AFC Preview

AFC Contenders: Jets, Steelers, Titans, Patriots, and Ravens

Will the Colts defend the AFC East. Obviously until the champ is defeated they are the team to beat in the AFC and since they have Peyton Manning under center they are certainly the odds on favorite and popular pick. The Colt will need more contributions from their defense to complement Indy’s all-world QB to a Super Bowl Victory. Defense certainly does win championships and the biggest competition for the Colts will feature some outstanding defenses led by Rex Ryan and the shutdown corners in New York who were on the losing end of last year’s AFC championship game.

The New England Patriots look re-gain their decade long dominance in the AFC and will be a much tougher team in 2010. The offense is set led by 3 time winning Super Bowl QB Tom Brady future Hall of Fame player the often mid-understood Randy Moss. The return of Wes Welker to pre-ACL surgery status will be important Brady depends on Welker when all else breaks down. The pats do need to improve on their running attack and it’s put up or shut up time for Laurence Maroney who has been a been in Head Coach Bill Belichek’s dog house for a few years. If the pats are going to have to depend on Fred Taylor who is not quite in his prime anymore they will be in deep trouble versus their fellow Eastern division rival Jets. The defense should be much improved in 2010. Jerrod Mayo is the heir apparent to Tedy Bruschi as the coach on the field for the defense which has been a staple of Patriot teams in years past. Last season was a learning curve for the Pats. A lot of young talented players trying to mesh together without established leadership and then when Mayo went down earlier in the year the Pats couldn’t recover quick enough to salvage the 2009 season. 2010 will be different as the defense has had time to play together and will be much more improved.

Defense wins championships and the Ravens are always tough on defense. Ed Reed might not show up on time for camp but just like Brett Favre expect the former defensive MVP expects to be on the gridiron leading the secondary and being in the right place at the right time. Not only is Ed Reed a former defensive MVP with the uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time but the professor of defense and big time hit man Ray Lewis will be manning the middle once again in Baltimore. Lewis is a first ballot hall of famer in waiting and his greatest asset is his mind and ability to motivate those around him. He is still an elite MLB for reasons other than his physical prowess. The offense still has a ways to catch up to the defense but is not far behind with the emergence of Ray Rice and continued development of Joe Flacco. The failure of the Ravens to converge on offense kept John Harbaugh’s squad from advancing in 2009 as the defense is as formidable as any. The off season acquisition of Anquan Boldin was a huge pickup giving Joe Flacco a top notch receiver to go along with aging veteran yet steady Derrick Mason.

Without a starting QB most teams would be in trouble. Exception is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Big Ben most likely will be a non-factor for the first six weeks and quite rusty when he does come back but Dennis Dixon proved against the always tough Baltimore defense last season he was a very capable back-up as he led the Steelers on a 4th quarter go ahead drive before the a lapse the Steelers special teams gave the Ravens a short field en route to a close 3 point victory. The biggest news for the Steelers is the return of Troy Polamalu. When the speedy, hard hitting, physical safety is dressed the Steelers are tough to beat as his absence in 2009 proved as the Steelers failed to make the playoffs after winning it all in 2008.

The popular pick in the AFC is the loud spoken Rex Ryan and his New York Jets. In the off season the Jets got everything they wanted including Cardinals all-pro safety Antonio Cromartie to complement AFC all-pro corner Derrelle Reavis along with first round draft pick and collegiate shut down corner Kyle Wilson making the Jets passing defense and imposing one. With such great defensive backs the Ryan should have more fun than a kid in a candy store calling on his linebackers to blitz and blitz often. As for the offense they expect Shonn Greene to be the man carrying the ball. Greene’s absence in the second half of the championship game was an obvious game changer. The emergence of Greene takes bit pressure off of sophomore QB Mark Sanchez. Sanchez had a solid rookie year and his development is key to whether the Jet’s will be contenders or front runners in the AFC. Sanchez gets a big boost from management in the off season with the acquisition of Pittsburgh playmaker Santonio Holmes who was the go to guy in Three Rivers.


Pre-Season Football
With the exception of the Colts last year the hottest team in the second half of the season was the Tennessee Titans. Titan fans have good reason to believe that 2010 can be a year they can go all the way to the bowl if not cause a lot of damage along the way. Number one reason is a strong running game. Tennessee under Jeff Fisher has traditionally had a solid offensive line led and this year’s line gets to lead the way if only for a short time for the fastest man in the NFL and the most recent member of the 2,000 yard season rushing club Chris Johnson. Johnson might not be the most articulate player in the league but he sure is the most exciting and without a doubt the fastest and wherever the Titans are on the field Johnson is a threat to break a long one. A fast start by the Titans should bolster the confidence of starting QB Vince Young. VY has had a rough start to his career going from franchise QB to bench warmer back to starting QB. He is no longer expected to be the game changer on offense with Johnson in the backfield so Young can just let the game come to him which he did quite successfully last season leading the Titans to six straight wins after a horrific 0-7 start. Defensively the Titans don’t have any marquee names having lost long time defensive captain Keith Bullock. What the Titans do have is tradition, expectations and chemistry on defense. The Titans under Jeff Fisher have always being very tough against the run and hard to score against unless you were the New England Patriots who hung 59 in the snow on Tennessee in what was an abnormality.