What a Dumb Trade by the Houston Texans

So, there may be no sports on, we all should be social distancing and staying in our homes as much as possible for the next 10-14 days, crowds of 50 people are not allowed for the next 8 weeks, schools are closed, and this thing shows no real sign of slowing down. But, the NFL hit us with some news today.

I do want to say, I am going back to trying to write strictly about sports and other pop culture stuff because this Coronavirus is serious, threatening and scary, and I want my blogs to be a place for people to try and forget, even if only for a few minutes. That is what I am here for until this nightmare passes.

Anyway, as I said, the NFL has been making noise all day. I believe it is because free agency and franchise tagging guys has started. The players and GM's, I'm sure, are doing all this stuff over the computer, or FaceTime, but still, deals are getting done. Dak and Derrick Henry got, unfairly, franchised. Austin Hooper is now a member of the Browns. Calais Campbell is headed to Baltimore. Apparently Teddy Bridgewater is in extended talks with the Bears. RD's buddy Kirk Cousins got extended in Minnesota (ed note: UGHHHHH). Ryan Tannehill, for some reason, got another solid deal. The Packers signed a new starting offensive lineman. But the news of the day is the trade that went down between the Arizona Cardinals and the Houston Texans.

I first heard that the Texans traded for David Johnson. I thought that this was an okay deal, if it was 2016, when David Johnson was the do it all back that everybody, myself included, was taking first overall in their fantasy drafts. I thought, before I knew everything, that maybe, just maybe, Bill O'Brien had made a smart move. He was teaming Deshaun Watson with a solid running back, looking to revive himself, with some really good receivers, most notably Deandre Hopkins. Hopkins is one of the best wide outs in the league, without question. He always seems to have right around 100 catches, 1,000 yards and double digit touchdowns. He and Watson also seem to gel very well together. But, and this shouldn't have surprised me, but it totally did, the David Johnson trade involved Deandre Hopkins. In fact, it was basically a player for player swap, with some draft picks thrown in there.

This is absolutely insane. It is also very, very dumb on O'Brien's part. With the addition of Johnson, who the Texans could've gotten for mere picks I bet, they would've had one of the better offenses in the league. But no, O'Brien, and whoever the hell else works for him in upper management decided they needed to trade him. I heard some stuff about how they didn't want to redo his deal, that he may have clashed with management, you know, the typical nonsense from the idiot team that trades on of their best players. But, this type of stuff needs to be figured out when your franchise QB, who they traded so far up to take, has made such a fast, and easy connection with Hopkins from day one. Watson has had this symmetry with Hopkins since the jump. Now, he will have to find a new guy because Bill O'Brien "didn't want to redo his deal". That is ludicrous. That is asinine. That is stupid. And if I were a fan of the Texans, I would be so pissed off right now. They are basically telling Deshaun Watson that they don't care about him. That they will trade away a proven pro, one of the best at his position, for a guy that had, and I'm sorry if this comes off mean, maybe two good years. David Johnson had one year that was so great he got a massive contract, and as I said, was a top overall pick in most fantasy drafts. But, since then, he has had to deal with a torn ACL, and last year, he looked like a shell of himself. Like I said, he can revive his career, but it will take time. It would've been easier if he had another skill player like Hopkins on the same team. But he doesn't.

On the other side, the Cardinals seem to be building something of a modern NFL air raid offense. They have the type of players that will thrive in that offense, and they are adding one of the best. The Cardinals will line up Larry Fitzgerald, who is still very, very productive, on one side, and Deandre Hopkins on the other. And with the way Kyler Murray played last year, that would fill my face with a smile if I were a Cardinals fan. They could put up tons and tons of points. Maybe the Cardinals will start to turn a corner this season.

This is a disaster trade for the Texans, and an absolute homerun for the Cardinals. I'm still a little stunned by this, but I am also happy that this kept my mind off of what is going on in the real world for a few hours. What an odd, odd trade. I'm now excited to see how Hopkins plays in an air raid style offense.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Injuries have Already Rewritten the 2017 Professional and College Football Season

Going to have out give out some new game balls.

We are 2 weeks into the college football season and one week into the NFL season, and my 2 major picks, Heisman and MVP, are both done for the year.

