Category Archives: Storylines around the NFL

NFL Playoffs, Storylines around the NFL

Most dominant elements of the 2022/23 NFL Playoffs:

I struggled to just let this write-up flow as I was typing it up, once I had collected all the information, due to the remaining uncertainty about the health of Bills safety Damar Hamlin. This is a major challenge for all parties involved and what actually happens on the field seems secondary right now, but NFL life goes on and maybe just talking some ball will be welcome change for people, who don’t quite know how to deal with all of this. Plus, we’re continuing to get positive news about the young man, thankfully. I actually couldn’t state some things definitely, as it pertains to the effect of remaining regular season games on the final playoff picture.

There’s one more week left in the 2022 regular season, to finalize the playoff picture and upcoming matchups, along with whatever the NFL does with the Bills-Bengals matchup. Before we get into those and the specific X’s and O’s, I wanted to look at all the teams in the running and talk about the ten biggest strengths or most dangerous elements across them. All but one of these groups associated with them have already clinched a playoff spot, along with the Dolphins, who will host the Jets in basically a pick’em this Sunday and need a win in combination with the Bills beating the Patriots – a matchup that still brings some questions with how relevant it will be for playoff seeding. Still, therefore Miami actually has a slightly higher chance at a Wildcard spot than their division rivals.

So without any further proclamations, here are the ten elements that stood out most to me from this pool:


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Storylines around the NFL

The five biggest questions (and answers) for the 2022/23 NFL playoff race:

We’re just three weeks away from the regular season being wrapped up and as I went through the remaining schedule, there’s literally just one game left with zero playoff implications and two others that by all likelihood will have no impact at all. Therefore, I decided to break down a bunch of these different scenarios, by formulating five questions that are most prevalent as it pertains to the ultimate playoff picture, and handing out my predictions for how I believe things will play out.

Once again, I want to thank playoffpredictors.com, for helping me not go completely insane as I went through this exercise, working through all the different possibilities and having to go down the steps of tie-breaking procedures, depending on two or three teams having the same record, etc.

I decided to not make a separate point for “who will earn the final Wildcard berth in the AFC”, since the Chargers have a playoff probability of about 80+ percent and the Ravens sit above 98% right now. So really it should be a three-headed race between the AFC East teams not named Buffalo, and since I don’t have much belief in the Patriots, this will most likely come down the season finale between the Dolphins and Jets, as the atter would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with a win and same record ultimately. A paragraph was enough to cover this and maybe I’ll do a full preview of that contest anyway, if things break the right way.

Now let’s get to my five actual questions:


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NFL games, Storylines around the NFL

Which roles do the Seahawks & Buccaneers play in the NFC?

The Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers travelled to Munich this past Sunday for the first ever NFL game in Germany. After a very interesting matchup, with both these teams now entering their bye week, I thought this was the right time to analyze how the things we saw fit into the rest of their seasons. Based on that, I will conclude with my thoughts on both squads going forward and which roles they may play in the NFC.

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Storylines around the NFL, What makes him so good

How Saquon Barkley has powered the Giants to a 4-1 start:

The New York Giants are off to their best start through five games since 2009, with running back Saquon Barkley having a major comeback season and putting the offense on his back.

Having had the chance to watch this generational talent in London this past Sunday, I decided to break down the biggest plays of his season so far and showcase how he looks healthy and better than ever.

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NFL Weekly Recap, Storylines around the NFL

Three takeaways from each NFL week one game (of 2022):

Week one of the 2022 season is in the books and there’s a lot to talk about. Once again, I wanted to come up with three statements/discussion points for all 16 games. However, I didn’t just write about the stuff I picked up whilst seeing some plays pop up, but rather due my excitement for the NFL being back, I committed myself to really digging into the tape and statistics of every contests. That’s why this is only coming out on the day week two is already about to start again, even if I wanted it to be published earlier.

Now, week one can be a giant liar and we have to take everything with a grain of salt in the grand scheme of things, but I feel pretty strongly about some of these takeaways and believe they can paint a good picture on the league’s current landscape. I’ll talk about individual players, position groups and teams as a whole, trying to understand what we saw in this first slate of games and what it means going forward.

