Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

Are the preseason overreactions done yet? Can we start the two weeks of season anticipation and bold takes? It’s two weeks until the NFL season kicks off on September 7th with the reigning and defending Super Bowl champs the Kansas City Chiefs hosting who may be shifting to America’s team, the Detroit Lions. Who better to take you sarcastically through the broad things you should know about each division, than me? Let’s get into it.

NFC North

“He’s gone”, is what most people who are a fan of a NFC North team is thinking now. Aaron Rodgers, a four time MVP, a Super Bowl champ and a owner of the Chicago Bears, has left the division to go play for the New York Football Jets. The Green Bay Packers are in what may not be turmoil but certainly is rough waters, and Bears fans everywhere are salivating at the possibilities. The Vikings, without Dalvin Cook but still with a top 3 if not top 2 wide receiver in the league in Justin Jefferson, are still powered by Kirk Cousins off a glow up from the “Quarterback” Netflix series, and they’re going to win some games, at least in the regular season.

I think the biggest question here is Justin Fields. Everyone saw last year what he could do on the ground, and now he needs to take a step up. Chase Claypool and DJ Moore added to the receiver room, the next step forward for Fields is in the passing game, maybe paired with a better defensive line and linebackers. Adding to that defensive side, they brought in Yannick Ngakoue and Tremaine Edmunds to sure up the box, and things could be really looking up for the Bears.

The Lions, i’ll tell you what, man, they’re not going to be pushed around. They’ll go as far as Jared Goff will take them, and where that is remains to be seen. The Vikings lost a lot of offence with Cook departing, and they won 11 one score games last year. The Bears are relying on a step up from their defensive line and their quarterback which was visible in the first preseason game, but it’s preseason. The Packers are going to be in the middle ground for a while until Jordan Love evolves more. This division may be open for a couple years, and with two main contenders for a Super Bowl in the entire conference, seeding could be wide open for whoever takes this division. Let’s move on to the NFC North champs playoff opponent from last season, the New York Giants and the NFC East.

NFC East

Brian Daboll coach of the year, if the Eagles didn’t exist. This division is hilarious to me because if you look back two years ago, Jalen hadn’t evolved yet, Dak got hurt, the Commanders were trying to figure out what football team they were and the Giants were running a QB sneak with many yards to gain in their own red zone. They were the worst division in football, now bring it forward and the Eagles almost went undefeated in the regular season, the Commanders are turning it around, Daboll have flipped the Giants on their head, and the Cowboys are still the Cowboys. We’ve really made strides here, and it starts with the NFC champions and Super Bowl participants, the Philadelphia Eagles.

I’ll get into the baffling way AJ Brown ended up in Philadelphia later on, but if Hurts isn’t a face of the league now, he will be, because I don’t see this team stopping, at least not this year. Thanks to the Saints, the Eagles made the Super Bowl and had a top 10 pick in the draft, where they beefed up their defensive line even more than it already was (thanks New Orleans the rest of the NFL fanbases appreciates it). No but seriously they’re really good and the QB sneak behind Jason Kelce is literally unstoppable so I expect them to not have a problem winning the division again providing they stay healthy.

The rest of the division? That’s going to depend on the Giants. While I like the moves the Commanders are making and I am a big fan of Sam Howell, I don’t think they have enough talent to move up in the divisional standings quite yet, which leaves second in the division and a possible wild card spot between the Giants and the Dallas Cowboys.

The Giants put out a mini fire by bringing Saquon Barkley back for another year, and I for one have high hopes for this Giants team. Daboll has seemingly found a way to get the best out of Daniel Jones, Saquon is running like the best back in the league, and their defence flies around hitting people. They seem to have the secret sauce to ‘make it to the dance’ and if they don’t end up with the Eagles in the divisional round like last season, maybe they can get two playoff wins this year? What a scene New York would be if the Giants did that and the Jets lived up to the hype they’re getting.

Lastly, the Cowboys. Dem boys are running it back, and the key has to be Dak taking care of the football. Their biggest problem the last two seasons has been turnovers. Drops, overthrows, improper reads, the ball ends up in the hands of the defence more often than it should but you don’t need me to tell you that. Their defence will be humming with Trevon Diggs and Micah Parsons, but the offence keeping some consistency and taking care of the ball in big moments, should push them back into the playoffs, possibly to see the favourites in the NFC West once again, the San Fransisco 49ers.