My Heisman pick, Deondre Francois, the QB of FSU, tore his patellar tendon in the opening game of the season against Alabama. This could be a brutal blow to FSU's hopes of the College Football Playoff. Francois was/is one of the tougher QB's in college football. That kid got hit so many times last year as a true freshman, but he always got up. The same thing was happening in the opening game of the season, but late in the third quarter he got crushed, and when he didn't immediately hop up, I knew something was wrong. I'm not an FSU fan by any stretch of the imagination, but to lose your starting QB in the firsts game is pretty crummy. FSU can still rebound, possibly even be a major competitor in the ACC, they have a tremendous defense, but losing Francois will be brutal. I do not know how that offense will look, their second game of the year was cancelled due to Hurricane Irma. But, I imagine it will look a lot like what Clemson and Michigan are doing right now. They are going to try and run as much as possible, pass only when needed and rely on their other worldly defense. It is going to be an uphill battle for FSU, but they still have some decent talent. When you really think about it, relying on Cam Akers is not the end of the world in football terms.

I do have to say, my last 2 Heisman picks have been way off. Two years ago I picked Trevoyne Boykin, and while he had a decent season, he was not even a Heisman finalist. Last year I picked Deshaun Watson, and I still think he should have won, but Lamar Jackson won it last year. A couple weeks back, 2 days after the Francois injury I said that I was going with Derius Guice over Baker Mayfield, so I hope that I do not jinx any chance Guice may have of winning the award.

On to my pick for NFL MVP. I was completely on board with staking my claim to being one of the few people that was picking David Johnson for MVP. He had a breakout year last year, and he was the key to the Cardinals offense. I expected the Cardinals to surprise, possibly fight for a playoff spot and David Johnson was the main reason why. I had the number one overall pick in one of my fantasy football drafts, and like many other people with the number one overall pick I grabbed Johnson without hesitation. I fully bought into the David Johnson hype. He was the second coming, my generation's Marshall Faulk I called him. I bought all the David Johnson stock that I could.

Then week 1 happened. The Cardinals had an early afternoon game on Sunday, and I was at work, so I couldn't watch him play. But, I just assumed that he was going to put up big number against a subpar Lions defense. When I first went to check my numbers on my fantasy app, he had gotten me about 5 points, and it was only in the first quarter. I did the math and figured, at worst, he was going to get me between 15-20 points and that his MVP campaign was off to a great start. I waited about 20 or 30 minutes before I checked the scores again, and much to my shock, his numbers hadn't changed at all, and the game was going into halftime. I thought, no big deal, still on pace for double digit points. Then, as my work day was winding down, I hadn't checked my scores in about an hour at this point, I got a notification from my fantasy app. I heard the noise, stopped what I was doing for a moment and checked out what the update said. The app told me that David Johnson was questionable to return to the game with a wrist injury. My first thought was, oh no, my preseason MVP pick is already hurt. Then I thought about my fantasy team, and knew I was screwed. No good was going to come from this. I got home, watched some more football all day, and any new news on my preseason MVP got worse and worse. People were saying a sprained wrist and that he'd only miss a few weeks. Other people were reporting possible surgery, which would have him missing 6-8 weeks. Some people were saying that he was going to get a second opinion, and that is never, ever a good sign. Basically all news was bad news. 

On Monday morning it was announced that David Johnson was being put on IR, and he was going to miss 2-3 months. Basically the entire season. My preseason MVP and number one overall pick in my fantasy draft was pretty much done for the year. As far as my fantasy team went, this is what happens sometimes. People get hurt and there is nothing I can do. I was upset, but not mad. I was mad about going out on a limb and picking him as the MVP. I expected so much from him, and it was a total bummer when he announced that he needed to get surgery. Not only did it wreck my MVP pick, but it wrecks the Cardinals season. I have no faith in the Cardinals as a playoff team anymore. They have to rely on Carson Palmer, who looks cooked, Larry Fitzgerald, who produces, but is old and they signed Chris Johnson, who hasn't been viable in about 4 years. Their defense is still good, but that offense is going to be a big time problem for them.

I guess I am bad news for any player that I pick to win preseason awards. I picked Cam to repeat as MVP last year, and he got illegally hit and hurt too much last year. Now this happens to David Johnson. I guess, if I have to pick someone else to win the NFL MVP now, I will go with Aaron Rodgers. I hate doing this, since he is the QB of my team, but there is no one else I can think of that is more valuable to his team. Just like with Guice, I hope this doesn't spell doom for Rodgers. We will see what both the college and NFL seasons have for us from here on out, but what a bummer for some big time players for the first 2 weeks. Major injuries are a big time bummer.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He did not to well in his first fantasy football game of the season. The Head Editor? He won his game behind a dominant performance of Sam Bradford. MVP of the whol year will be Bradford. Write it down.

