After putting up my All-NFL roster one-and-a-half weeks ago and Kam Chancellor showing me why he should be on there (even though he didn’t perform anywhere near that in the regular season and I only two strong safeties on there), I decided to list the best units for each position group. So this is not about individual performances but rather about what the entire unit has done for their respective team. Again this is only about the regular season. Let’s see where Kam’s Legion of Boom stacks up.
All-NFL Team
With the Pro Bowl rosters set and the time to evaluate the regular season performances of the players around the league starting, I decided to come up with a roster I think features the NFL’s best players based on what they did this season and who I think give me the best chance to win ball games. On offense I can go with two tight ends, I can go five wide, but also bring in a fullback. On defense I can line up in a 3-4 as well as a 4-3. I can play man, zone, I can blitz a lot of different guys and push the pocket with only four guys rushing.
My roster doesn’t feature guys like Calvin Johnson or A.J. Green, who have missed a couple of games and couldn’t help their teams.
The margin of air between the players on the roster and the ones who just didn’t make it is very slim, but I had to come up with 53 names. So here they are:
Why the 49ers season didn’t work out as they expected it to
After going to the NFC Championship game three years in a row, the 49ers can get to .500 at best if they manage to win their final regular season game, which wouldn’t even bring them close to a playoff spot this year. Coming into the season as one of the favorites to end up in Arizona in February, their season went the wrong way and they’ll end the year with a lot of question marks not many people expected them to face at this poit.
So why did their season go the wrong way?
Why J.J. Watt is the best defensive player in the NFL today
Watt was the Defensive Player of the Year a couple of years ago, has led the Houston Texans to their first two playoff appearances in franchise history and has put up unbelievable stats over the first four years of his career.
Now I want to explain to you why he should win the award for Defensive Player of the Year this season.
Top 5 defenses in the NFL
Instead of ranking teams, I decided to list what I think are the five best defenses in football right now. Statistics certainly do matter, but I don’t look at the number of yards allowed per game. The only four categories I think really matter are points allowed, turnovers forced, red zone touchdown percentage and third down percentage. Among those defenses are only groups that play a complete game, so they play the run and pass equally as well. Let’s take a look at the very best:
Why Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback in the game
I decided to start a series of ‘What makes him so good’ to break down the best players in the game today and what makes them so special. I am going to analyze a couple of their traits and what the factors are I am measuring their performances by.
First up is Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers:
NFL top 5 players by position for midseason: Defense edition
In this second edition of the top five players for each position I take a look at the defensive side of the ball. Once again this list is about what the players have done so far this season. So stats do matter, but it’s about the overall play, availability and what they have done for their team. Here is part two:
NFL top 5 players by position for midseason: Offense edition
With more than half the season gone by already you can now really start to evaluate the performances of the players. So I decided to make a list (yeah, I like lists) of the top five players for each position, starting with the guys on offense. Remember, this isn’t a list of the players who I think are the best in general, but rather how they’ve performed until this point of the season. So stats do matter to some degree, but it’s the guys overall play and the question how much they’ve helped their team (so availability also is a factor). There it is:
Top 5 NFL rivalries
After a month without any publications from my side and with tonight’s AFC North clash between the Ravens and Steelers in mind, I decided to list my personal favorite five rivalries in the NFL today. Let’s get right to it:
NFL Power Rankings after week three
Other than the NFL.com experts I don’t rank teams almost only based on their record. I look at who they played and how they performed overall. That’s why the number one team isn’t one of the teams still unbeaten.
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