Why a Team Nobody Expects Will Win the Super Bowl

This off season a lot of teams have been making a lot of moves but they haven’t necessarily been great moves and there have also been a multitude of big injuries with big stars. For example the San Francisco 49ers added Anquan Boldin which is a good pick up, unfortunately they also lost star receiver Michael Crabtree who was the number one target for new starter Collin Kaepernick last season. The loss of Crabtreee on the end is going to be tough to replace, the receiving core was weak in the first place this makes it even weaker. Do not get me wrong this offense will be plenty dangerous with the dual threat of Kaepernick, Frank Gore who still has some gas left in the tank, and the leader Vernon Davis in the middle. But they will be nowhere near as scary as they good have been. That offense with that monster defense could have spelled disaster for any team that had to play them.

Let’s stay in that division and take a look at the Seattle Seahawks a surprising team last year led by rookie sensation Russel Wilson will not sneak up on any teams this year. In fact, they were one of the favorites going into the season especially with the addition of Percy Harvin. That’s where the problem comes in Harvin has been very injury prone his entire career and it already looks like he is going to miss some time heading into this season. Again not a devastating blow but one that definitely hurts. Having Sidney Rice and Harvin opposite of each other on the field would have made opposing secondary’s think twice before committing a back to stop that devastating running game led by Marshawn Lynch.

Now that we have looked at how the top teams in the NFC have changed this off-season let’s look at the AFC.

The Super Bowl champs are not the same team that won a title 6 months ago. They lost countless veterans on both sides of the ball many of these guys’ staples in a very consistent organization. It will be impossible to replace what Ray Lewis brought to the field if it is his leadership, his presence, and his overall skill of the game he will be greatly missed. Now throw in you lost safety Ed Reed to the Houston Texans and Anquan Boldin to the 49ers. There will be a lot of question marks on this team and will be very interesting to see how they answer them and if they answer them correctly.

Another team always in the conversation for a Super Bowl the New England Patriots. Everybody, no matter if you are sports fan or not you have heard what has happened to this organization this summer with Aaron Hernandez. Along with this Robert Gronkowski looks to be missing more time with forearm and back problems. Losing tight ends is one thing but losing the go-to receiver in Wes Welker is another thing. Without the help on the edge it will be very interesting to see where Brady delivers that ball this season.

This season is going to be wide open expect a lot of 9-7 and 8-8 win teams to make the playoffs this year with no clear cut favorite. There is no super team this year just a lot of good teams fighting for a chance to play for that trophy.

Will the Moves This Team Made Make Them a Playoff Team?

This off season the Detroit Pistons have been very busy adding a lot of new players to their roster. The Pistons drafted Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with the number eight pick in the draft. They signed forward Josh Smith to a max contract and recently traded away Brandon Knight in exchange for Brandon Jennings from the Milwaukee Bucks.They also signed veteran Chauncey Billups to lead this very young team. Will all the new faces bring back past glory to this franchise?

With all these additions many people forgot a lot of the young talent this team already had like Rodney Stuckey, Greg Monroe, and emerging center Andre Drummond. Unless you closely follow the NBA you may have never heard of these players, that has nothing to do with their talent it mainly has to do with this team not being competitive since the Big 5 of Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Ben Wallace left. Stuckey has been with the Pistons since being drafted in 2007. I'm a big Pacer fan so I have been able to watch Stuckey play the Pacers throughout his career. Last year was not one of his best seasons but at 6-5 he has been forced to play point guard when he is truly a two guard. He has a knack for overpowering smaller guards and getting to the rim. With the addition of Brandon Jennings it will relieve the pressure of being the teams primary ball handler and focus on attacking the rim.

Greg Monroe is an incredibly versatile big man who has proven he is a 15 and 10 guy every night. He is able to take bigger defenders off the dribble and reminds me of a young Amare Stoudemire. He also was forced to play out of position, he played a lot of center where is truly more of an over-sized forward than a center. One of his major glaring weaknesses is his defense, but with the emergence of Andre Drummond who is a very athletic center who is going to be a great weak side blocker that will make Monroe look a lot better. Drummond who was incredibly hyped coming out of high school did not really live up to the hype in his one year at the University of Connecticut. During his first year in the NBA he had a decent year but showed glimpses during Summer League. He will be able to use his athleticism to rebound well and has shown he can finish with big time dunks around the rim. The front court for the Piston is looking set for the years to come if the Monroe/Drummond experiment is able to work.

As said before the Pistons signed Josh Smith to a max contract meaning that management believes he is going to be the face of the franchise. He was a good player but not a franchise player in Atlanta. He is a very good defensive player, good rebounder, and great finisher at the rim. His one glaring weakness is his perimeter shooting which looks like is going to be a weakness for this entire team. I think he is going to get a chance he didn't have in Atlanta and that is to be the face of the franchise and fans in Detroit will welcome a star they haven't had in a while.

The newest and probably most surprising addition to this team is Brandon Jennings from the Milwaukee Bucks. He was a very good scorer for the Bucks he was not necessarily able to lead the team like some people thought. He will be able to get mentoring from Chauncey Billups something he wasn't able to get at his old destination. If Jennings takes advantage of this opportunity he will be able to take the next step to becoming an elite scoring point guard in the NBA.

We have taken a look at the big talent on this team that we expect to make big contributions now it comes down to my prediction of what they are going to do next year. The East outside the top four teams is an absolute toss up who will be the other four to make the playoffs. I think that at best this team could be the fifth team in the East if they are able mesh with the talent and athleticism in the front court and the ability to penetrate with the talent in the back court. The worst case scenario is Brandon Jennings and Josh Smith are not able to get a long as the stars on the team. And the Monroe/Drummond front court could just be too many big bodies in the post for either to be effective. I think they will finish sixth or seventh in the East and will be a team that nobody wants to play in the first round of the playoffs.