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The SeedSing 2017 NFL Predictions and Picks

For the past 8 days I have given my 2017 NFL countdown. I have ranked the teams from worst to best, in my opinion. Today I'm going to give my playoff predictions and award winners. I'm also going to throw something new into my predictions. This year, not only will you get my MVP, Coach of the Year, etc., I am also going to throw in a player or coach in the "worst" category. For example, I will give out an LVP, or Least Valuable Player award this year. Same with coach and the other awards I will hand out. And for those of you waiting and asking for my 2017 NCAA football preview, I have a big, enormous piece coming next Monday where I will break down the upcoming college season. I know there are some games this Saturday, but I checked the schedule, and only USF will be mentioned on Monday. So for all my college football fans, come back for that on Monday. Anyway, lets get to who I see in the NFL postseason this upcoming season.

I'll start with the AFC first. The AFC East will be easily won by the Patriots. This is the easiest decision by far of my predictions. They have the best QB, coach, players that fit their system, hell, they will even avoid one of those late season losses to Miami because Jay Cutler will find a way to screw that up. Patriots are the East champs by a million miles. Watch out for the Jets to go 0-16 from this division too. It might happen. Buffalo is going to be really bad too.

Some think the AFC West is a bit harder to choose. Not me. I think the Raiders will win this division going away. They have the best offense by far. The Chiefs will put up a fight because their defense is so stout. Same thing for the Broncos. But, the Chiefs offense will not be able to score with the Raiders and the Broncos are starting Trevor Siemian at QB, enough said. Some people think the Chargers are a "dark horse". Not me. I'd be shocked if they finish at .500. The Raiders will win the West with one of the best offenses in football.

If the Steelers do not win the AFC North something really bad has happened. Either they would lose more than half their offense, or some other ridiculous outcome occurs. They are the best team in this division by far. The Bengals might put up a fight, but I lost faith in that team a long long time ago. Like I said, they are the Clippers of the NFL. They are bound to choke. The Browns may be trotting out either Deshone Kizer, or god help them, Brock Osweiler week 1. They are still in the "rebuilding process". And the Ravens are too old and too reliant on a mediocre QB. The Steelers should be heavy favorites to win the North.

The AFC South is about 2 teams, the Titans and the Texans. I'm ready to jump on the Titans bandwagon. I really like what they are doing in Nashville right now and I think Marcus Mariota is ready to take that next step. But, the Texans have a great defense. That will keep them around all year. But, they will wait too long to put Deshaun Watson in at QB, and that will cost them the division. The Jags and the Colts stink, but for different reasons. The Colts have no one besides Andrew Luck, who is still hurt, and T.Y. Hilton. The Jags have no QB. Both these teams will be lucky to win 5 games.

So that leaves my 4 division champs as follows, the Patriots, Raiders, Steelers and Titans. As far as seeding, Patriots 1, Steelers 2, Raiders 3 and Titans 4. My two Wild Card teams are the Texans as the 5 seed and the Chiefs as the 6th. The AFC title game will come down to the Patriots and the Raiders, I think the Raiders will beat the Steelers in a shootout, and the Patriots will return to the Super Bowl for the 4th time in 5 years. They are just too damn good to be stopped.

As far as the NFC goes, it looks to be a bit more open to some. Not to me. The NFC East will be a battle to 10 wins for the title. All these teams have a shot to win the division. I'd love to pick the Eagles, but I think they are still one, maybe 2 years away from taking over the division. Washington will hang around for awhile, but this is the season where I see all of the chances Kirk Cousins and his agent have taken on himself will backfire and they will finish under .500. So it comes down to the Cowboys and the Giants. The Cowboys may seem like the obvious pick. But, when I went through and did my rankings, I found a lot of holes in this team. They will not be as good as they were on defense last year, and I want to see how Prescott handles being the focal point of the offense. The Giants have a great receiving core, a very good defense and that will be enough to push them to be the division winner. It will come down to the end of the season, but the Giants will find a way.

