BUFFALO, NY – Ladies and gentlemen, NFL Football is back.
At 6 p.m. Sunday evening the first NFL franchise took the practice field for the first time in the 2014 season, and it was the Buffalo Bills! My favorite team making the news aside as training camps get underway league wide… Here are Three Hot Topics to Keep an Eye on:
Is E.J. Manuel ready to take the next step? With the Bills starting camp on Sunday, naturally they were going to be the first hot topic discussed on MTM.
The Buffalo Bills are loaded on both sides of the ball this season, and the pressure is on Manuel’s shoulders this season. If the Bills want to make the playoffs this year, their second-year quarterback has to show up.
With the weapons general manage Doug Whaley has added on offense with Sammy Watkins, Bryce Brown and Anthony Dixon, Manuel is set to succeed. The Florida State grad is a smart guy who will adapt from his struggles last season. Expect Manuel to make great strides during his sophomore season. Bills head coach Doug Marone is.
“I’m excited, he looks good and confident,” Marone told reporters Sunday. “Obviously it’s a better situation. Last year we were explaining what the offense is and not really the ins and outs of things. This year we’re able to get more into the ins and outs of things, not just with E.J. but with a lot of guys on the team with the system already being in place.”
Will Johnny Manziel start Week 1? The Cleveland Browns have been the center of attention since they drafted Johnny Football a couple of months ago.
For good reasons and bad, they’ve been at the center of the NFL world. This is what they wanted right? The Cleveland Browns are relevant again. But how long will it last?
Everything Manziel has done until this point, from the partying, court-side seats and throwing out the first pitch at MLB games has been cute. But if Johnny Football isn’t starting Week 1, it will get old real fast. That is why the former Texas A&M quarterback has to be starting Week 1.
Manziel should be a pretty good quarterback in the NFL, not great, but average. The Browns have a defense that will make them competitive every week, and if Manziel
can keep the ship afloat, than give the guy a shot. I mean… It’s the Browns. What do they have to lose? Maybe they’ll finish over .500, or maybe not.
Will the Atlanta Falcons rebound? A couple years ago the Falcons were one of the NFL’s top teams.
Two years ago they were a first down conversion away from the Super Bowl. This spring the team selected in the top 10 of the NFL Draft. Oh how far they’ve fallen, but could they rebound this season?
This fall the Falcons should have they’re top two wide receivers back and fully healthy, which will bode well for quarterback Matt Ryan. The one problem for the Falcons is their pass rush. Atlanta had a pathetic pass rush last season, which will need to be improved before the Falcons can get back to where they once were.
If the Falcons can improve their pass rush before the season starts, than they’ll have a chance to make a move up the NFC South standings. But hey, the NFC South is the most fluctuating conference in the entire league, so anything can happen.
Feel free to comment below and come back tomorrow Grinding Ax Walter Hynes.
