What You Need To Know as the NFL Season Approaches – Page 2

The Seattle Seahawks have reloaded
After one of the strangest and most baffling endings in Super Bowl history, the Seahawks seem ready to avenge last year’s heartbreaking loss. Sending center Max Unger and a 2015 first-round draft pick to the New Orleans Saints, the Seahawks acquired three-time Pro Bowl tight end Jimmy Graham. As one of the rare automatic mismatches in today’s NFL, Graham fills the Seahawks’ biggest void of a reliable pass-catcher for quarterback Russell Wilson. Bolstering a stronger offense and the NFL’s best defense, the Seahawks are the current Super Bowl favorites for good reason. Based on ESPN’s NFL Power Rankings,they seem ready to represent the NFC in the championship game for the third consecutive year.

Coaching changes
With so much volatility in the NFL, the term “job security” doesn’t seem to exist in the head coaching realm. This offseason has been no different, as there will be seven new head coaches manning the sidelines. Rex Ryan switched within the AFC East division to the Buffalo Bills, Gary Kubiak replaced John Fox in Denver, John Fox now coaches the Chicago Bears, Jack Del Rio is with the Raiders, and first-time head coaches Jim Tomsula, Dan Quinn and Todd Bowles have taken over for the San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets. Every coach cited some combination of changing the culture, giving maximum effort, and playing with discipline as their plans for turning their franchise around, which is about as unique as answering with “world peace” in a beauty pageant. The coaching carousel will keep rotating, so time will quickly tell if these coaches were able to make the necessary changes.

‘Deflategate’ still isn’t over
I’m a die-hard football fan, and even I’m sick of this story. Dating back to last season’s AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts, it was ruled that the New England Patriots’ footballs were underinflated below NFL regulations. Declaring this to be an unfair competitive advantage, the NFL fined the Patriots $1 million, revoked two draft picks, and has suspended quarterback Tom Brady for the first four games of the upcoming season. The NFL Players Association and the NFL are currently in a bitter stalemate over settlement talks, as the player’s union is trying to have Brady’s suspension revoked. Time is running out on a settlement, as the Patriots’ home opener is on September 10th against the Pittsburgh Steelers. With New England’s Super Bowl rings being presented to them opening night, NFL fans certainly want Brady, the player most responsible for the Patriots’ fifth title this century, to be in attendance.

How to stay current throughout the season
Even with all of the controversy surrounding the NFL, now is the most exciting time of year as a football fan. There is so much content on the Internet that half the battle can be finding reliable sources. In terms of hearing about the latest news and biggest stories, no one does it better than ESPN. But if you are looking for information geared toward your favorite team, Bleacher Report and their “team stream” app do a great job of giving you all of the latest news. Sean Tomlinson’s recent article on Bleacher Report is a perfect preview if you are looking for more in-depth coverage on a specific team.

If you are an avid fantasy football player, Yahoo! Sports is the most thorough source of fantasy news, employing four “experts” who give their fantasy rankings by position based on each player’s match-up that week. Lastly, for betting on football games each week, Dave Tuley writes a column for ESPN called “Tuley’s Take,” or you can check out my weekly picks on NewArena.com.

With the regular season kicking off in 28 days, you are all caught up on the latest NFL news (and now know how to stay current), and are more than prepared to talk football with anyone and everyone. Good luck at your social gatherings.