Takeaways from the 2015 NFL Season

The 2015 NFL Season: What We Must Take Away and What We Need to Look Ahead To

Another season in America's greatest business on turf is now in the books. Not much has changed......

Well, except everything.

This year has been absolutely iconic. There was a sense of a passing of the torch, there was a seeming shift in power, there was this uncanny thought process behind a new face of the league that dabbed and danced his way to the MVP, but the same figure also slid head first into Super Bowl demise. We still don't know what a catch is, and the once heralded bad boy with Football for a last name is now in big trouble.

Without further delay, here are four things to take away from this NFL season, and four questions i'm looking forward to having answered this offseason and beyond.

Four takeaways from this season 

1. Defense Still Wins Championships

"Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships". While in the past five to ten years this mindset has been challenged by high-tempo offensive playbooks and quarterbacks with cannons attached to their arms, the legendary Bear Bryant quote still to this day is accurate in the National Football League. The Denver Broncos boasted the number one defense in the league this year, and deservedly so grabbed the Lombardi trophy on the backs of Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware and company. If it weren't for Pete Carroll's inexcusable brain fart at the one yard line last season the number one defense would have earned the really big rings three years in a row. It's safe to say for now that in a Quarterback-centered league, the "defense wins championships" mentality is still as strong as ever.

2. Whether you like it or not, Cam Newton is now the best player in the NFL. If you disagree with me, you're either blind, stupid, or biased.

Cam Newton has been a winner everywhere he's been. I can only imagine how fast of a freight train the Florida Gators would have been if he would have gotten his shot for Urban Meyer. That being said, Cam Newton has made a career out of putting a team on his back and running as far as he possibly can with minimal help. If you by any means believe that Newton has a star studded supporting cast on offense you are dead wrong. Newton has subpar talent surrounding him at Wide Receiver and is lucky he has one of the top tight ends in the league in Greg Olsen. The scariest part about this Carolina team is that Newton didn't have his number one target Kelvin Benjamin all season after he went down with an ACL tear in training camp. If the Panthers can add another weapon, to go alongside Benjamin, who we haven't even seen play with Newton since 2014, watch out. This could get very scary for the NFC very quickly. If opposing defensive coordinators weren't already scared they better grab their nightlights pronto, because like Cam Newton said, they will without a doubt be back, and in the future I don't see there being obstacles quite like the the one he faced in the Denver Broncos three days ago.

3. The running game in the NFL was brought back to life (for now) by Todd Gurley

It's no secret that teams with minimal success in the running game can still be successful in this league. It's also no secret that running backs don't last nearly as long as other players, and also don't get drafted nearly as high as other players. Most Rams fans were jumping and screaming in frustration last May when Todd Gurley was taken tenth in the draft. Now, fans are confident that this guy will be the best back in the league for years to come. This kid made an absolute splash in this league in a world full of thirty yard passes and comeback routes. There's no ceiling for this kid and really no other player at his age has the potential he does for years to come. Expect Todd Gurley to be key in the newly relocated Rams plans to take that next step towards the playoffs.

4. The San Fransisco 49ers are run by pirates

Ugh. This is the most painful paragraph i've ever had to write. This is my favorite team, so i'm tuned in pretty well and quite honestly some of the moves that have been made within the organization have made absolutely zero sense. Do you think that it's a coincidence that in the same week Chip Kelly was hired Kaepernick made public he wanted out? NOBODY wants to play for Chip Kelly. Guys lie Stephen A. Smith have cited players going as far as saying playing for Chip Kelly is unbearable. People play for emotionless robots like Bill Belechick because that guy knows how to win, clearly Chip Kelly does not in this league. The hiring of Chip Kelly already didn't make sense in and of it self, but the hiring of Jim O'Neil as the defensive coordinator is way more of a head scratcher. Jim O'Neil is coming off an incredibly unsuccessful tenure as defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, and as a defensive coordinator he has never coached a playoff team. So, the millions of questions are already bottling themselves up in my head, but I know they will fall upon deaf ears. The outlook for my niners next year is something like a 2-14 or 3-13 misery campaign. Sigh. Pray for me.

Four questions for this offseason and next season

1. Will this be the year Tom Brady comes down to earth?

If i'm going to answer my own question with a sense of anti-climactic sensibility, it will probably not happen this season. The once renowned sixth round steal that is one of the greatest gunslingers to ever throw a pigskin still looks like he did when he was 30. The most impressive part about Tom Brady now is his supporting cast is like Cam Newton's. Outside of a top tier tight end he has less than outstanding weapons on the outside. We've seen what Tom has been able to do with superstars at wideout as he's displayed record breaking numbers and near undefeated seasons. However, we all know that Father Time is undefeated, and after the year that Peyton had you have to remember that Manning is only one year older than Tom. You can have the intangibles your whole life, but that arm is going to run out of juice at some point. I'm not saying that this is the year that Brady's arm goes flat, but if I were you I'd start paying very close attention.

