The sports betting websites are more focused on betting March Madness games than anything else right now, but football fans are already looking forward to 2012. Some teams were a huge disappointment in 2011 and made a lot of headlines for the wrong reasons. But there were teams that made moves or shows signs of improvement that made fans in some NFL cities look forward in anticipation to what could happen in 2012.
Carolina Panthers
The Panthers now have its first-ever real franchise quarterback in Cam Newton. Now Carolina just needs to build a team around Newton. The offense needs another deep threat receiver to take some pressure off of Steve Smith. It would also be nice to get a running game for the 2012 season as well. The defense needs a few upgrades in the defensive secondary if the team really wants to compete. It would take a lot more to make the Panthers a Super Bowl contender, but it will not take much to move Carolina back into being an 8-8 team.
St. Louis Cardinals
The price per head sports experts cannot ignore the potential in St. Louis any longer. The common perception is that the team with the number two overall pick in the draft is still a long way from being a contender. But the Rams were upstarts in 2010 and fell back to Earth in 2011. With new head coach Jeff Fisher in place and a second overall pick that will probably become wide receiver Justin Blackmon, the Rams could be on its way to significant improvement.
Washington Redskins
In the days of the Roman Empire, someone was assigned to follow famous generals around and whisper “remember thou art mortal” in their ears to remind the generals that they were all mortal compared to the emperor. A betonline.com review of the Redskins’ 2011 season would create the expectation that owner Daniel Snyder has hired an assistant coach whose job is to follow head coach Mike Shanahan around saying “remember we need a quarterback.” All the Redskins need to be competitive in 2012 is a good quarterback. The team needs much more if it wants to be a contender, but it to be competitive it just needs a quarterback.
Oakland Raiders
There is just too much good to say about the Raiders to believe that the team will stumble again in 2012. The 2011 season was a bet online scam for the Raiders because the team lost its starting running back and starting quarterback early in the season. It will be interesting to see if Oakland gives the starting job back to Jason Campbell or if Carson Palmer gets to keep the number one spot. With a good quarterback in place and running back Darren McFadden healthy, the Raiders can be a factor in a weak AFC West.
Kansas City Chiefs
Once Romeo Crennel replaced Todd Haley as the Chiefs’ head coach, the rumors about Haley’s poor coaching methods started to come out of Kansas City like a huge release of bad gas. Crennel gives the Chiefs confidence and a chance to win. If Kansas City can stay healthy, it could also be an AFC West contender in 2012.
