It was a slow burn, but the NFL offseason has finally come\nto a close. The 2021 season will see 15 teams trot out a new starting\nquarterback, 7 new head coaches, and one team still without a name. Tonight we\nwill get to watch Tom Brady play in front of the Tampa faithful for the first\ntime, as well as see Dak Prescott make his return from a week 5 ankle injury\nthat shook the league in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NFL seasons are notoriously hard to predict. Since 2002,\nwhen the league realigned divisions and added a 32nd team, there have been only\ntwo seasons where at least one team hasn’t gone from worst to first. The NFC\nEast hasn’t had a repeat division champion since 2004. The fickle nature of\nsuccess in the NFL is a part of the charm, as “every given Sunday”\nactually carries credence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There will no doubt be surprises this NFL season, so why\ncan’t these manifest?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Has there ever been something in your life that you knew was bad for you \u2013 something detrimental to your mental or physical health, a bad habit, or even a proneness to procrastination \u2013 that you cannot seem to kick? Carson Wentz is that something in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wentz\u2019s 2020 season was one of the worst showings from starting quarterback in recent memory. At the time of his benching in week 12, Wentz held the triple crown of quarterback incompetency, simultaneously leading the league in interceptions, fumbles, and sacks. Wentz has long had a reputation of holding the ball for too long and being prone to putting the ball on the ground, but the uptick in interceptions was surprising. Entering 2020, Carson Wentz owned the second-lowest interception percentage in NFL history at a 1.7% clip. His 2020 INT% of 3.4% was double that of his career mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond the numbers, the eye test screamed that Wentz was a shell of the quarterback that was an MVP candidate in 2017 and threw for 4,000 yards in 2019. While he\u2019s never been a particularly accurate quarterback, Wentz misses were much worse in 2020. It wasn\u2019t uncommon to see him miss high on checkdowns to running backs or throw behind his receivers downfield. These issues were brought on by two factors that have plagued him since his rookie season: his inconsistent footwork as well as his throwing mechanics. Perhaps worse was how lost he consistently seemed to be in an offense he had already been in for four seasons prior to 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So why do I think Carson\nWentz will take the Colts to new heights? The answer has two parts: a reunion with\nformer Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich and getting away from the\ntumultuous situation in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wentz\u2019s previously\nmentioned 2017 season was magical. At the time of his ACL injury in week 14,\nWentz led the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns and was in the driver\u2019s seat\nfor NFL MVP. He looked every bit of a budding superstar who would dominate the\nNFL for the next decade. What happened next is known by all: backup quarterback\nNick Foles would take over and have one of the greatest playoff runs ever by a\nquarterback, eventually leading the Eagles to the first Super Bowl championship\nin franchise history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frank Reich would\nleave the organization to take the Colts head coaching job following the Eagles\nSuper Bowl win, and now an offseason trade has reunited the two. Wentz has\nspoken ad nauseum about the admiration he has for Reich, and Reich has been\nhappy to reciprocate that sentiment in the time since the Colts acquired the\n28-year-old. When asked about whether Carson Wentz was a \u201cbroken quarterback\u201d\non a conference call during Colts minicamp this summer, Reich went to bat for\nhis quarterback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just cringe when\nI hear stuff like that\u2026 I think it’s going to be good for Carson. I think we\ngot to be patient with it. I think it takes a little bit of time, just like it\ntook Philip (Rivers) a minute and Jacoby (Brissett) a minute. But I’m confident\nthat we got the right player.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Getting away from the Eagles organization may be an even bigger factor in a career renaissance for Carson Wentz. It\u2019s hard to imagine that the shadow left by Nick Foles after winning Super Bowl LII did not have a large impact on Wentz\u2019s psyche. Some in the Philadelphia media pushed for Foles to keep the starting job even when Wentz was healthy, and the fanbase was quick to call for Foles at the slightest sign of struggle from Wentz. Factor in the selection of Jalen Hurts in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft, the front office\u2019s inability to surround Wentz with playmakers, and an apparent power struggle between GM Howie Roseman and head coach Doug Pederson and it quickly becomes clear how chaotic the situation in Philadelphia had become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond all of this, it’s hard to quit on a talent like Wentz. His physical skillset is undeniable; between his size (Wentz is listed at 6’5″ and nearly 240 pounds), arm talent, and mobility, he clearly has the tools to be the franchise quarterback that the Eagles signed to a 4-year, $128,000,000 contract after the 2019 season. Even during his miserable 2020 season, he still showed flashes of the player he was in 2017, perhaps none better than this game-winning touchdown pass<\/a> to Boston Scott in week 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pairing a resurgent Carson Wentz with a Colts team that features one of the top offensive lines in the league, a budding WR core that includes an emerging Michael Pittman and Parris Campbell, and one of the better defensive units in the NFL lays the foundation for a team with the potential to make noise come January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Offense is at the forefront of the modern NFL. According to\nNFL Research, 2020 was the first season in NFL history that saw over 12,000\npoints scored leaguewide. The 12,692 total points crushed the previous record\nof 11,985 points scored set in 2013. That\u2019s 707 more points, or roughly 118\nmore touchdowns scored than any season in NFL history. Add in the fact that the\n2021 season will feature a 17th<\/sup> game, and the path to record\nbreaking performances becomes obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the records in jeopardy is the mark for single season passing yards, currently sitting at 5,477 yards courtesy of Peyton Manning\u2019s 2013 season. Several candidates emerge as suitors to break this record, yet one stands above the rest: Dak Prescott.