verdict: The Bengals have a ton of a talent and a whole lot of personality on their roster. It’s a high risk, high reward team but if Marvin Lewis can keep their players in check Cincinnati should have a VERY good season.
Cleveland Browns
The Good: The Browns are heading in the right direction. Coach Eric Mangini will be the first to admit that Cleveland is still a couple of seasons away from competing, but for the first time in several years their is reason to be optimistic for Browns fans. With Mike Holmgren as the team’s new president and Tom Heckert as the new GM, the Browns will continue to improve. The secondary should see marked improvement from 2009 with the additions of CB Sheldon Brown and first round pick Joe Haden. QB Jake Delhomme might actually be an upgrade from what Cleveland had last season (shocking… I know).
The Bad: The Browns lost rookie RB Montario Hardesty for the season to a torn ACL which will be a big blow to their offense. Cleveland still doesn’t have enough talent at the skill positions on offense and besides DT Shaun Rogers, has several question marks along their front seven.
Bold Prediction: WR Mohamed Massaquoi will have a breakout season and will be Jake Delhomme’s favorite target in the passing game.
The Verdict: 2010 won’t be a great year record wise for the Browns but they will be playing better football in December than they were in September.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Good: As long as their players stay healthy, Pittsburgh should have an outstanding defense once again. SS Troy Polamalu is one of the best in the game but he missed 10 games in 2009 due to a knee injury. LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison are outstanding outside linebackers and the Steelers consistently get pressure on the QB. Hines Ward and fantasy sleeper Mike Wallace make up a very strong duo at WR. RB Rashard Mendenhall looks poised for a breakout year.
The Bad: QB Ben Roethlisberger is suspended for the first 4 games of the regular season. While Big Ben will only miss the first 25% of the year, that is still enough time for the Steelers to dig themselves a hole. Pittsburgh fans better hope that QB Dennis Dixon can keep the team afloat during the first month of the season. RT Willie Colon ruptured his achilles tendon which is a debilitating injury for the offensive line. The defense is aging with seven of the 11 starters over the age of 30. The special teams was absolutely atrocious in 2009.
Bold Prediction: Rashard Mendenhall will have over 300 carries and 1,400 yards rushing this season.
The Verdict: Pittsburgh’s entire offseason was spent dealing with the Ben Roethlisburger mess and trading away former Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes. While they did make some nice additions to the roster, ultimately Roethlisburger’s situation will be too much to overcome. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. The Steelers will miss the playoffs for the second straight season.
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