The NFC West is going to be won by the Seahawks. They may be getting a bit older, and relying way too much on Russell Wilson, but the division is pretty porous and their defense is still top 5. The Rams are a dumpster fire. The 49ers are even worse. The Cardinals could make it interesting, but I have zero faith in Carson Palmer. Seattle will win this weak division once again.

The NFC North will once again go to the Packers. They have the best offense in the division, and their defense will be better. Aaron Rodgers is the most reliable QB in the NFL. The Lions limped their way to the playoffs last year, and that "run" will end this season. Minnesota's horrific offense will waste a year of one of the NFL's best defenses. And the Bears are horrible. Remember, they traded away future picks to move up one spot to draft Mitch Trubisky. Never forget that Bears fans. Packers in the North fairly easily.

The NFC South may be the best division in football now. It used to be one of the worst, but things have changed. The Saints may end up in last place in the division with 8 or 9 wins. The Panthers will bounce back, but Cam Newton's shoulder injury scares me a bit. The Buccaneers are going to be dynamite on offense, and they have a pretty decent, young defense. The Falcons were in the Super Bowl last year, return all of their key players and they signed Dontari Poe to help out their defense. But, will they have the Super Bowl hangover? Will they regret hiring Steve Sarkisian? Time will tell. For now though, I'm going to stick with the Falcons. They are too loaded to screw it up, at least in the division. It may take 12 or 13 wins, but they will win the division. Also, don't be surprised if the Falcons, Bucs and Panthers all have double digit wins. This division is really good.

So, the 4 NFC division winners are as follows, the Giants, Seahawks, Packers and Falcons. As far as seeding, I have the Packers 1, Falcons 2, Seahawks 3 and Giants 4. For my 2 wild cards, I legitimately thought about putting both Bucs and Panthers in there, but ultimately I decided on the Bucs as the 5th seed and the Cardinals as the 6th seed. Maybe I just like the Cardinals, and David Johnson, and I want them to prove me wrong. As far as the NFC winner, I'll take the Packers, with ease I might add, over the Falcons. A little revenge from last year's NFC title game. This time it will be at Lambeau though.  

That would pit the Patriots versus the Packers in Super Bowl 52. I'm going with my guys, the Packers. I love what they can be, if they stay healthy, on offense this year. They have so many options. The game will be close, but Rodgers will lead a game winning drive to get his second ring. Go Pack Go. I hope my faith in them will outweigh whatever terrible decisions Mike McCarthy is bound to make this year.

As far as award winners go, lets jump right to the MVP. Some may think I'd pick Rodgers or Brady with the way I talked about the 2 of them in my countdown. Nope. I'm going to go way out on a limb here and pick David Johnson. Not many running backs win this award, but Johnson is so critical and the Cardinals rely on him so much, I feel like he is going to explode this year. He is so awesome. He is the best modern running back playing right now. He will double his awards this season, also winning Offensive player of the Year. The Defensive Player of the Year will go to Jadaveon Clowney. He is going to have a massive year as well, and soon he will be the face of the Texans defense. No more bull shit from JJ Watt, Clowney is going to be the anchor for that very good defense in Houston. Offensive Rookie of the Year will be Dalvin Cook. He is the only good thing the Vikings have going for them on offense. He will get a ton of carries and touches out of the back field, and he is so explosive, he will make some highlight plays. I wanted to pick Leonard Fournette so bad for this, but he is stuck in a horrible situation in Jacksonville. He may get hurt by week 9 because of such a high usage rate. Defensive Rookie of the Year will be Soloman Thomas. He is on a really bad team in San Francisco, but he is the first step in the right direction. I think he will wreak havoc on opposing back fields. Coach of the Year is going to be Dirk Koetter. The Bucs are going to make that Raiders esque leap from last year, and the voters can't get enough of that stuff. The Super Bowl MVP will be Aaron Rodgers, due to that game winning drive I predicted.

