Because the NFL love parity, every year a couple of surprise teams make the jump from the bottom of the heap to the top of the leaderboard.
By Steven Cifuentes
So what happens once the season gets under way? Carson Palmer finds the fountain of youth and Arizona goes 11-5 and earns an NFC Wild Card berth. They even thrived when Palmer went down with a season ending injury.
One of the direct results of the NFL salary cap is that any team can rebuild within a couple seasons and become a legitimate contender.
What other league can brag about a streak of 10 straight years for which one or more teams went from last place the year prior to first place the next season? From 2003-2013 the NFL had a total of 16 teams complete the feat of going from the basement to penthouse.
So don’t worry Tampa Bay Buccaneers or New York Jets fans, the stay at the bottom could be short lived with a couple of breaks. Actually Jets fans, on second-thought, stop celebrating for we all know how this story ends.
Let’s take a look at Elite Sports NY’s five surprise NFL teams in 2015:
5. Buffalo Bills
There is nothing worse, from a Jets fans perspective, then to see Rex Ryan go up to Orchard Park and watch the Buffalo Bills take the next step. Rex went to the perfect team for coaching skill-set and with a couple moves has set the Bills up to have a great season.
The team went 9-7 last year with a great defense and mediocre offense. All they did in the offseason was trade for LeSean McCoy and sign Percy Harvin. These guys are two dynamic, highly skilled offensive players that will help the Bills improve dramatically.
The defense carried this team to a winning season last year with EJ Manual and Kyle Orton behind center. While Matt Cassell may not be an upgrade, he can’t do any worse than those two. Add to the mix Mccoy, Harvin and Sammy Watkins and this team is bound to improve on the offensive side of the ball.
Rex knows one thing and that is how to energize a team. While the defense did not need fixing, he will make it better. An 11-5 season is not out of the question and the Bills will contend for the AL East title, especially if the New England Patriots falter during the deflate gate suspension.
4. New Orleans Saints
It is hard to think that a Drew Brees led team needed major changes on the offensive side of that ball, but that is exactly what Sean Payton decided to attempt this offseason. While the New Orleans Saints scared everyone with their skill position players they had all flash and no substance.
Payton has decided to turn to a more power oriented running game by trading tight end Jimmy Graham for Pro Bowl center Max Unger and by signing running back CJ Spiller to be the compliment to Mark Ingrham.
While Brees will miss Graham when he looks down field, he will love that teams have to respect the Saints power run game and will not be facing nickel and dime defenses all day.
One move that went under the radar, this offseason, was Rob Ryan remaining as the Saints defensive coordinator. He is similar to his brother Rex in that he gets players to want to run through a wall for him. With the offense complimenting the defense, by being able to run the ball, I expect a jump up in the rankings for the Saints defense.
New Orleans will jump from a below .500, 7-9 team to a 10-6 record and comfortable lead in the NFC North.
3. Atlanta Falcons
Any offense that starts with Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and Roddy White does not stay down for long. The Atlanta Falcons fell on hard times last year due to the fact their defense just could not get the job done.
This team will have no problem putting up points and with the addition of defensive mastermind Dan Quinn, hired as head coach, the recipe for success is there. They play in the worst division in football and Quinn will find a way to improve the defense.
The Falcons defense gave up an ungodly 417 points last season and I expect that number to drop into the 350 point range. Is 350 points allowed something to brag about, of course not, but when your offense has the potential to put up 400 points it is a recipe for success.
The Falcons and Saints will use last season as major motivation and restore the proper pecking order in the NFC North. Cam Newton may have gotten away with leading the Carolina Panthers to an under .500 division win in 2014, but he will need to be much better in 2015.
2. Minnesota Vikings
I’m not sure anything could have gone worse for a team then what occurred to the Minnesota Vikings last season. The Vikings have been built around Adrian Peterson for the last decade and any team that loses it franchise player, to child abuse charges, it doesn’t get much worse than that.
Look out NFL, Peterson is playing with a major chip on his shoulder and will have a record breaking season. Early reports are “All-Day” is in the best shape of his life and ready to prove to everyone age and one season off will not hold him back.
The only positive that came out of the AP suspension is it appears the Vikings have found a franchise quarterback. Teddy Bridgewater finished the season with a 72% completion percentage and over 270 yards per game in December. He will only get better with Peterson back on the field.
The Vikings may have been a laughing stock in 2014, but they will get the last laugh this season. They will be fighting for a Wild Card spot and take over second place in the division from the Detroit Lions.
1. St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are my darkhorse candidate to make a big jump in the standings and go from a last place team to a wild card contender. I would love to predict a last to first jump, but when you are in a division with the Seattle Seahawks that is too bold a prediction too make.
The Rams will surely leapfrog the San Francisco 49ers, who suffered through possibly the worst offseason in NFL history, and the Arizona Cardinals.
Nick Foles should stabilize the quarterback position and Todd Gurley was a solid draft pick who will take the heat off Foles by allowing the Rams to establish the run. The Rams thought they had a running back to shoulder the load in Zac Stacy, but that experiment didn’t even last a full season.
In the AFC the Jets have a deep defensive line, well they don’t hold a candle to how deep the Rams defensive line runs. The Rams have at least five defensive lineman that would start on any team in the NFL, their line is that good.
The St. Louis Rams will find a way to shut teams down while on defense and score enough to make it count, a 10 win season and wild card spot is not out of the question.
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