By: Andy Davies

Plenty of uncertainty surrounds the Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, and Houston Texans going into the 2021 season. Their quarterback situations are far from clear and their overall rosters are mediocre at best.

The same goes for their head coaches, with all three going into their first seasons at the franchise. Neither of Dan Campbell, Nick Sirianni, or David Culley has been a full-time head coach in the NFL. Campbell is the only one to have some experience, with his spell as interim head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2015.

Here is why you should be expecting the Lions, Eagles, and Texans to have the three worst records in the league in 2021.

Saying Goodbye To A Franchise Legend In Detroit. Struggles For The Replacement

Matthew Stafford was the number one overall pick in 2009, with the entire city of Detroit hoping he would be the man to turn around the fortunes of the franchise. Despite three seasons of making the playoffs, the Lions and Stafford never won a single postseason game as the wait continues. The Lions remain the team with the second-longest period without a playoff win, their last taking place on January 5th, 1992.

Stafford had some great individual moments as a Lion, most notably his Mic’d up moment during his 2009 rookie season. In a week eleven game against the Cleveland Browns, he overcame injury to produce a moment of pure heroism. He played with a separated shoulder despite the efforts of the medical staff to keep him off the field, leading the Lions to a touchdown-winning drive.

Jim Caldwell guided the Lions to these playoff appearances but was not seen as good enough to take them to the next step. New England Patriots assistant head coach Matt Patricia was brought in but never took to life as head coach. The Lions had three consecutive losing seasons under the coaching of Patricia. They will hope that they have found their guy in Dan Campbell. His press conference was certainly not dull, with Campbell referring to “biting kneecaps”. As a former Lions player, he knows what it takes to play in the league. He also knows about the city of Detroit and his intentions are both positive and clear. If he is given time, he has the desire to bring the good times back to Detroit. However, he is inexperienced as a head coach and the roster is below average.

New quarterback Jared Goff has the potential to struggle. This is despite the drafting of offensive lineman Penei Sewell at seventh overall, a selection that had Campbell and new General Manager Brad Holmes very excited.

Despite his brilliant 2018 season that saw the Rams reach Super Bowl 53, Goff had a poor game and struggled in 2020 as he and head coach Sean McVay’s relationship deteriorated.

Goff struggled despite a plethora of offensive talent around him. Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp form one of the best wide receiver duos in the NFL. He is going to a franchise that let go of their two best wide receivers and failed to replace them.

The Lions have a schedule that features the San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, and Cleveland Browns. There are also two games against their division rivals, the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, and Chicago Bears. The Lions do not have it easy.

Prediction: 3-14

Trouble In Philadelphia; Reason For Hope?

The Eagles have seen three years of gradual decline after winning Super Bowl 52. The 2017 season saw the Eagles lift the Lombardi Trophy for the first time after two previous attempts.

Doug Pederson was the head coach to guide the Eagles to a Super Bowl but was fired after the conclusion of the 2020 season. His decision to bench rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts in order to lose and gain a higher draft pick appeared to be the final nail in the coffin.

Carson Wentz had an MVP caliber season before an injury derailed hopes of winning the award. Backup Nick Foles stepped in and guided the Eagles to the Super Bowl 52 win. He also stepped in a year later and guided the Eagles to a shock Wildcard Round win against the Chicago Bears, with thanks also going to a Cody Parkey missed field goal.

Both Foles and Wentz are no longer Eagles players. Out of the starters in that Super Bowl 52 win, only seven remain with the franchise. Their decision to draft Jalen Reagor over Justin Jefferson continues to be mocked by rival fans and nobody knows how new head coach Nick Sirianni will do in the role.

The schedule is mixed for Philadelphia. Whilst they face the New York Jets, Lions, and twice play the New York Giants, they also have to face the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs.. This is as well as facing a rising Washington Football Team twice as well as playing the Dallas Cowboys both home and away.

Reports have surfaced in recent days of the Philadelphia Eagles being the favourites for Deshaun, with talks said to be “heating up”.

This could be a move that transforms the franchise. However, Deshaun Watson had his best statistical season yet the Texans only managed four wins all year. This proves that whilst it is very important to have a good quarterback, you need more around to be successful.

Unless the Eagles do something in what remains of the offseason, they will continue to be mediocre if their roster continues to be this poor. If they get offensive or defensive talent in the next one or two offseasons, then they are a team that will compete for years to come. Otherwise, the Eagles will fail to be a threat to both the NFC and NFC East.

This is why Deshaun should avoid the Eagles at this present time. He will be going into a situation no different to what he experienced in Houston.

Prediction: 4-13

What A Difference A Year Makes

Where do we start with the Houston Texans? The 2019 season saw them take a 24-0 lead against the Chiefs in the Divisional Round. However, they allowed 41 unanswered points as they lost 51-31. What has unfolded since in the following nineteen months has been reminiscent of a Greek tragedy.

