Five "Expected" Playoff Contenders Who'll Disappoint

With all the distractions going on in New Orleans I really doubt they make the playoffs.

Saints and Chargers will self destruct.
Bengals, Falcons, and Cowboys will make the playoffs.

This is my gut feeling, for what is worth.

If we're defining "disappoint" as a worse record than last year, need to add the Niners to that list.

Tougher schedule + smaller turnover ratio than last year = 10-6 or 11-5 team.

At the Patriots, Packers, Saints, Jets, home to the Giants and Bears. Highly unlikely they'll be +28 with turnover.

Not sure if the offensive additions will be enough to mitigate the above challenges.

I still think they'll win the division, but I'd be surprised if they make it back to the NFC Championship.

Blake_Fever

Originally posted by unst4bl3:

Originally posted by martysofresh:
Soo Tampa bay or Carolina will make it to the playoffs. Actuallly, I see that happening
Chargers wont make it because the chiefs are gonna run the division. Especially since they probably have an easy scedule.
Cowboys wont make it because the NFC east will go to Philly or NY again
I think bengals will make it in as a Wildcard unless injuries keep BAL from winning the north. I really want BAL to make it to a superbowl b4 Reed retires. Theyve been one game out 2 years straight and play hard. Even though they would lose to us, it would still be nice

Carollina will make it, TB didn't make enough changes imo. Chiefs now that they got rid of haley will be good again, and i agree with the rest. (except bengals might miss out)

Tampa didn't do enough? define enough then? they only Bolstered their OLINE big time with Nicks, and added VJackson to help the skill position and didn't they grab 2 or 3 early picks on Defense? just asking,

Cowboys suck

Nice list. 9ers absence from it is conspicuous, though. :)

1.) Ravens - Bengals and browns will play solid defense, and expose the ravens.
2.) Falcons - Overachievers last year, Cam and the bucs will give them a run for their money
3.) Chargers - AFC West is too competitive for them
4.) Bears - Will get beat out by the Pack and Lions
5.) And my darkhorse team to fail... *drumroll* The mighty giants. -Eagles win division

Originally posted by tmpluff:

Originally posted by unst4bl3:

Originally posted by martysofresh:

Soo Tampa bay or Carolina will make it to the playoffs. Actuallly, I see that happening
Chargers wont make it because the chiefs are gonna run the division. Especially since they probably have an easy scedule.
Cowboys wont make it because the NFC east will go to Philly or NY again
I think bengals will make it in as a Wildcard unless injuries keep BAL from winning the north. I really want BAL to make it to a superbowl b4 Reed retires. Theyve been one game out 2 years straight and play hard. Even though they would lose to us, it would still be nice

Carollina will make it, TB didn't make enough changes imo. Chiefs now that they got rid of haley will be good again, and i agree with the rest. (except bengals might miss out)

Tampa didn't do enough? define enough then? they only Bolstered their OLINE big time with Nicks, and added VJackson to help the skill position and didn't they grab 2 or 3 early picks on Defense? just asking,

Tampa is definitely one of the under-the-radar teams. Might've added them to my other thread if I was doing "Top 10" under the radar potential playoff teams. That division flips a lot. It wouldn't be too far fetched to see Tampa and Carolina make it and Atlanta and New Orleans fail (with Mike Smith probably being fired from ATL if that happened).

But back to TB, you're right. They've really gone unnoticed.. filling a looooot of holes they had last year. Look at their key additions. I don't think Barron was worth #7 overall, but he might do well in their system, and Lavonte David is an outstanding young LB.

Tampa Bay's roster now includes depth and starting units that look MUCH better:

* = Rookie

QB - Freeman
RB - Doug Martin*, LaGerrette Blount, Michael Smith*
FB - Erik Lorig
TE - Winslow, Stocker, Coffman, Dunsmore
WR - Vincent Jackson, Mike Williams, Arrelious Benn, Sammie Stroughter, Preston Parker, Dezmon Briscoe
LT - Donald Penn
LG - Carl Nicks
C - Jeremy Zuttah
RG - Davin Joseph
RT - Jeremy Trueblood

DL - Gerald McCoy, Brian Price, Michael Bennett, Adrian Clayborn, DaQuan Bowers, Amobi Okoye, Daniel Teo-Nesheim, Frank Okam
LB - Mason Foster, Lavonte David*, Dekoda Watson, Quincy Black, Najee Goode*, Rennie Curran
CB - Ronde Barber, Aqib Talib, Eric Wright, Keith Tandy*, Myron Lewis, Leonard Johnson*
FS - Cody Grimm
SS - Mark Barron*

Originally posted by Blake_Fever:
If we're defining "disappoint" as a worse record than last year, need to add the Niners to that list.

Tougher schedule + smaller turnover ratio than last year = 10-6 or 11-5 team.

At the Patriots, Packers, Saints, Jets, home to the Giants and Bears. Highly unlikely they'll be +28 with turnover.

Not sure if the offensive additions will be enough to mitigate the above challenges.

I still think they'll win the division, but I'd be surprised if they make it back to the NFC Championship.

Blake_Fever

I personally would be fine with the 49ers being 11-5 (or even 10-6). They could actually be a better team -- more lethal and productive offense -- and have a worse record for the reasons you state.

BUT, just because they have a worse record doesn't mean they wouldn't go back to the NFC Championship game -- I think that is definitely possible. Superbowl that's a coin flip for any team getting through the play-offs. IMHO, they have a good chance with this coaching staff.

Originally posted by HearstFan:
I personally would be fine with the 49ers being 11-5 (or even 10-6). They could actually be a better team -- more lethal and productive offense -- and have a worse record for the reasons you state.

BUT, just because they have a worse record doesn't mean they wouldn't go back to the NFC Championship game -- I think that is definitely possible. Superbowl that's a coin flip for any team getting through the play-offs. IMHO, they have a good chance with this coaching staff.

We'll make it to the playoffs, and once you are in the playoffs it is anyone's game. From that point on everything that happened prior is irrelevant.

the giants won't make the playoffs. They're not even that good.

For those worried about returning to the NFC Championship:

If the Saints fail to be as good as they were, I don't see who the massive threat in the divisional round would be.

Home or visitor, I like our chances against anyone/anywhere in the playoffs. We will be a better team even if < 13 wins.

Originally posted by PopeyeJonesing:

Nice list. 9ers absence from it is conspicuous, though. :)

You saying they will disappoint?

Originally posted by JTsBiggestFan:
For those worried about returning to the NFC Championship:

If the Saints fail to be as good as they were, I don't see who the massive threat in the divisional round would be.

Home or visitor, I like our chances against anyone/anywhere in the playoffs. We will be a better team even if < 13 wins.

I don't see the Saints as a threat either way. I do agree that our record will be worse but the overall team is better especially the offense

Originally posted by English:

Originally posted by PopeyeJonesing:
Nice list. 9ers absence from it is conspicuous, though. :)

You saying they will disappoint?

It's possible. Our success had a lot to do with getting lucky turnovers and Alex playing a safe/turnover free game, that's not always a stat you can count on every year. Alex opens up his game, gets picked off more often, while teams will have a better idea on how to keep the ball out of the hands of our dbs. Don't get me wrong this year has a lot of potential to move up another notch, but nothing's a guarantee. Our schedule gets harder and teams will be more prepared for our gameplanning.