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two-time Pro-Bowler and 2016 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year has already put together one of the best careers from a fourth-round selection the league has seen at the quarterback position. When observing the last two seasons, it becomes clear why Dak is positioned to break Manning\u2019s record. Since the hiring of Kellen Moore as offensive coordinator in 2019, the Cowboys signal caller has taken the leap into the upper echelon of NFL quarterbacks. Over that span, Prescott has thrown for 321.8 YPG, a mark that leads the league by a healthy margin. If you extrapolate that rate over the course of a 17 game season, that would put Prescott at 5,471 yards, right at the brink of Manning\u2019s record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Things become even more tantalizing if you solely look at his 2020 season. Prescott threw for an incomprehensible 1,856 yards over the first five games of the season before dislocating his ankle with 6:46 remaining in the third quarter of the Cowboys Week 5 matchup against the New York Giants. That\u2019s good for 371 yards per game, which equates to 6,310 yards over a 17-game season. Even if 371 yards per game is not a sustainable pace, which it should not be, it is not crazy to assume he\u2019ll be closer to that 371-yard mark than the 321.8-yard pace when factoring in the weapons he has at his disposal. Going further, the Cowboys defense figures to be bad enough to keep him throwing the football late into games. If he manages 350 YPG, which is a very real possibility, Dak Prescott will throw for 5,950 yards in 2021. This record will be broken in the very near future, and I like Dak to be the man to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I said these predictions will be bold, didn\u2019t I? Only two teams have ever reached the 17-0 mark: the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who played a 14-game regular season, and the 2007 New England Patriots, who went 16-0 in the regular season and suffered one of the greatest upsets in sports history in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If there is a team capable of accomplishing this feat over\nthe course of a 17-game regular season, why wouldn\u2019t it be the Tampa Bay\nBuccaneers or the Kansas City Chiefs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s talk about the Buccs first. Tom Brady\u2019s first season\nin Tampa Bay was somewhat peculiar. Adding the greatest quarterback to ever do\nit to a team that went 8-8 the previous year with a quarterback that threw 30\ninterceptions seemed like a slam dunk, but for much of the season the Bucs\nlooked like a team that was more good than great. Heading into their week 13\nbye, the Buccs had lost 3 of their last 4, featuring a 38-3 whopping at the\nhands of the New Orleans Saints and a 27-24 loss to the team many thought they\nmight face in the Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs. Sitting at 7-5 coming out\nof the bye, the Bucs looked like a completely different team down the stretch.\nThey won their last four games of the season by an average margin of 18 points.\nThey never looked back and blew the Chiefs out in the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That team that won the Super Bowl returned all 22 of their starters, perhaps none more important than the man under center. Tom Brady is the only player to lead his team to a perfect 16-game regular season. Why can\u2019t he be the one to do the same in a 17-game season? Father time is coming, but Brady has shown the ability to fight this force better than anyone in NFL history. It\u2019s not hard to imagine that he can do it again at 44-years-young. Also considering that the Buccaneers have the 4<\/a>th<\/a><\/sup> easiest strength of schedule<\/a> in 2021, and a 17-0 season doesn\u2019t sound impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Chiefs have a simpler case: they have Patrick Mahomes at quarterback. Undeniably the best quarterback in the league, Mahomes is more equipped to lead his team to a win every Sunday than any quarterback in the league. This is reflected in ESPN\u2019s Football Power Index (FPI), which has the Chiefs as the best team in the NFL, going into the 2021 season with a score of 6.1. For context, the Buccaneers rank second with a 5.3 FPI. This is more a bet on the quarterback than it is a comprehensive analysis of the entire roster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (Photo: All-Pro Reels) By Kyle Showalter It was a slow burn, but the NFL offseason has finally come to a close. The 2021 season will see 15 teams trot out a new starting quarterback, 7 new head coaches, and one team still without a name. Tonight we will get to watch Tom Brady play in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/aroundtheshowsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/582px-Tom_Brady_50831667973-e1631213484988.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroundtheshowsports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroundtheshowsports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroundtheshowsports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroundtheshowsports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroundtheshowsports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/aroundtheshowsports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":405,"href":"https:\/\/aroundtheshowsports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387\/revisions\/405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroundtheshowsports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroundtheshowsports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroundtheshowsports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroundtheshowsports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Dak Prescott Will Break the Single-Season Record for Passing\nYards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
One of 2020\u2019s Super Bowl Teams Will Go 17-0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n