Head coach Bill O’Brien, who also was general manager, made the unusual decision to trade star wide receiver, Deandre Hopkins. In exchange, the Texans received a running back past his sell-by date in David Johnson, one second-rounder and one fourth-round pick. O’Brien only lasted four games in the 2020 season as they finished the campaign with just four wins.

Since the conclusion of the 2020 season, franchise legend J.J Watt has left and there continues to be an uncertain future surrounding quarterback Deshaun Watson. Houston’s quarterback requested a trade in January before allegations of sexual assault arose. These have lingered throughout the remainder of the offseason. It is unclear if Watson will play in the NFL at all in 2021 but even if he does, it is unlikely that he will be wearing a Texans jersey.

Houston has said they would listen to trade offers for Watson, with the franchise said to be wanting three first-round picks. They have also acquired Tyrod Taylor via Free Agency and used their first pick in the draft on Davis Mills in the third round. Even if the Eagles stick with Hurts, there will be plenty of other suitors.

Even with Watson, the Texans are light on the ground when it comes to elite talent. Linebacker Zach Cunningham and Laremy Tunsil are talents and despite adding Phillip Lindsay and Mark Ingram to the running back room, the roster is one of the league’s worst.

David Culley has developed somewhat of a worrying reputation after his time with the Eagles, Chiefs, and Baltimore Ravens. During his fourteen-season spell with the Eagles, his four seasons with the Chiefs, and two years with the Ravens, he had 0 wide receivers earn a PFF grade of 80 or above.

The Chiefs wideouts went an entire season without a touchdown under Culley. With a wide receiver room featuring Brandin Cooks, Nico Collins and Anthony Miller, this is not exactly a position of strength for the Texans. Culley is unlikely to see any of these receivers score high PFF grades.

Whilst the Texans might be playing the Jacksonville Jaguars twice and the Jets, they have a tough schedule. They will face the Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins and Seattle Seahawks. Houston will also play the Los Angeles Chargers and the San Francisco 49ers as well as the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans twice.

They are unlikely to win many of these games. Fans should be expecting a difficult season.

Prediction: 2-15

The post Expect the Lions, Eagles, and Texans to have the worst records in 2021 appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Ladarius Brown

If you are a football fan (or a Lions fan for that matter), the Lions organization has not been great for some time. Over the last two years, it has been the defensive side of the ball that has taken a major hit. In 2018, this Lions team was 10th in the league in total defense with players like DE’s Romeo Okwara, Da’Shawn Hand, and 3x Pro Bowler & All-Pro CB Darius Slay. However, in 2019 & 2020, the Lions finished 31st and 32nd respectively. As they are rebuilding their secondary, most notably with drafting Ohio State CB Jeff Okudah in the 1st round in 2020, the defensive line needs some depth.  

One option that is out there is 4x Pro Bowler and All-Pro DE Justin Houston. Houston played for the Colts in 2020 in which he had eight sacks and 19 total sacks in his two seasons in Indy. In 2014, he led the league with 22 sacks as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, who finished 7th in total defense that year. Another reason that Houston is an ideal fit for the Lions is the flexibility he can provide. 

The Lions’ new defensive coordinator, former 15-year NFL veteran Aaron Glenn, will bring in a 3-4 defensive scheme. Here, DEs who are typically starting with their fingers in the field will have their stance be upward as an LB. Houston played LOLB in his 1st eight years in the league with the Chiefs and the transition will be seamless. Also, two of the current DE’s on the roster, the aforementioned Okwara, and Trey Flowers, will be making the move to outside LB.  

What also bodes well for Houston is that Lions general manager Brad Holmes drafted only one true DE in the 2021 Draft: Derrick Barnes in the 4th round out of Purdue. Glenn alluded to is, in nickel packages, he visualizes using a five-down front at times, with LB Jamie Collins as one edge rusher. Veteran Michael Brockers and rookie second-round pick Levi Onwuzurike are defensive ends who will play as inside rushers in sub-packages in the Lions’ new defense. This Glenn-led will have various looks, taking advantage of players who have played as DEs and LBs. Houston fits the bill in this respect and more.  

The biggest question is how much playing time Houston would see on the field. In the last two seasons for the Colts, he averaged 641 defensive snaps, or 62% of the Colts snaps on that side of the ball. Given the players currently on the roster, there is an opportunity for the 10-year vet to get a starting job. Because of his familiarity with playing in a 3-4 scheme, he has an edge on the younger players on the roster. 

Given that the Lions’ front seven are have experienced players such as Collins (8 years), Brockers (9 years), Houston would be great as added depth with the chance to compete. Regarding his price tag, he made $12 million a year in Indy when he signed in 2019. Now, at 32 years old, another question is he worth $12 million a year, even for one year. If he is willing to take a pay cut (1 year, $5-6 million), he would be well worth the risk in kickstarting this Lions defense.  