Now, for the awards no one wants to win. The 2017 Jets will go down as one of the worst NFL teams ever, and Christian Hackenberg will be a big, big reason why. He is atrocious. He can't even break huddles properly and his press conference skills are terrible. He may be a worse QB than Blake Bortles. He is your 2017 least valuable player. The biggest reach, which will make this guy the worst offensive rookie is the Bengals taking Joe Mixon. What the hell were they thinking? How long until he gets suspended for hitting a woman? He does not deserve to be playing professional sports. No one should ever put their hands on a woman, ever. This also applies to the worst defensive rookie, Jourdan Lewis. He broke my heart when that story came out that hehit his ex girlfriend. I know the charges were dropped, but the damage had already been done. I'm done rooting for Jourdan Lewis. The worst coach of the year was tough. I feel bad for Todd Bowles because he didn't ask for this from the Jets. Doug Marrone is going to have a rough go in Jacksonville, but he won me over when he said he didn't want the game to be in his QB's hands, and he was going to give Fournette the ball 300 plus times. That was some serious shade thrown at Bortles. No, those guys are in poor situations. The worst coach of the year will be Jason Garrett. Technically, he is usually one of the worst coaches, but that will be magnified this year due to the Elliot suspension. He cannot call a game properly and he is emotionless on the sidelines. Garrett has had more than his shot and he has done absolutely nothing but blow it for that team.

Well, there you have it, my entire 9 day 2017 NFL preview. Tell me in the comments why I'm wrong or tell me on Twitter or anywhere else you can find me. Thanks.

Ty

Editor's Thoughts - I have no real disagreement with Ty on the playoff teams. Because I am a pathetic homer, I do think the Bengals will get in the playoffs, and get blown out in the first round again. I am also putting the Vikings in, but they will miss an extra point to lose their Wild Card playoff game. Oakland and Tennessee are on the verge of being great, but the Patriots will find a way (maybe not legal) to win the AFC. The NFC will find some random team to be the underdog to the Patriots in the Super Bowl. I am going with a 9-7 or 10-6 New York Giants team led by Eli Manning and his 30 interceptions.

The Giants will win the game 8-7 after two fourth quarter field goals and a safety in the final seconds. We will live in a world where Eli Manning has three rings.

RD

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His lack of faith in the Bengals maybe be logical, but where is the fun in that.

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Ty's 2016 Midseason NFL Redo

As we approach week 8 of the NFL season, I need to do my annual mid season revision. I did a 3 day preseason NFL preview, and like last year, I have some stuff that I got right and some stuff that I got wrong. Today, I want to pat myself on the back a little bit, but also eat some crow, especially with my Super Bowl and MVP pick.

Before I get started, I know that RD is putting up a big piece about this soon, but the NFL has been absolutely atrocious this season. I'll let RD do the majority of expounding on that, but I have eyeballs, and what they have seen has been terrible. The game is watered down and the teams are not that good. This first half of the season has been abysmal. Thank goodness for college football, which I will touch on tomorrow, at least that has been fun this year. Anyway, let's get to my mid season NFL review.

So, as you all know by now, I had the Panthers as the Super Bowl winners. I thought that they would come out and slay pretty much everyone in front of them. I thought that they would be pissed at how they performed in last year's Super Bowl, and want to make up for that. I thought Cam Newton would trash any defense that came his way. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. The Panthers have been terrible this season. They are 1-5 as we speak. Their defense is dreadful. They cannot get off the field, and teams are putting up 30 plus points on them with ease. I did not think that they'd miss Josh Norman as much as they do. Luke Kuechly has been very, very average this year. Their D line is getting little to no pressure. They stink. The offense isn't much better. Cam Newton looks miserable out there. He is not playing with the joy that turned me into a fan. He is getting head hunted, and the NFL is doing nothing about it. But, he also seems more concerned with what kind of celebration he is going to do when he scores instead of just getting in the end zone. They have no running game. Their passing game, which added Kelvin Benjamin, has been pretty porous. The Panthers have been the biggest, by far, disappointment in the NFL this year.

Outside of the Panthers, the NFC is not really great. The Vikings are probably the best team in the NFC, but they just got absolutely shut down by the Eagles last week. They have an other worldly defense, but their offense is very bad. The Cowboys, very surprisingly, have been right near the top of the NFC this year. Ezekial Elliot is currently leading the NFL in rushing. The receivers, minus Dez Bryant, have been very good. Dak Prescott has been exceptional. He is doing the best job of managing the game. He makes no mistakes, hardly ever, and dinks and dunks all the way down the field. I'm not a Cowboys fan, but I hope that when Tony Romo and Dez Bryant come back totally healthy, they stay on the bench because you should not rock the boat. This team is 5-1 for a reason. Who knows what Jerry Jones will do, but he needs to keep Prescott in there, as long as this team keeps winning.