2. Will the Titans trade the first pick away?

The Titans have their future star quarterback in place already. Marcus Mariota showed this season that the spot will be his in the Music City for a decade plus if he chooses to make it his home. So the question is this, do they decide to pull the trigger on the top pick and defy the "quality over quantity" mindset? They have a few options. This draft is deep at positions they need such as pass rushers, left tackles, and wide receivers. The Titans also need to realize that they don't need any ONE player, they need MULTIPLE PLAYERS. This team is quite possibly the lowest of the low in the league in terms of overall talent on a 53 man roster, so this could be a huge chance for the Titans to build their roster at multiple places of need and get an ideal package for the often overrated price tag of a first overall pick. If the Titans elect to trade down watch out for teams like Cleveland, Dallas, and San Diego to jump up and take it. If the Titans stupidly elect to keep the top pick, expect Laremy Tunsil to be wearing baby blue next season.

3a. Will the Browns finally solve their Quarterback curse? I know a guy that might be the savior.

I think for the first time in recent memory the Browns finally got it right on the head coach hiring front. Names like Rob Chudzinzki, Pat Shurmur, Mike Pettine and even more names have been laughable hires at best. I don't know whether to blame the fact that the Browns might have the same pirate invasion problem the 49ers have, or if flat out nobody wants that job. That's what makes the Hue Jackson hiring all the more special. The Man got one chance to lead a team when he was hired in Oakland and was inexplicably fired after going .500 with a team that should've probably went 4-12. I'm still scratching my head on that one. Regardless, Hue Jackson is a winner. Not only is he a winner, he has a tremendous track record with quarterbacks. Could this FINALLY be the guy who calls all the right shots to earn playoff reality for the dawg pound? This draft class is considerably weak at QB compared to recent years, however if the Browns draft Carson Wentz I think they'll finally be on there way. Wentz is a virtually unkown prospect from North Dakota State, but the man has the trait Browns fans have been needing in their gunslinger for years. The guy simply just knows how to win. Wentz was the shot-caller for back to back FCS championship teams in 2014 and 2015 and while there will be swirling questions if this cat can compete at the highest level, he has all the attributes, all the flash, and the right track record to possibly be the savior in Cleveland.


3b. What is next for Johnny Manziel?

Now, to Johnny Manziel. Lord knows if this man is going to get another chance to start on an NFL roster it's more than likely going to be his last. The man should have never left Texas A&M with two years to grow. Manziel could have ended up as the greatest college football player of all time had he stayed. That team in College Station has ELITE weapons at wideout right now and Manziel could have had a field day throwing to them. The glitz and glamour of the quarterback lifestyle was just too much for Mr. Moneybags to turn down  and he's paying the price for it now. His Teenager-like errant and repetitive behavior that constantly finds himself in the headlines is a cancer that I guarantee every team in the league does not want whatsoever. Maybe if Jerry Jones is crazy enough to think Greg Hardy would put a lid on his act that he could somehow hypnotize Johnny Manziel into becoming a good little Samaritan in Big D, but the chances of that are slim to none. We'll have to wait and see what's going to happen with this pending case with Manziel's ex-girlfriend and such and such, however for a guy who has rooted for Manziel since the famous botched snap in Tuscoloosa, I hope one team finds it in their hearts to give Johnny one more chance. If Manziel botches this one though, he's done. You can guarantee that.

4. Will we finally figure out what a catch is?

I'm gritting my teeth like an eight year old on vyvanse while typing this sentence. There is absolutely NO reason that fans at home and even commentators of the sport should be saying things like "What even is a catch anymore?" "I don't know if that's a catch or not because he didn't make a football move" etc. IT'S. SIMPLE. Honestly, the rule written down in black and white should say "Hey, if the dude catches the ball and doesn't lose control of it before he hits the ground, it's a catch" IT'S. THAT. SIMPLE. The Jerricho Cotchery "non-catch" in the first quarter on Sunday changed the entire outlook of the entire Super Bowl. If that play is named a catch, it's first down Carolina. It wasn't a catch, and Cam Newton was sacked and the ball was fumbled then bouncing in to the end zone for a Broncos end zone shortly after. That play was without a doubt a catch, but because these guys at NFL headquarters think that we need to make the characteristics of what a catch and what isn't rocket science, they couldn't overturn the call of an incomplete pass. If it's an official stat in the stat sheet, there should be absolutely no debate on what has to happen in order for it to go down as such. Do we ever wonder what a pass attempt is? No. Do we ever wonder what a carry is? No. Do we ever question what a tackle is? No. So why do we need to worry about what is a catch and what isn't. I hope the NFL can suck up their pride and figure this out in owner's meetings in the offseason, cause it's getting a little ridiculous, but who knows.



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