The post Why the Lions should sign pass rusher Justin Houston appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Jake Rajala

The Detroit Lions didn’t just have an aching defense in 2020. Last season, the Lions had their worst defense in franchise history. Matt Patricia, who specialized in orchestrating the defense, was axed from the Lions in the middle of the season. The new head coach Dan Campbell brought over his former co-coach Aaron Glenn from the New Orleans Saints to build a new defensive unit.

Lions nation begs to ask: what exactly are they getting from Glenn? Well, I believe Glenn is the picture perfect DC for Detroit. The former Saints DB coach can bring the right intensity and improve the personnel in the building. Here is what to know about the new look Lions defense.

• Jeffery Okudah taking the next step

It’s safe to say that Jeffery Okudah was a major disappointment for being the third overall pick in last year’s draft. The former Buckeye was benched numerous times and he couldn’t keep pace with opposing stud wideouts. 

Glenn’s specialty lies in coaching defensive backs. In New Orleans, Glenn helped another OSU CB in Marshon Lattimore rise to be one of the league’s top CBs. Lattimore won Defensive Rookie of The Year, routinely locked down Mike Evans, and Julio Jones, plus helped him foster a ferocious mentality. 

Okudah wasn’t just a high draft pick, but he assumed the CB1 role in numerous moments of his rookie season. It will vastly help the defense if their true no. one CB isn’t a liability, but a star. 

• Speed is the name of the game

The New Orleans Saints defense was one of the most aggressive, athletic units in the NFL. Glenn has made it clear that he wants to transfer the same aggressive approach used in NO over to DET. The Saints MLB Demario Davis had the top season for a LB in 2019. The Saints were very creative with the blitzes from the secondary. Janoris Jenkins occasionally came off the edges on blitzes, as did S/LB Malcolm Jenkins. 

Expect to see Jamie Collins being in various, good positions to harass QBs and a real career reboot out of the high paid LB. Glenn will also use the Lions safeties (Will Harris, Tracy Walker) on safety blitzes, as he did with his safeties in the Big Easy.

• Aggressive defense in 2 minute drill

Unquestionably, Glenn will bring lots of philosophy over from New Orleans. One of the notorious tactics that the Saints defense did was blitz-heavy in 2-minute situations.

The Saints DC Dennis Allen liked to apply pressure when offenses had to drive the length of the field to score. Instead of letting the QB sit back and read the field, Allen would send the house and hopefully force the QB to make a quick throw. Allen learned this idea under former Saints DC Gregg Williams (who had a historically bad play with it) and expect Glenn to bring the same strategy learned under Allen to Detroit.

The post 3 things to know about Lions defense under Aaron Glenn appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

Team Defenses are usually drafted in the last round of redraft leagues if at all. Many leagues wait until waivers begin, before adding a defense, but every team will have to make their choice before week 1. Each year there seems to be one defensive unit that averages close to 20 points, but it’s usually difficult to predict which team that will be. Beyond the top defense, there are about 4 or 5 others who aren’t likely to hit waivers all season. The rest will often be dropped to waivers early or at least during the team’s bye week. There are several things to consider when choosing a defense, but one of the most important things is their strength of schedule. In this article we’ll look at the defenses in two divisions, to avoid based on their strength of schedule.

AFC North 

In 2020, the AFC North was the only division with 3 teams in the playoffs & their defensive units were no small part of that success. Taking a closer look at recent roster changes, this division may be the most offensively diverse in the league. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens were already tough to prepare for & now they’ve upgraded with several new receiving options. The combination of Nick Chubb & Kareem Hunt has more than opened up the Browns passing game, which includes big names at Receiver & Tight End as well. The Steelers already have a very talented WR room, which is difficult to predict for even fantasy purposes & likely more so for opposing Defensive Coordinators. The addition of Najee Harris & Pat Freiermuth in the draft will add more options for a team that likely still needs to get the ball off quickly. 

Though the Bengals finished 2020 with only 4 wins, they shouldn’t be overlooked as an offensive threat with the return of Joe Burrows & Joe Mixon, as well as Rookie WR Ja’marr Chase. 

On top of playing each of these teams twice, every defense in the AFC North will have to face the NFC North & AFC West. This unfortunately includes the Packers, Chiefs, Vikings & Chargers. These common opponents will mean that every AFC North team will have an unfavorable matchup in at least 10 of their 17 games. If anything, the Ravens may be worth picking up for the first 4 weeks, as they will face the Raiders, Lions & Broncos during that stretch, however they should likely be dropped or traded afterwards. While 3 of these AFC North defenses should be very good, these matchups put them into the category of letting someone else deal with them in 2021 redraft leagues. 

