FACT OR FICTION? Hello there ladies and gentleman my name is PSID412USM and welcome to Fact or Fiction! A simple little thing were I ask the questions and RichLikeWh0a & InsaneBoost answer them with if they agree or disagree with the statement! So without further ado let get started! 1. Between signing Tim Tebow and losing Aaron Hernandez do the Patriots have too many distractions to make a serious playoff run this season? Rich Fiction While the Patriots don't have too many distractions to prevent their typical success, I feel like they have too many issues to overcome. Despite having Tom Brady at the helm, the team still will be fighting an increasingly uphill battle. With Rob Gronkowski's apparently perpetual injury woes being a major issue (only multiplied exponentially by the Hernandez situation), the quality of the receiving corp is a bigger issue I feel. Belichick has too much of a handle on this team to let the distractions be a factor. The distractions are only distracting everybody else from reality: the Patriots could be in trouble this season. Insane Fiction If there's one coach in the NFL that can manage to get around any type of side distractions, it's Bill Belichick. The man is a brilliant coach and never seems to let things distract him, such as we saw during the spygate season. The other important thing to note is that until somebody decides to step up, the New England Patriots still run the AFC East. 2. Despite losing Ed Reed and Ray Lewis in the offseason the Ravens are a stronger team than last year: Rich Fiction While I personally don't subscribe to Ray Lewis being all that useful this past season (while playing), there's no denying the leadership aspect of that defence has been gutted between the two losses. There's not many scenarios where losing two future hall of famers will improve a team, and this certainly isn't one. Ed Reed, I feel, will be the much bigger loss, however. The team did draft safety Matt Elam out of Florida but it is hard to imagine him being able to fill Ed Reed's shoes as a rookie. The only other notable addition at the position is Michael Huff, who is certainly serviceable but far from Ed Reed yet again. When given those two huge losses (both in the form of on the field production and leadership) along with other changes, the Ravens team is not going to be stronger. Insane Fiction The Baltimore Ravens will not be stronger than they were during the 2012 season. They lost the one WR that managed to catch any type of pass Joe Flacco tossed up in the air for grabs, and the defence has lost some talented players. That's not to say the Ravens are going to be terrible, as they should still put up a fight for the AFC North. They just however won’t be as strong, nor will sniff the Super Bowl in 2013. 3. With reports RG3 set to start the season, are the Redskins the team to beat in the NFC East? Rich Fiction The NFC East of recent has been, in my opinion, one of the most interesting divisions in football. With the division coming down to the wire the last two seasons (and the Cowboys notably blowing a chance to win it in both of them), this division is growing a tradition of being very competitive and close. While it's easy to assume the Eagles will be lacking behind going into this season given their performance last season and the changes they've faced since, I wouldn't be surprised if any of the four teams found themselves division champions. Granted, the question is if the Redskins are the favourite, but I don't believe there really is a favourite in this division. Or if there is, it's a three way (sans Philly) tie. Insane Fiction Washington was lucky last season as they had a complete turnaround from 3-6 to 10-6, going on a 7-0 start down the stretch. Not only did they play to win, they also were lucky enough to have the teams in front of them fall apart. Whether or not RGIII is healthy, the division is still up for grabs. Nobody has won the NFC East back-to-back since the 03/04 Philadelphia Eagles. With the stat alone, among the improvements to both the Cowboys and Giants, the Redskins are not the team to beat in the NFC East. Washington was lucky last season as they had a complete turnaround from 3-6 to 10-6, going on a 7-0 start down the stretch. Not only did they play to win, they also were lucky enough to have the teams in front of them fall apart. Whether or not RGIII is healthy, the division is still up for grabs. Nobody has won the NFC East back-to-back since the 03/04 Philadelphia Eagles. With the stat alone, among the improvements to both the Cowboys and Giants, the Redskins are not the team to beat in the NFC East. 4. After adding Percy Harvin, Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett and Antoine Winfield this offseason the Seahawks are the favourite for the NFC? Rich Fiction The Seahawks had a great season last season, and have only made moves to improve. With another season of cohesion, this team has the potentially to be very, very good. That said, I firmly believe the 49ers are yet again the favourite, purely due to superior coaching (in my opinion at least). Both teams have stout defences and young, versatile quarterbacks. They're similar in a lot of ways... but the coaching, especially in as far as pro level experience is concerned, is just better in San Francisco. Not only that, Seattle has had a rash of PED issues recently, which I believe could leave them prone to suspensions that could prove troublesome. But who would have thought a few years ago that the NFC West could potentially be the best division in football this year? Insane Fiction While the Seahawks without a doubt have gotten better, the NFC West still runs through the San Francisco 49ers. The Seahawks will put up a much better fight for the #1 seed in the NFC than they did last year. That of course means nothing as they were only a couple plays short of playing in the NFC Championship game. Until the 49ers lose a step on offense or defence, the 49ers are the team to beat. 5. After a record setting 2012 for QB the 2013 class of QB will not get a win this season? Rich Fiction It's no surprise that the QB class is far less than impressive.. and for the most part, I wanted to go fact on this one, but when I really thought about it, it's hard to throw all the eggs in that basket. I don't think that any quarterback but one has a chance to start at any point this season--that one being EJ Manuel in Buffalo. Kevin Kolb hasn't had a ton of success since he found himself starting in this league, regardless of the reason. Odds are, at some point Kolb is going to either be injured or too disappointing for the Bills to endure, and Manuel will find himself starting. If that's the case, I can't say I don't see him winning at least one game. Although, if Geno Smith somehow gets play time of Mark Sanchez...nope, he isn't winning. Insane Fiction E.J. Manuel with Florida State could bring new life to the Buffalo Bills, and he alone should see at least five wins this season with the team; if not more. He might not start right away, but Kolb has proven he can't be a starter in the NFL, which will lead to Manuel's start.
I don't watch college football, but I somehow have a knack to determine whether a prospect will be good or bad (I'm not perfect either, an example is thinking Ravens WR Mark Clayton was going to be more successful lol)... I'd like to have some time to watch EJ Manuel since the scouts reviews about him are positive and don't make him sound like Tarvaris Jackson 2.0
The Redskins are the team to beat in the team to beat in the NFC East based on the fact that they won it last year. EJ Manuel sucks!
Love this...OMG how I hate Pete Carroll......good stuff fellas..I also shared this on FB and Twitter...
i hope all the experts ignore the redskins again so we can sneak right up and bite the league on the butt again!
Y'all won't be snaking up on no one. But I agree with these dudes the NFC E is always up for grabs up until the end
I lost all respect for redskins fans when they claimed Doug Williams was great. An old Buc fan knows better and is still nauseous over the events.
