The Tennessee Titans finished last season strong following a disappointing 0-6 start and hope they can pick up where they left off en route to a playoff appearance this year. The Titans were a completely different team after their bye week in 2009, winning five straight and seven of eight with a more mature Vince Young under center. Tennessee head coach Jeff Fisher wants that same Young directing his squad in 2010 because All-Pro running back Chris Johnson will have a very difficult time duplicating his magnificent 2,006-yard season of a year ago. Keeping Johnson healthy will be critical to the team’s success, so Fisher will rely on Young and a host of reserves in the offensive backfield to help lighten the load. The NFL did not do the Titans any favors either, as they have the second-hardest schedule in the league this season.
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The Cleveland Browns are not the biggest story in town after NBA star LeBron James left the Cavaliers for Miami in the offseason. But they too will have a much different look this season under second-year head coach Eric Mangini and with Team President Mike Holmgren now on board. Gone are former quarterbacks Derek Anderson (Arizona) and Brady Quinn (Denver) in favor of veterans Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace along with rookie Colt McCoy. Cleveland also brought in TE Benjamin Watson and WR Bobby Engram to help stabilize a young receiving corps that is led by Chansi Stuckey, Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaquoi. Delhomme is expected to be the starter for the regular-season opener and will not have a receiver like he did in Carolina with Steve Smith, but he will need to play a key role in developing the youngsters.
The Washington Redskins have already taken on a new identity under new head coach Mike Shanahan, starting with the treatment of former All-Pro DT Albert Haynesworth. Shanahan is a no-nonsense leader who was able to churn out a couple Super Bowl titles with an older John Elway that played three more seasons than new QB Donovan McNabb has under his belt heading into this year before winning his first championship. McNabb gives the Redskins their best quarterback since they won their last Super Bowl with Mark Rypien under center 19 years ago. But Shanahan’s biggest challenge will be trying to provide McNabb with enough weapons to give him a real chance to win in the toughest division in all of football.
The New York Giants have loads of talent left over from their Super Bowl championship team that won it all three years ago, and they should be a contender this season if they can just stay healthy. That might be asking too much from a squad which has still managed to go 20-12 over the last two seasons since winning Super Bowl XLII. New York’s rejuvenated defensive line will likely be the key to the season because Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka are as good as any pass rushers in the NFL. The Giants are still dealing with several injuries in training camp and saw franchise QB Eli Manning leave their first preseason game against the New York Jets with a gash on his head that required 12 stitches. Manning is expected to be fine, but his injury signifies the kind of beating the team will likely continue to take – and survive – in order to make its way back toward the top among the NFC’s elite teams in 2010.
The Pete Carroll era begins in Seattle after he left a very successful college coaching career at Southern Cal for another shot at the NFL. Carroll has some unfinished business following his first stint as a pro football head coach with the New York Jets and New England Patriots, posting a 33-31 record in four seasons between the teams and a winning record against the NFL line. The guy who immediately followed him in New England just happened to be former Jets defensive coordinator Bill Belichick, who went on to win three Super Bowls with the Patriots. This time around, Carroll inherits a squad that has a unique blend of youth and experience. Five years removed from their one and only Super Bowl appearance, the Seahawks still have veteran QB Matt Hasselbeck leading the offense designed by new offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates, who has been working hard to develop 2009 free-agent WR signee T.J. Houshmandzadeh and former USC great Mike Williams as his top targets.
The Carolina Panthers will be going through a transition phase this season after losing two of their most notable players over the last decade. Gone are former starting QB Jake Delhomme (Cleveland Browns) and DE Julius Peppers (Chicago Bears) from a team that played in Super Bowl XXXVIII a little less than seven years ago. Carolina head coach John Fox remains to try to re-build around the NFL’s third-best running game, led by two returning 1,000-yard rushers in Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams. To help their chances against the NFL spreads, Fox will turn to third-year QB Matt Moore to replace Delhomme while rookie Jimmy Clausen learns behind him. Because Stewart and Williams can dominate by running the ball, Moore will not have a lot of pressure on him right away. But that could change down the line if the Panthers struggle and with Clausen breathing down his neck.
The Buffalo Bills look to move past the Terrell Owens circus from a year ago and regain some kind of offensive identity under new head coach Chan Gailey. The Bills saw 11 different players start on the offensive line last year while three different quarterbacks took snaps and two different running backs were featured. these contributed to the Bills not doing well against the NFL football point spread. Gailey has already tabbed Trent Edwards as the team’s starting QB heading into this season, and rookie RB C.J. Spiller finally made it to practice after he avoided becoming the last first-round pick to sign his contract. Spiller figures to be an integral part of the offense once he gets familiar with the playbook and hopes to become the team’s most exciting running back since Thurman Thomas. There will be several more position battles throughout training camp for a team that finished just 6-10 last season, but that should only help the team bond under Gailey and become a tighter unit by the time the regular season begins.
