Wild cards for the 2014 season
Call them the “wild-card” factors the either-or propositions around the league that could sway a team (or teams) from 6-10 to 10-6, from putting their coaches on the hot seat to putting the team in the postseason derby.
But Gronkowski has been saddled with injuries the past two seasons and is coming off a torn ACL last season, and he did not play a snap in the preseason so we’re left to speculate his availability for Week 1 and for the remainder of the season.
Watch for the development, too, of two bigger targets outside in Brandon LaFell and Tim Wright, along with two excellent screen/short passing game options in running backs Shane Vereen (who missed half the season with a wrist injury that affected his ability to catch the ball) and rookie James White.
Bill O’Brien This season’s top college coach coming (back) to the NFL is O’Brien, who did a masterful job of reforming the Patriots’ offense into a two-tight end monster and then later rebuilding the Penn State program back from the ashes of Joe Paterno’s final, dark days.
San Diego Chargers pass defense John Pagano’s defense was criticized roundly last season in his first year as coordinator, but by the time the Chargers made an unlikely run to the playoffs (along with an upset over the Cincinnati Bengals in Round 1) the secondary was playing beyond where it had before and the pass rush woke up from a dormant state.
Offensively, the team should be able to help out with an accurate and experienced Philip Rivers, who turned his career around under Mike McCoy, and with one of the stronger run games in the NFL.
The preseason only offered a few brief glimpses of success with the passing game, as Manning roundly struggled, Victor Cruz made few impact plays, first-round receiver Odell Beckham remains sidelined, no front-line tight end emerged and projected starting left guard Geoff Schwartz figures to miss the majority (if not all) of the season with a dislocated toe.
It will take playing at a level above the one he briefly touched last season, and that would mean he was playing better than he had ever before in his career.
Chicago Bears defense The Bears were a game away from winning the NFC North and hosting a home playoff game last January despite owning a horrific run defense, along with mostly miserable safety play.
The team bolstered its front line with veterans Lamarr Houston, Jared Allen and Willie Young, plus draft picks Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton, and the hope is that a stronger rush and less leaky run defense will help the secondary out by putting them in better positions defensively and giving the coordinators more play-calling freedom.