by Ryan Mercier
No pomp. No circumstance. Just a few teams circling around the party not standing out, nor falling over drunk. People might remember they were there but wouldn’t have anything interesting to say about them. No one is predicting a Super Bowl or top-5 draft pick for them, but will we look at these teams differently come January? Ultimately, this is an exercise to examine some teams closer rather than let them remain ignored.
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders are the perfect model of a team seemingly destined to go 9-8 or 8-9 this season. Solid at QB, solid at RB, a couple receivers with upside, and a ton of recognizable names on defense.
Here’s the case for a surprising playoff push. Any squad going deep into the postseason needs some kind of elite talent and Vegas has it at tight end. One word thrown around too often in the NFL is “weapon” but Darren Waller is an all-caps WEAPON. The offense can fall into place around Waller. Derek Carr famously had an MVP candidate season years ago, Henry Ruggs III provides the speed element, and Josh Jacobs is the workhorse.
On defense, the Silver and Black possess two legit pass-rushers in Maxx Crosby and Yannick Ngakoue. You always want more, but not every team in the league can boast about having two. There’s a lot of Old Guard on the D-line in Hankins, Jefferson, and McCoy; a position group where age can still thrive. Meanwhile, the young guys are in the secondary. Mullen, Arnette, Abram, and Moehrig. Cornerback, especially, can take time to learn. Perhaps one of these draft picks can pop.
Maybe the Raiders finishing second in the AFC West over the Chargers and Broncos is not crazy. Hmm.
Verdict: Overlooked
Chicago Bears
Justin Fields is the only thing anyone cares about when it comes to the Bears. That’s fair. They haven’t had an exciting quarterback since Sid Luckman, who played in the 1940s. Even if Andy Dalton starts for a while, how should this team look?
Supposedly, head coach Matt Nagy should know how to cook up an offense. Nagy’s offense finished in the bottom-10 the last two seasons, albeit saddled with QB Mitch Trubisky. While 2018 was better, Chicago’s defense led the league in takeaways which helped the team’s scoring tremendously.
This year’s offense still has stud WR Allen Robinson and what the Bears hope is an ascending back in David Montgomery. Then there’s Darnell Mooney, a promising receiver, and the ever-promising aspect of having a tight end in his second season with Cole Kmet. That’s where the good news ends.
Chicago has future Hall-of-Famer Jason Peters at left tackle but he is 39 years old. When Dalton is starting, he will not have the stellar surrounding cast he thrived with in 2015 with the Cincinnati Bengals. When Fields ultimately gets in there, he may have to be incredible as a rookie to lead this team to victories.
Khalil Mack is still here and the Monsters of the Midway have talented players at every level of the defense, but they will not reach the heights of 2018.
Verdict: Doomed to fail
Philadelphia Eagles
Giving your young quarterback confidence and reassuring him at every turn the organization has his back is exactly what the Philadelphia Eagles are not doing with Jalen Hurts. That was the case even before trading for the mythical Gardner Minshew. Is this all the foreshadowing necessary for a miserable year ahead?
Savvy NFL fans know the mysterious secret sauce to having a surprise season is great O-line play. It may be the single most difficult thing to glean from just watching games on TV, but having Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks, and Lane Johnson sounds pretty damn good.
Second of all, what if Hurts is good? Things are not trending in that direction with how the team is treating him but it’s still in the realm of possibility for someone who showed some real flashes.
The receiving corps now includes two first round picks in Jalen Reagor and Devonta Smith, not to mention the ultimate “lunchpail” guy in Greg Ward. Miles Sanders may be the perfect New Age back. The tight end room is an enigma. Zach Ertz was once in conversations as the best in the league and Dallas Goedert was thought to be on his heels. They could finally erupt together in the Eagles best case scenario.
On the defensive side of the ball, Philly is still special on the line. It’s everywhere else which has some questions.
Is it absolutely crazy for the Eagles to finish with a winning record? In a shaky NFC East, is a division title really out of the question?
Verdict: Overlooked
Struggling Actor Sports 