We are at the end of season one of the Premier Madden League. I am going to take a look at the top and bottom of each division and give my thoughts on how each team’s season went. In this article I will go over the NFC in this article.
NFC North:
Previous: Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers (12-5): Who needs Aaron Rodgers? The Packers sure don’t. Love, Jones and the rest of the offense didn’t miss a beat this season. They were the number one ranked rushing attack with Love casually sprinkling 34 touchdowns into the mix. This offense combined with the defense which ranks as possibly the best in the league makes this team hard to beat. If things continue trending for them, they could be our Superbowl champion at the end of the season.
Previous: Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings (7-10): The Vikings at least place in this division was not on the PML prediction bingo card at the start of the season. Cousins played awfully this season and is one of the reasons for the less than stellar season. They had the opportunity to play the Lions in the last game of the season to determine who was third and fourth in the division and they showed that they deserved last place by being blown out. It seems they will be one of the many teams scouting the rookie quarterbacks in the draft.
NFC West:
Previous: Seattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks (12-5): The NFC West is the best division in the NFC as predicted. They are sending three teams to the playoffs and they all have a good shot at winning their games. The team leading the division was the Seahawks. They went 10-2 versus non NFC West opponents this season. They are one of the favorites to get to the Superbowl and will look to get a fast start round one versus the Bears.
Previous: Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals (5-12): Murray came back around the midseason point and helped this team win a few games, however, he wasn’t the difference that the team needed in order to succeed. The roster wasn’t in great shape all season, but they put up some great statistics, especially in the rushing game. They have an all star running back in Demercado, however, he wasn’t enough to win games. They were in most of their games, but they couldn’t make that extra effort in order to win them. Some people will say they were keeping games close then tanking at the end, but I think the season was a failure more so due to the lack of talent on the roster.
NFC South:
Previous: New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints (13-4): The Saints are marching into the playoffs at the number one seed. It’s amazing what this team has done this season. They were able to trade away high cap pieces to help their rebuild and still come out on top. The loss of two big pieces on the offense and defense didn’t phase them one bit. They could possibly be the only team in PML history that could win the Superbowl then have the number one pick in the draft. THey have the pieces to trade for that pick if they want it. Imagine that scenario….
Previous: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Carolina Panthers (3-12): Bryce Young getting hurt pretty much ended the Panthers season before it even started. The fact that they didn’t have their first round pick combined with the guy they gave that pick away getting hurt makes this season that much worse. To make this even worse for the Panthers is that they had a trade with the Titans which was backed out upon by the Titans. They just had nothing to look forward to this season. They will need to make good on free agency and the later stages of the draft in order to get some players who will give them a chance to compete.
NFC East:
Previous: Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys (11-5-1): The Cowboys started out on quite the hot streak, but fizzled out near the end of the season. Was this possibly due to them locking the division up earlier than normal, or was it the normal losing streak that their Coach normally has this time of the year? They will get a chance to prove that they are for real in the Wildcard round. If they win they will cement themselves as a legit competitor, but if they lose, rumors will be told that all they are is a placeholder team that won the division by default.
Previous: New York Giants
Washington Commanders (3-13-1): The Commanders started off the season strong winning their first 2 games. They showed themselves as legit contenders in the league, however, then reality set in and they proceeded to lose/tie every game but one. Mixed into this losing streak was some close games, some blowouts, then a 72-0 loss. The defense has a lot of great talent, but the offense couldn’t score at all. They need to address the offense in the offseason and this may take the form of a rookie quarterback at pick 3.