NFC West

What a ride this division’s been the last four years. From the 49ers with Jimmy G making the Super Bowl, to the Cardinals possibly being here with Kyler and Deandre Hopkins, to the Rams building a dynasty that only lasted one year and back to the 49ers. This division has been all over the spectrum and now we’re left with Brock Purdy on one side and the comeback journey of Geno Smith on the other.

While arguments have been made on the internet that Drew Lock should start, it’s Geno’s team and they have a pretty good grasp on second in the division, maybe first if Purdy’s full season doesn’t go the same as last year. Arguably the most enjoyable part of the season last year was the play of Riq Woolen their rookie corner. He made a splash with six interceptions and one touchdown, and he made headlines every week with a splash play.

Another player that makes headlines whenever he’s on the field is Cooper Kupp with the LA Rams. A team that sold their draft future to win a Super Bowl, cashed in and now earlier than probably most expected, are feeling the effects of it and are in for a slow build back to the top of the division. It’s hard to doubt Matthew Stafford with how he’s willing to lay everything on the line to make a play, but it’s clear the biggest issue for this team is their stars staying healthy, but now with rookie Stetson Bennett, they may be more comfortable if their second stringer has to go in the game.

I don’t have to spend much time talking about the Cardinals. Even with the possible return of Kyler Murray midway through the season, they’re in for a rough year. They are a team that doesn’t have a lot to work with and based on free agency moves, appear to be a bigger and bigger lock for a top five draft pick when the 2024 NFL Draft gets here. They’re +2500 to finish first in the division and -275 to finish last, and that may be pretty accurate.

Last up is the 49ers. This team has weapons everywhere on both sides of the ball, a stellar defence at all levels, and the creative play calling of Shanahan. Whenever I think of this team and start naming off the offensive weapons, it’s basically listing a bunch of dawgs, and boy when they’re humming its fun to watch. They’re a mix of old school smash mouth football with mixed in creative concepts and a style where seemingly anyone on the team can play running back. They were a Super Bowl contender with Jimmy G, had a year of injury, got put into a QB carousel and have now found their guy in Brock Purdy, and now people have their sights on a Eagles-49ers NFC Championship.

NFC South

The last division in the NFC, and most likely the division that will secure the fourth seed of the four division winners. This entire division is a question mark to me. You have Carolina with a new QB energizing the fanbase, Tampa Bay rolling with Baker Mayfield, Saints with two starter quality QBs in Jameis Winston and their starter Derek Carr and the Falcons with their star Bijan Robinson bringing utility to their backfield.

The Saints are the favourites for the South, not surprisingly with their defence that has been among the best in the NFL, the return of Michael Thomas after a long rehab process, a running back room with 3-4 guys who could all be the first string RB and of course you can’t mention the Saints without mentioning Taysom Hill. I personally think things will have to go very south for the Saints to not win this division, and they may be the only NFC South representative in the playoffs.

I’m all in on Bryce Young being a star in Carolina, but as a lot of teams are facing, are they just an offensive line away? They brought in Adam Thielen from Minnesota and Miles Sanders from Philadelphia but being able to keep Bryce protected against the pass rush of teams like the Saints and the Buccaneers will be very important.

The Buccaneers can get after the passer, but their passer, Baker Mayfield, has a lot of questions to answer. We’ve all seen sparks of how good Baker can be, but whether it’s injury or other circumstances, we haven’t seen the consistency we wished we’d see yet. Now putting him with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, maybe we get that. The Buccaneers will have to get a season above expectations to really make a run at the NFC and a playoff push, but if there’s any division to sneak into the dance in, it’s this one.

This leaves us with the Atlanta Falcons. Desmond Ridder and Bijan Robinson, the duo. How far will they go? Their gap between their floor and ceiling has to be one of the largest in the NFC, all because of where they’re playing. It probably won’t take much to get a good standing in the NFC South, and with their first six weeks being Carolina, Green Bay, Detroit, Jacksonville, Houston and Washington, it’s not unreasonable to say this team could be 4-2 going to Tampa Bay. All teams go as their quarterback goes, but in the case of the Falcons, it couldn’t be more apt with such a young core offensively.

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That is all four NFC divisions, broken down on a very surface level to give you some talking points for the upcoming NFL season. Stay tuned for the AFC.