Five of last year’s play-off teams who will fail to make the postseason this time around

5. Seattle Seahawks – Lucky to make the play-offs in the first place thanks to an inspired performance by Charlie Whitehurst in Week 17, and even luckier to beat the Saints in the wildcard, I doubt the Seahawks will have as much good fortune this time around. Letting Matt Hasselbeck depart to the Tennessee Titans and replacing him with Tarvaris Jackson is a huge gamble, and one that I just don’t see paying off. The other three NFC West teams also look stronger and better equipped to wrestle the division title away from the Seahawks. Without winning the division, it’s unrealistic to believe Seattle has a chance of a wildcard berth with so many other teams in the NFC appearing to be much stronger on paper.

4. Kansas City Chiefs – Last year the Chiefs had a stellar season which was built around their success at Arrowhead Stadium, before faltering at their very own self-proclaimed fortress in the play-offs. The majority of the Chiefs’ triumphs were against below-par teams and it is questionable whether Matt Cassel will have as much success with a tougher schedule. Add this to the fact that the Chargers will likely be back to their very best, and it looks like the Chiefs may have to watch the play-offs from the sidelines this season.

3. Chicago Bears – In 2010, the Bears claimed the NFC North crown ahead of eventual Super Bowl winners, the Green Bay Packers. Chicago’s season was defined by a series of ground-out wins, with only one word coming to mind, ‘ugly’. The Bears will still be coming back with a strong defense this season, held together by LB Brian Urlacher, the heart and soul of the defensive unit.

Of course, they will always have their home-field advantage – the terrible turf, coupled with adverse weather conditions, always seem to trouble any team that sets foot on Soldier Field. However, there is a question mark over quarterback Jay Cutler. Usually a leader brimming with arrogance, he appeared to be dependable throughout 2010, up until his team reached the play-offs. Cutler has shown signs of coming unstuck a little too easily. In the Bears' NFC Championship loss to the Packers, Cutler went off injured at half-time and failed to return from the locker room to support his teammates. For this act of desertion in the team’s hour of need, many fans lost their faith in the QB.

One of the Bears' most glaring weaknesses is their offensive line, although much of this can be attributed to the system employed by offensive coordinator Mike Martz. Last season, the OL struggled mightily to keep Jay Cutler upright, leading to the QB being sacked 52 times - 12 more than second-placed Joe Flacco. Admittedly, the addition of Gabe Carimi might help those issues, but the Bears did themselves no favours by trading tight end Greg Olsen to the Panthers. I really see the Bears struggling to repeat a push for a play-off berth.

2. New Orleans Saints - It was a difficult choice between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints as to which team might not feature in next season’s play-off picture. On this occasion I have decided that despite many predicting a post-Super Bowl loss slump for the Steelers, they will still remain strong enough to make the play-offs again. It is the Saints that might struggle, however. In last year's wildcard match-up against the Seahawks, the Saints' defense was worryingly exposed, with Seattle exploiting glaring holes in the secondary and in the Saints' inability to prevent the run, a fact that Marshawn Lynch can testify to only too well.

Also, with Jeremy Shockey having departed to the Carolina Panthers, Drew Brees is lacking a tight end he can truly depend on with important check-downs. Head coach Sean Payton is placing a lot of faith in second-year tight end Jimmy Graham, selected in the third round of the 2010 draft, to fill the void left by Shockey. Not only this, but in a league that is growing ever tougher, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are now hot on their heels and are a team bursting with exuberance and talent.

1. Indianapolis Colts – Maybe a surprise to most but if Peyton Manning has any reoccurring problems with his recent neck surgery it could bring the curtains down on the Colts’ play-off hopes. Depending on Curtis Painter could prove problematic, even with Reggie Wayne pulling defenses apart. Proven in college but a long way from NFL stardom, Painter could find it difficult dealing with the pressure of so many fans expecting to make the play-offs. Having missed out on the postseason just once in the past 10 years, surely the run has to end at some point. Doesn’t it?

Rams close to fitting missing pieces of the jigsaw – Part One: Defense

After a breakout season for last year’s number one draft pick Sam Bradford, and a young defense which stepped up to the plate under the stewardship of head coach Steve Spagnuolo, Rams fans can be forgiven for believing a return to the good ol’ days of the ‘the greatest show on turf’ aren’t too far away.

Most of the talk pre last month’s draft was dominated by speculation that the Rams needed a no.1 receiver to provide a weapon for offensive rookie of the year Bradford. However, when Julio Jones excelled at the Scouting Combine there was no chance either he, or number one receiver in the draft A.J. Green, were realistically going to fall to St Louis at 14 without a team putting together an expensive package like Atlanta did to grab him as high as six.

The Rams have too many other needs and could not afford the luxury the Falcons had to exchange multiple first and second round draft picks. Disappointing though it was that they were unable to add Jones to the roster, when general manager Billy Devaney and coach Spags saw DE Robert Quinn – rated by many as the best pass rusher in the draft – drop into their laps in the middle of the first round it was an opportunity too good to miss.

Quinn offers an immediate upgrade to the front four and will likely create a formidable pass rush with four-year veteran Chris Long – a former no.2 draft pick in 2008 – and the experienced sack machine James Hall, 34, working in rotation – a tactic coach Spags employed with great success as defensive coordinator of the Giants.

Although the loss of pro-bowl safety O.J. Atogwe to the Redskins and the lack of a ‘shutdown’ corner have created a couple of glaring holes in an inexperienced secondary, the pressure up-front from Hall, Long and Quinn should be enough to counteract this weakness.

Either way, it is clear the Rams need to lure a veteran strong safety or cornerback from the free agency market to put together what would be a young and formidable defensive machine. The best available would be former Oakland Raiders defensive back Nnamdi Asomugha, but it is unlikely St Louis will have the financial resources to tie down a guy who is seen by most as the best cornerback in the game.

The lack of talent in the free agent market at that position is why there were cries from fans to snatch Prince Amukamara instead of Quinn in the first round of the draft, before he ultimately fell to the Giants.

But although it would have significantly enhanced the secondary there would still be the need of addressing the safety position, and it’s clear that, despite an ultra-productive season in 2010, Hall is unlikely to hit the same heights with his aging body, meaning Quinn’s selection was the more sensible. Especially as C.J. Ah You struggled badly as the third DE towards the end of the season, after what had been an encouraging start.

Instead, coach Spags has placed his faith in veteran cornerback and defensive captain Ron Bartell to lead the back seven alongside battalion leader James Laurinaitis – who was the centre piece of a stellar defensive unit at the middle linebacker spot. Bartell needs to marshal second-year cornerback Jerome Murphy, rookies Jermale Hines, Mikhail Baker and Jonathan Nelson, and promising young DB Bradley Fletcher – who collected four takeaways last season.
But the team is still short of experience on this side of the ball.

If St Louis could attract the services of safety Eric Weddle from the Chargers, Ike Taylor from Pittsburgh and an OLB like Chad Greenway from the Vikings, they could be the missing pieces of the puzzle. And signing players like Greenway, Taylor and Weddle to help mentor St Louis’ young group of defenders brings with it the real potential of turning the rebuilding franchise into one of the most feared outfits in the NFL.

It’s a long-shot, but coming off the back of a season where the team won more games than the previous three put together, the mere talk of it has got Rams fans excited about the team’s future.