NFC North:

One thing that has been fairly consistent during the Aaron Rodgers era is that Half of the offenses in the NFC North are especially concerning for defenses & the other half just isn’t. This year it appears Green Bay & Minnesota should once again be on the right side of the division. As for Detroit, there are always an abundance of unanswered questions involved with a rebuild. This rebuild comes with a new Head Coach, Quarterback, several new running backs & receivers, as well as a promising rookie left tackle. While the Lions’ have youth on their side, this isn’t likely to be a top 20 offensive unit in 2021.

The Bears drafted their Quarterback of the future in Justin Fields, though he isn’t expected to start early & not much else has changed for this offense. 

Outside of the division, each team in the NFC North will face the whole of the AFC North & the NFC West. As noted above, the AFC North includes 4 tough offensive opponents. A pairing with the NFC West means the NFC North will have to face Russell Wilson & Kyler Murray, as well as the offenses of Sean McVay & Kyle Shanahan. These division pairings almost guarantee 8 tough matchups for the NFC North Defenses. Add 2 more tough division games for the Vikings & Packers defenses (making at least 10 of 17), or 4 more for the Lions & Bears defenses(12 of 17). The shared opponents alone on this difficult schedule are more than I want to maneuver as a fantasy manager. 

The post Fantasy Football: beware of the NFC North defenses appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Reese Nasser

The Detroit Lions sent out a defense that was more than lackluster last season. The defense was ranked 26th in the NFL. They also ranked in the bottom five of almost every defensive statistical category.  They ranked last in every defensive touchdown category. 32nd in points, yards, and both rushing and passing touchdowns. They also ranked last in red zone touchdowns given up. The defense also gave up 6,700 yards. 
After an off-season full of changes, the Lions defense is slowly starting to look up. They have made changes for the better and while it may take time to develop, this unit should eventually be a force to be reckoned with. Through both free agency and the draft, the unit on the field this season will look vastly different. Here are three reasons why the Lions defense will be better in 2021 than it was in 2020. 

Revamped Defense

Through both the draft and free agency, the Lions added strong defense players. Detroit traded for defensive tackle Michael Brockers, who will be a focal point on this side of the ball. They also re-signed star defensive end Romeo Okawara. Romeo had nearly half of the teams total sacks with 10 last season. The Lions also selected Romeo’s younger brother Julian Okwara in the 2020 draft. They will hope to see more of a breakout performance in Julian’s second year. He only appeared in six games during his rookie season and was plagued by injury. 

The duo of Brockers and Okawara will not only be the faces of the defense but will also be expected to be the leaders of the defensive line. 

The Lions also chose to go heavy on defense in this year’s draft, using four of their seven selections on defensive players. Most notably, in an effort to solidify the defensive line even more, Detroit went back to back with defensive tackle selections, Levi Onwuzurike at pick #41 and Alim Mcneill with pick #67. Onwuzurike opted out of the 2020 season but in his three seasons at the University of Washington, accounted for 16 tackles for losses and 7 sacks. Mcneill played three seasons at NC State where he was an anchor on the defensive line. In only 32 games, Mcneill was a disruptive player with 77 tackles and 17.5 tackles for loss. He also added 10 sacks. Both of these rookies will be expected to perform day one and one of them will have a starting job come the start of the season.

The Lions clearly saw the defensive line as maybe their biggest weakness so they did what they deemed necessary to fix it. They are also taking an approach of building with the line and then up.

Coaching Changes

Lions new head coach Dan Campbell is said to be a defensive minded coach. Campbell also brought longtime defensive coach Aaron Glenn in to be the Lions new defensive coordinator. Glenn spent the last five seasons as the secondary coach for the New Orleans Saints. There is hope that with both Campbell and Glenn working on this defensive unit, they will see drastic improvements from last season. 

Nearly the entire set of defensive coaches will be new from last season. Each member will attempt to implement their way of defending and if done correctly, this group could be very dangerous. The Lions have made it clear that they want to be a gritty team that wins in the trenches and with these new hires, they are headed in that direction. 

New Scheme

With Aaron Glenn being brought in as the new defensive coordinator, there is potential that a new defensive scheme will be implemented. Coach Campbell has noted that the team will play a variation of a 3-4 defense. The scheme that they use should be based around the players that they are using. In order to have a successful defense, players must be in a scheme that they are best utilized for. In the Lions projected scheme, both outside linebackers will be used more as extra rushers. They will be going around the defensive ends and going to the backfield. This change may result in some extra sacks, which the Lions desperately need after only having 24 throughout the entirety of last season. 

This new defense, while being freshly incorporated, could be exactly what this unit needs. A change in how they approach the defensive side of the ball could prove to be extremely beneficial. 

The post 3 reasons why the Lions will have a better defense in 2021 appeared first on Pro Football Mania.