The NFL fantasy football season is coming and with a number of teams and players in the preseason, here are some defenses that could be a nice surprise in 2013, including the New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, Green Bay Packers and Cincinnati Bengals as well as the St. Louis Rams.
Some scheduling from NFL preseason as things are in full swing and after some interesting games on Thursday, the weekend will continue with games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and some teams that will be in action include the New York Giants, Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks as well as the Packers, Rams and Jets among others.
The Texans and the Miami Dolphins as well as the Jaguars will be playing over the weekend as well and some of the Thursday games included an entertaining matchup between the Chicago Bears and the San Diego Chargers that saw Jay Cutler and company come out on top 33-28. Cutler looked solid in the offense and head coach Marc Trestman was pleased with their production, but felt that the defense gave up too many yards, especially later in the game.
The Detroit Lions and the Cleveland Browns went at it on Thursday as well and the Browns ended up on top 24-6 to go 2-0 during the preseason. The team put up some nice production on offense with Brandon Weeden at quarterback and Jason Campbell also played very well during that time and the Lions may need to overhaul their secondary a bit after the way they played. The Falcons and the Ravens played in what could be a Super Bowl matchup and the Ravens came out on top 27-23 in the game to go 2-0, while the Falcons are just 0-2 this preseason.
The Panthers and Eagles played a low scoring game and Cam Newton and Carolina couldn't get anything going, while Michael Vick and Nick Foles were very sharp for the Eagles and each gave reasons why they should be the starting quarterback for Chip Kelly. On Friday night the Buccaneers and Patriots will play in New England, while the Raiders and Saints will meet in New Orleans.
The Raiders and Saints are both coming in after tough seasons and Oakland has a new quarterback to break in with Matt Flynn, while Drew Brees is looking to set new records again as Sean Payton returns from his yearlong suspension. The Raiders have a number of new players in quarterback Matt Flynn as well as cornerbacks Tracy Porter and Mike Jenkins and the team also added Charles Woodson as well as DJ Hayden, Sio Moore, Nick Kasa and Latavius Murray in the draft. The Raiders went just 4-12 last season and are hoping for more success and a healthy year from Darren McFadden, who has rushed for 1,000 yards just once and has played in more than 13 games in a season zero times. The preseason will continue with Week 3 after the Giants and Colts do battle on Sunday and the Giants will be looking to win their second preseason game after defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night in Week 1.