As far as some other NFC teams, the Cardinals have been very disappointing. Carson Palmer looks like a shell of himself. Larry Fitzgerald is still good, but getting older. Michael Floyd drops more than he catches. David Johnson and their defense has been their saving grace, but they are 3-3-1. The Seahawks are probably the most underwhelming 4-1-1 team in the NFL. Their offense is mediocre, but their defense, who gets away with penalty after penalty, week after week, is still good. They are dirty, but still elite. The Packers are mediocre. Their defense is average and their offense has been mind numbingly frustrating to watch. The Lions, Saints, Eagles, Buccaneers and Falcons are at, or near .500, but they will make no difference in the long run.

As much as I hate to write this, I think the Cowboys, if they stick with Prescott and the running game, will become the team to beat in the NFC. They could very well make the Super Bowl this year, that is how bad this season has been.

The AFC, while not much better, does have the very best team in the NFL. The Patriots are leaps and bounds above all 31 other teams, and they are filled with holes. Their defense is very mediocre. they do give up some big plays a bit too often. After his ridiculous 4 game suspension, Tom Brady has looked like a man possessed. He is the front runner for the MVP right now, after only 3 games. He has lit up the 3 teams he's faced. He is on pace, in 12 games, to surpass 4,000 passing yards. That's crazy. Gronk is fully healthy, and he is just as unstoppable as ever. Martellus Bennett is a great addition, and takes pressure off Gronk. The slot receivers that fill the rest of this offense are perfect for the Patriots system. LeGarette Blount has been a great runner for them this year too. He's on pace for 1,300 plus rushing yards and 15 plus touchdowns. They also have James White, great out of the back field and Dion Lewis will be back soon. The Patriots, even with their holes, are the cream of the crop in the NFL. Eat it Roger Goodell.

 As for the teams not playing at Gillette, the Broncos have a great defense, but their offense is very much below average. They can't sustain drives, and unless their defense gives the offense primo field position, they usually punt. That should rule out a return trip to the Super Bowl. The Steelers, who I was very high on before the season, are minus their QB for another 3-5 weeks. Try as he might, LeVeon Bell can only do so much. Without Roesthilberger, this team will not go very far. But, 9-7 could win that division, so who knows. The Raiders, another team I was very high on, have been great offensively so far, but terrible defensively. The still hold a 5-2 record, and I'd love to see them in the playoffs, but I worry that their defense will make it unlikely. The Chiefs, who I was not so high on, have been pretty good so far. Sure, they got thumped by the Steelers a few weeks ago, but other than that, they have played pretty well. The Bills are well on their way to another 8-8 or 9-7 season. The entire AFC South stinks. The Texans are the worst division leader in all of football. The Colts and Jaguars are bottom feeders and the Titans are so bad on offense, that will hold them back. The Harambes, AKA Bengals, have been very mediocre, and I'm sure RD will agree. The Chargers are bad, but actually kind of fun to watch either blow games late or win games late. The Dolphins and Ravens are destined to be .500, and the Browns may not win a game all year long. The Patriots are, not only the best team in the AFC, but the best team in football. They are 100 percent going to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl this season, barring any major injury.

That means I have the Cowboys playing the Patriots in Super Bowl 51. Yikes. The Patriots should win it going away, if this turns out to be the matchup. I have the Patriots as my new Super Bowl champs. I also have Tom Brady as the MVP. David Johnson might be more deserving, or Julio Jones may put up unprecedented numbers, or Ezekial Elliot may rush for 1,800 yards, but what Brady has done over 3 games, and will continue to do, just to twist the knife in Goodell, will win him the MVP. He is the greatest QB ever, and this season will prove that even further. As far as rookie of the year, I was way, way off on LaQuon Treadwell. This is clearly Elliot's to lose. He has been as good as advertised, and as much as I may dislike his demeanor and the way he carries himself, he has been great this year. I still have Jack Del Rio as my coach of the year. He has the Raiders at 5-2, as I already stated, and they are relevant again. But, I would not count out Bill Belichek. He won 3 of 4 without Brady, and now, they want to crush everyone in their path, as they should. And defensive player of the year should, and probably will be Von Miller. He is incredible and playing incredible. He should own this award for many years to come.

