Football Case Analysis

Philadelphia Eagles fans will always remember Chip Kelly as the arrogant dictator who parted with the likes of DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin, Nick Foles and Evan Mathis. Mathis, of course, went on to win a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos last season.

Now for the bad news. The defense stopped nobody. The Cowboys had 250+ yards passing, 150+ yard rushing, and seemingly scored at will against a defense that looked lost on the field. This was a huge problem for last year's squad that ended the season 6-10 because the defense couldn't keep offenses off the

Unlike last week's game against the Los Angeles Chargers, where the running game was the focal point of the Philadelphia Eagles' offense. It was quarterback Carson Wentz and the passing game that helped the Eagles defeat the Arizona Cardinals 34-7.

In week 11 against New York, It took a gut check do or die 80 yard drive to beat the Jets with little time remaining. In week 14 against the Bears, a fumble late in the game ignited a flurry of Bronco points, allowing a heart stopping victory over Chicago at the gun.

After a 12-4 finish and another early playoff exit in 2014, the Denver Broncos came up short of their Super Bowl-or-bust goal for the third season in a row.

Peyton Manning is entering his 18th season in the NFL, and although some zip has left his passes, the 14-time Pro Bowler remains one of the elite quarterbacks in the game. At 38 years old a season ago, Manning threw for 4,727 yards and 39 touchdowns, leading the Broncos to a first-round bye in last season’s playoffs. Denver is looking for its first Super Bowl victory since John Elway performed his magic in 1998. As long as Manning is under center playing at a high level, the Broncos have an above average chance of reaching the final game this

Even if they do re-sign Ryan Fitzpatrick, the quarterback position will still be the team’s largest hole. This is a quarterback driven league- relying on the likes of a 34-year-old journeymen quarterback, a rookie who got progressively worse during his college career, or Geno Smith is not going to get the job done.

Starting our countdown, we have the Denver Broncos. After a narrow 24-21 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1, the Broncos welcomed the Dallas Cowboys to Mile High in Week 2 and shocked the football world with a 42-17 thrashing of the NFC East favorites. After one of last weekend’s most anticipated games, Denver has suddenly reemerged as a true Super Bowl contender.

The Packers now look forced to bring back up RB Starks off the bench as a starter to try to generate some type of running game. Without one, defenses will look to put extra pressure on Aaron Rodgers who can ill-afford to start taking hits in the backfield. The Broncos certainly exposed the Packers offensive line for being barely adequate while Rodgers looked a complete mess looking for open receivers with linebackers and defensive linemen in his grill.

With the defense performing at the same level as the last couple of years, it would seem Coach Pagano picked the logical sacrificial lamb. Associate Head Coach Rob Chudzinski, a former offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers, will take over the offense and try to figure out how to score on the Denver Broncos, the top ranked defensive team in the league.

With that kind of asset on the field, it doesn't make sense to pinch pennies and put the franchise's future at risk. To that end, team owner Jim Irsay stepped up to the plate and delivered on his promise to do whatever he could to bring a Super Bowl Championship to

Why start there you say? Why not start with last season's Super Bowl Champions. While Hall-of-Fame QB Peyton Manning spends his retirement becoming a commercial staple, starter Trevor Siemian has locked down the starting position in Broncos country. The Bronco's defense hasn't lost a step since last season and the running

Denver’s defense led the league in sacks (52) – Carolina led the league in takeaways (39). Carolina’s offense took major advantage of the extra possessions the defense gave them, scoring 148 points off of turnovers generated by a speedy, ball-hawking defense –led by shutdown corner Josh Norman, arguably the best tandem (Thomas Davis Jr. and Luke Kuechly) at linebacker (both head hunting tacklers with the coverage skills) and defensive tackle

The Lions are looking at yet another dramatic overhaul and rebuild. Everyone would be much better off erasing the 11-5 illusion of 2014 from their minds. The Lions weren’t good. They were only “NFL good,” a mirage of a weak schedule and fortuitous luck that cons many into believing a team is close to scaling great heights … if only it adds a couple important pieces.

When the Eagles have struggled executing these concepts, their interior O-line has been pushed off the snap and have missed assignments, allowing penetration to close out running lanes. The Cowboys defense did a tremendous job in their first meeting on getting pressure up the middle and containing the edges against the DeMarco Murray led backfield, and without positive yards on the ground, Bradford wasn’t able to get ahead of the down and distance. The key matchup on the outside between DE Greg Hardy and LT Jason Peters can come a long way on deciphering the outcome, but for the Cowboys to win their battles in the trenches, their interior front (Tyrone Crawford, Nick Hayden and David Irving) can’t allow Eagles’ guards Allen Barbe and Matt Tobin and center Jason Kelce to execute their blocks well, particularly when they pull on outside runs. Mainly, pressure up the middle will free up the outside rush and spark pressure from all angles toward