It’s here, the start to the 2013 NFL season. In celebration of the arrival of football Sundays, here’s a quick look at a few story lines you should be checking for this season.
- RG3’s comeback. How will his sophomore season shape up? Will he change his style of play following a knee injury? Also how will his relationship with Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan go down after an off season and training camp filled with second guesses about whose really in charge.
- Tom Brady might be one of the football messiahs but how will the New England Patriots fair with no proven targets for the QB to throw to this season.
- The Jets are unraveling and with Mark Sanchez being moved to the back up role behind rookie Geno Smith, the Jets probably will make tons of headlines but it likely will have little to do with wins.
- Will the Champion Baltimore Ravens be able to hang on and hold their heads high after a decimating off season, that saw their leader Ray Lewis retire to ESPN, Safety Ed Reed sign on with the Texans and Anquan Boldin being shipped off to their Super Bowl nemesis, the San Francisco 49’ers? Meanwhile, QB Joe Flacco cashed out in the off-season with a six-year-$120.6 million deal.
- Will the gritty Cincinnati Bengals be able to ramp up last season’s post-season play to be actual contenders?
- Same story for the Houston Texans, is the aging Ed Reed the key to their post-season success this year?
- Will Chris Johnson finally return to the player that rushed for 2000 yards a few seasons ago for the Tennessee Titans? There’s a lot of money invested in their running game.
- Can Peyton Manning lead the Denver Broncos to the promise land? Which in this instance is New York next February.
- Will ex-Eagles head coach Andy Reid be able to resurrect things with the Kansas City Chiefs?
- Can Chip Kelly restore Michael Vick to his Atlanta Falcon glory days- or at least something close to it? Without Vick suffering a bunch of concussions and major head trauma in the process? Has everyone moved on from WR Riley Cooper’s “N-word” incident?
- Will Jason Garrett make it through the season as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys? Will the Cowboys finally be relevant this season?
- Can Adrian Peterson actually break Eric Dickerson’s rushing record? He believes he can. But with Christian Ponder as his QB is that even remotely realistic?
- The Atlanta Falcons were one play away from the Super Bowl last season. Have they made enough off-season changes to get them there?
- Cam Newton’s third season with the Panthers. Will he shake off his sophomore dip and lead the Panthers out of the bottom of the rankings? Does the fact that the Panthers don’t have much to work with on the receiving end dial down expectations for Cam?
- Will the addition of Rob Ryan upgrade the New Orleans Saints defense?
- Will the relocation of Revis Island (CB Darrelle Revis) to Tampa Bay bring the Buccaneers back to life? They also spent dough to lure safety Dashon Goldson from the Niners.
- Now that there’s a ton of film out there on San Francisco 49’ers QB Colin Kaepernick, what can we expect from the Niners this season? Especially with injuries rocking their camp and preseason. Michael Crabtree, Mario Manningham, Kyle Williams and Chris Culliver all out.
- Can Seattle Seahawks Richard Sherman’s game keep up with his mouth this season?