So, that does it for my mid season review. I got some stuff right, but way more wrong. I'm pissed about my love for the Panthers, but happy about my feelings for the Raiders. The NFL is in a rough place, but I still watch and will continue to watch. Come back tomorrow and I will have my mid season college football review. That will be much more fun to write.  

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He may think the Cowboys ccan make the Super Bowl, but in his heart he knows Jerry Jones will ruin the teams chances. Romo is Jones's guy after all. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Ty Ranks the 2016 NFL Teams: Perfectly Cooked Porterhouse Edition

Now, for the final four. I legitimately believe, nor would I be surprised, if any one of these teams won the Super Bowl. Hell, two of the final four may end up playing each other. These teams are the best of the best. They have the best players, the best offenses, the best defenses, they have it all. These the elite.

At number 4, I have the defending Super Bowl champs, the Denver Broncos. The Broncos defense is so incredibly good, but since I've started with offense the whole preview, I'm not going to change now. Sure, Peyton Manning retired, and sure, he is a first ballot hall of famer, but he was the not the reason the Broncos won the Super Bowl. He played very, very poorly last year. They won in spite of him. Now that he is gone, they do have a question at QB. They traded for Mark Sanchez, why would anyone do that, and they have Trevor Simien on the roster, but he wasn't even good enough to be the primary QB at Northwestern, but they did draft a QB, Paxton Lynch. I wasn't high on any of the QB's in this draft, but Lynch is one of the taller ones, he has an okay arm, and he can run. But, the Broncos don't need an all world QB, they just need a game manager. I'm sure Sanchez will start the season as QB 1, but I bet by week 4 or 5, Lynch will be in there. The Broncos running game was supposed to be good last year, but it was non existent. CJ Anderson and Ronnie Tillman were supposed to be a great 1-2 punch, but neither of them did much of anything. They were mediocre last year, but I expect some kind of bounce back. The Broncos do have great receivers. Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas are both great, even though Thomas drops a lot of balls, but they don't have a good QB throwing to them. They will get open, but will the QB, whoever it is, get the ball to them. The o line is just fine at pass blocking, but their run blocking needs to get better. Now, where the Broncos shine is defense. They are one of the best defenses in the history of football. They absolutely stifled the Patriots and Panthers on their way to the title last year. Von Miller is probably the best linebacker in football. He is a great pass rusher, run stopper and can cover. He is the total package. They lost Danny Treveathan, but that won't hurt them that much. When Aqib Talib isn't getting into mysterious bar fights, he is a great shut down corner. He plays dirty, but he has found a way to get away with it. Bradley Roby is a ball hawk. If he has a chance at a pick or a fumble recovery, he will get there. He is always in the right place at the right time. DeMarcus Ware is a beast off the edge. He is unblockable, and the best thing for him was getting out of Dallas and going to Denver. And TJ Ward and Chris Harris are exceptional defensive backs. The Broncos defense is loaded, and they will once again carry the to a division title and a deep playoff run. I think they finish 12-4.

At number 3, I have the New England Patriots. I know that Tom Brady is suspended for 4 games, but they won when he got hurt and Matt Cassell was the QB. Jimmy Garrappolo is better than Matt Cassel. He will keep them afloat until Brady gets back, and when he does get back, Brady will be on a mission. Goodell poked the bear, and the rest of the NFL is going to suffer for it. The Patriots don't have much of a running game, which is their Achilles heel. Dion Lewis and Legarrette Blount are fine, but they are not even middle of the field in the NFL. But, the Patriots have receivers all over the field, and they have the best weapon in all of the NFL in Gronk. Yeah, Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and Chris Hogan are fine. But, Gronk is the man. He catches everything, he is unguardable, he is the best red zone threat in all of the football and he is the biggest and fastest player to ever play his position. They also got Martellus Bennett to pair with him as well. That will be deadly. The Patriots o line needs work, but the speed that Brady gets the ball out of his hand, that neutralizes any deficiencies I think they have. The Patriots defense is serviceable. The can get stops when they need to and they can get pressure. I know Rob Ninkovich just got hurt, but he will be back by October. They did sign Chris Long this offseason. That was a huge, yet very quiet singing. Chris Long is awesome. They still have Malcolm Butler, and he is a very good corner. Jamie Collins and Dont'a Hightower are still roaming the linebacker duties, and they are both good. The Patriots, as they have been the entire 21st century are good. They may not miss Brady all that much for the first four games, and when he comes back, look out, he will be on a mission to destroy. I say they split the first four games, then win 11 of the next 12 and finish at 13-3.

