NFL Report

UP

Every year a boatload of suckers peg the Cardinals as that year’s “surprise team”, the team that will make the magical jump from crappy to excellent, going from laughingstock to Super Bowl threat. There’s always one. Every. Single. Year.

2006- New Orleans Saints.
2005- Washington Redskins.
2004- Pittsburgh Steelers

And so on. You get the point. The Steelers went from 6-10 to 15-1. The Redskins went from 6-10 to 10-6. The Saints went from 3-13 to 10-6. It’s not a question of if a team can make the jump from bad to good, it’s which team will do it. My choice for this year? The Buffalo Bills.

JP Losman noticeably improved over the course of the season last year, and he clearly has developed a connection with wideout Lee Evans. Those two along with rookie Marshawn Lynch form a very solid core of offensive players that the front office will build around. Buffalo’s offensive line is poor, and that’s the one thing that would make me hesitate to make this pick, but their defense makes up for it.

Many people wondered if the Bills had lost it when they drafted Ko Simpson and Donte Whitner last year, but they turned out to be two of the better rookies. Their hard-hitting style intimidated opponents, and they give the Bills an above average secondary.

And as far as special teams go…you do not look forward to kickoffs against Buffalo.