Let’s dive into these games:


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NFL Predictions, Storylines around the NFL

Second- and third-year breakout players for the 2022 NFL season – Defense edition:

After breaking down seven offensive breakout candidates for this upcoming NFL season, we’re switching over to the defensive side of the ball and identifying seven more names, who I believe are due for taking a big step forward heading into year two or three.

Once again, these guys must have at least played to some degree in the NFL and not made the list last year already. Players don’t qualify for a breakout, if they’ve once reached double-digit tackles for loss, sacks, at least five interceptions, received a Pro Bowl or All-Pro selection, as well as if they’re just considered one of the best players at their respective position already.

And for the purpose of this being original content, there won’t be any repeat candidates from my list last year, which included Alex Highsmith, who I named a day before the Steelers signed Melvin Ingram to push him back on the depth chart, and Javon Kinlaw, who needed season-ending knee surgery after struggling through it for a while. The rest of the list actually pretty much all hit in a major way.

So now let’s get to seven new names, that I’m excited about for 2022:

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NFL Predictions, Storylines around the NFL

Second- and third-year breakout players for the 2022 NFL season – Offense edition:

We’ve talked so much about the roster building process, with a bevy of big-time trades, an interesting free agency period and maybe the deepest draft we have ever seen, thanks to the effects of the COVID-shorted 2020 college football season. Two weeks we started shifting our focus ahead to this fall, with my ranking of the teams most likely to go from worst to first inside each division, before I did a longer video on the most intriguing training camp battles, that I’ll have my eyes on. Now it’s time to analyze specific players, who I believe will reach new heights this year.

As has become an annual tradition, this list is focused on players about to enter their second or third season. They must have at least played to some degree in the NFL and not made the list last year already. Players don’t qualify for a breakout, if they’ve once reached 1000 rushing or receiving yards, were selected to a Pro Bowl or All-Pro team, as well as just being considered one of the best players at their respective position already.

For the purpose of this being original content, there won’t be any repeat candidates from my list last year, which included J.K. Dobbins, Irv Smith Jr. and Mekhi Becton among others, who all missed basically the entire season (Becton was the only one to at least play one game)

Somehow, I ended up with seven players on either side of the ball, which may be an odd number, but that’s what I came up with when deciding to dive deeper into the tape and statistics of these players. So here’s my list on offense:


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NFL Offseason, Storylines around the NFL

Most intriguing 2022 NFL training camp battles:

With the majority of NFL training camps starting in about a week and depth charts starting to be formed, I wanted to highlight some of the more intriguing battles for (mostly) starting positions and certain roles around the league. I tried to address every position at least once and cover a bunch of teams, discussing their options at those positions.

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NFL Power Rankings, Storylines around the NFL

NFL teams most likely to go from worst to first in 2022:

After spending months on evaluating college prospects, talking about what each team did in the draft and their overall roster building process, it’s time to discuss some of the tangible effects we may witness this upcoming season. So I wanted to look at all eight teams, who finished last inside their division in 2021, and rank them based on likelihood of ascending to the top of those groups.

I had a lot of fun with this exercise, because while I enjoy creating excitement for one franchise – and I was able to still do so for the teams in question – it’s also good to do think contrarily, try to poke holes in rosters/coaching staffs and lay out a path for why groups may underachieve. Therefore, I ultimately put together a short intro on the baseline situation, gave the other three teams a paragraph each to break down certain concerns they may have, and then finally got to the franchises in question here.

We spend so much time hyping up the established squads and neglect those closer to the bottom of the league – at least in terms of positives they may have going on for themselves – that this was supposed to be a change-up to a lot of the content out there.

(I have no idea how it happened, since the Jaguars obviously selected first overall in the draft, but somehow I ended up listing the Texans for the AFC South. Since they have a lower projected win total this season, that actually makes it a slightly bigger challenge anyway though.)

So let’s get into the breakdown:


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NFL Draft, Storylines around the NFL

AFC North Draft & Roster Review 2022

Continuing our divisional draft breakdown series, where we move on from the NFC to the AFC North!

Once again, I’ll give a short scouting report on every player, talk about their fit on the roster & how that works with the other moves they’ve made in the offseason.

Be sure to follow along, as we work our way through the league, alternating between NFC & AFC!

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