At number 2, I have the Arizona Cardinals. This is the Cardinals last chance with this team to make a deep run, but they have the talent to do just that on both sides of the ball. Carson Palmer is a very good regular season QB. He puts up big numbers and plays very well, during the regular season. He is a perennial pro bowler and even pops up in the MVP conversation from time to time. But, in the post season, he is a different QB. He looks flustered and makes way too many mistakes. they got whipped in the NFC Championship, and I believe he had 6 turnovers in that game himself. Maybe this is the year he rights the ship. David Johnson proved to be a very good running back last year. He is like a bowling ball. He runs low to the ground, carries tacklers and gains the tough yards. They also have a resurgent Chris Johnson. He looked like his old self at times last year, and that should scare their opponents. The run game in Arizona is solid. Then, they have one of the greatest receivers of all time in Larry Fitzgerald. This guy has done everything and then some for this team. He is the consummate teammate and pro. There is not one bad thing I will say about Larry Fitzgerald, he is great. And if Michael Floyd can stay healthy, they have a great 1-2 punch with him and Fitzgerald. Floyd can stretch the defense with his speed and Fitzgerald does the dirty work. The Cardinals o line is very good. They do an excellent job of pass protecting and they open some huge holes for the run game. Arizona's defense is also very good. They have a great d line, led by Calais Campbell. They can stop the run and sack the QB. They have decent linebackers that are much better run stoppers than cover guys. But they have two of the best secondary players in football in Tyrann Mathieu and Patrick Peterson. I personally think Peterson is the best corner in the game. He always guards the other teams best receiver and he usually shuts them down. He is also an excellent return man. Mathieu is a ball hawk and an extremely hard hitter. He loves to tattoo guys, and he will get some pick sixes and fumble returns for TD's. Being a defender, he has a nose for the end zone. I'm a big Tyrann Mathieu fan. Arizona is the cream of the crop in their division, and I say they win it going away with a 13-3 record.

Now for number one. I have the Carolina Panthers as the best team in football this year. They were the best team last year, and they only got better this offseason. They have one of the best QB's and athletes in the NFL in Cam Newton. Newton is huge, he is fast, he is accurate, he has a rocket arm and he makes the right decision always. Cam Newton is rapidly becoming one of the best QB's in the game. He has no flaws, except for his ego, but that is not a big deal. Then, they have good running backs in Jonathan Stewart and Mike Tolbert. they are both similar in the fact that they are bigger running backs and that they crush would be tacklers. They are great compliments to Newton. Then, the way they got better this offseason, Kelvin Benjamin returns from injury. He is so big and so fast and has excellent hands. He gives Newton the threat he needs on the outside. But, let us not forget Ted Ginn Jr and Devin Funchess and Cory Brown. All these guys stepped up last year in Benjamin's absence, and they all played pretty well. Then, they have Greg Olsen at tight end. He is so good, so durable and so reliable. The dude just puts up numbers and I think he is Cam Newton's favorite target. He gets a lot of red zone attention. The Panthers o line is the best in the NFL. They protect Newton, they open holes, they do everything and they do it all exceptional. This team is lethal on offense. Then on defense, they have some damn good players. Luke Kuechly is one of the best linebackers in the game. He is a sack and tackling machine and he is a very good cover guy. They also have Thomas Davis out there at linebacker, and he is right there with Kuechly is talent. The d line is great. Kawann Short, Kony Ealy and Star Lotulelei wreak havoc in the backfield. The secondary did lose Josh Norman, but they have guys that can do the job. The ageless wonder Cortland Finnegan is back there. And Leonard Johnson and Tre Boston are good secondary players. They are not Josh Norman, but I don't think the Panthers will be too hurt without him. The Panthers are exceptional and they should have won the Super Bowl last year, they just got outplayed. This team may flirt with perfection again, but I say they finish 14-2 and they will have a fairly easy road back to the Super Bowl.

That is my countdown of all 32 NFL teams. Come back tomorrow when I will pick my Super Bowl winner and award winners. And come back Friday for my college football preview.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He remembers the days of ESPN arguing for Blaine Gabbert over Cam Newton as Carolina's number one pick. Those guys at ESPN sure are smart. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.