Preview of the Philadelphia 76ers

 

A team that just seems like they can never get it done, the Philadelphia 76ers walk in to the 2023-24 NBA season with a very similar team that they marched out last year. But last year like previous years, they came up short and this time at the hands of the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. 

One major shakeup within the 76ers organization was the firing of Doc Rivers and the hiring of Nick Nurse. Rivers was not the coach for the job and year after year was never able to get it done, so the Sixers decided to hire an in-division coach in Nick Nurse for the job. Nurse won the finals back in 2019 with the Raptors, but just walked into a team that has a lot of drama going on. 

Although the rumors and discussions going on around the league about possible huge shakeups with this Sixers team, nothing has really changed besides the coaching situation. James Harden has wanted out as a Sixer and expressed that in a video that got leaked to social media, but nothing has been done with that situation. 

Year after year, Joel Embiid's frustrations continue to mount as the process continues to be nowhere near completed. Many thought they he could be on the move, but it would take a lot of time and effort to possibly move him elsewhere. 

This is a team that could definitely look very different if they do not meet expectations midseason or potentially try to upgrade during this time. Playing in such a tough Eastern Conference with so many contenders, it is hard for the Sixers to play at this high level consistently and when it matters most come playoff time. 

On paper, the Sixers are one of the best teams in the league, but when it comes to putting it together on the court in the biggest moments, they do not succeed. I believe that this Sixers team will look much different at some point this season with it either being shipping one of their better players such as Embiid or Harden out to a different team, or trying to make a splash and upgrade this team. Whatever it is, the Sixers are going to make headlines this season. 

Zach Wilson Needs To Be Replaced Again

 

A change is needed at quarterback for the Jets once again. A year ago it was the same situation with the same exact quarterback, but they could not solve the problem. This year they have a better opportunity to address this dilemma and figure it out. 

Zach Wilson was the number two pick by the Jets just a couple of years ago and has not nearly lived up to what the Jets were hoping he could be. Sure, he's had a couple of games where he's looked like an average quarterback, but the rest of them have suggested that he doesn't have the skill to be an NFL quarterback. 

For some reason though, the coaching staff wants to stick with him at the helm. Writing from the perspective of a frustrated Jets fan, it seems like after every game the coaching staff is making a new excuse up for Wilson and remaining loyal to him miserable performance after miserable performance. 

If they continue to stick with him and he doesn't do anything to help this team win, it is going to cost some people their jobs. I hate to say it because I really like him as a coach, but Robert Saleh's seat will continue to get hotter if Wilson remains the quarterback and there is no improvement shown. I wouldn't be surprised if a new coach is brought in next season if this is the case. 

Obviously, the Jets suffered an unimaginable event in the first game of the season with Aaron Rodgers going down, but this team is too good to not have a chance at making the playoffs because of bad quarterback play. As I've said time and time again, as long as they have a guy at the helm who is capable of being an average NFL quarterback, nothing spectacular, they are a playoff team. 

But Zach Wilson is not an average quarterback, he is a below average quarterback that states that he has "got to be better" and "needs to improve" but none of this has been shown. Throwing check downs to your tight end on 4th and 10 when the game is on the line is not improving, it's just bad quarterback play and it is happening week after week. 

The Jets management needs to come in and get another quarterback in the green and white and fast. This team is too good to be absolutely dragged down by the performance of one player. The defense is doing all they can just to get off the field and see the offense suffer three and out after three and out. It absolutely baffles me that possibly a coach's stubbornness could be the reason why he gets fired and not address the obvious situation going on right in front of his eyes every Sunday. 

The New-Look Commanders

 

The new and improved Washington Commanders have come out steaming to start the season. They go into Week 3 as one of the few undefeated teams left at 2-0 after playing some impressive games to open up their season. 

The Commanders went under a lot of drastic changes this offseason with the hiring of new ownership in particular, and the hiring of new offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy. Bieniemy had been the offensive coordinator for the Chiefs since 2018 and has been coaching in the NFL since 2006. In Kansas City, Bieniemy helped revitalize their offense and he is trying to do the exact same now in our nation's capital.

In Kansas City, Bieniemy transformed Patrick Mahomes into the best quarterback in football and was also a main contributor to bringing back two Super Bowl championships to Arrowhead. Now Bieniemy is bringing that same system over but this time with a different quarterback in Sam Howell. 

Howell, a second-year quarterback out of North Carolina, has had an impressive first two games in 2023, throwing for over 500 yards in his first two games. With Bieniemy as the offensive coordinator, the Commanders currently rank #7 in total offense, while just a year ago they were at the bottom of the NFL in that category at #24. 

Howell is a very talented quarterback and has some talented weapons surrounding him that he will be able to use throughout the season to his advantage. With Bieniemy at his side, this Commanders team could shock a lot of people this season. But, they do play in a very tough division with arguably two of the top three teams in the NFC in the Cowboys and Eagles. 

We've only seen two games with Howell at starting quarterback this year with Bieniemy on the sideline, but can Bieniemy transform Howell into an elite quarterback just like he did with Mahomes? If and once he does this, NFL teams are going to be knocking at his door to be the next head coach for their team as clearly he's too beneficial to a team to just be their offensive coordinator. I'm excited to see what Bieniemy has in store for this Commanders offense throughout the rest of the season. 

The Rambunctious Rams

 

In my eyes, the most surprising team up and down during this first full week of NFL action had to be the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams went into Seattle, one of the toughest road environments in the league, and absolutely took it to the Seahawks in dominant fashion, 30-13. 

The Rams did this all without arguably the best player on their team, definitely their biggest offensive weapon, Cooper Kupp. Kupp was placed on the IR before the season and will miss a minimum four games for the Rams to open up the season. But on Sunday the Rams proved that their offense is not all centered around Cooper Kupp. 

After the Rams closed out last season missing Matthew Stafford for their last seven games, we saw a healthy Matthew Stafford takeover the reins on Sunday. Stafford looked good as new as he threw for 334 yards on the day. He did this with the help of two very unknown receivers outside the Rams organization.

These receivers were Tutu Atwell and rookie Puka Nacua. The two each went for 119 receiving yards, combing for 238 of the 334 yards that Stafford racked up. The Rams would've loved to have Kupp healthy and ready to start the season, but these guys filled in his place and never looked back. 

On the ground, it was Kyren Williams rather than Cam Akers getting the spotlight as he went for two rushing touchdowns. Switching over to the defense, this did not look like a defense that went 5-12 just a season ago, this defense looked dominant. The defense held Geno Smith to under 120 total scrimmage yards and limited the ground game, mainly Kenneth Walker, as well. 

The Rams were nowhere near favored or projected to go into Lumen Field on Sunday and absolutely dominate the Seahawks, but that's just what they did. The Rams sure have turned a lot of heads this past week, let's see if they can keep it up. It's a small sample size, only being 1 game, but can the Rams keep this momentum and good play going throughout the rest of the season. 

The Buffs are Legit

 

The Colorado Buffaloes, also known as the Buffs, are already 2-0 and have improved mightily from their 1 win season just a year ago. That is all thanks to their new head coach, former NFL star, Deion Sanders and the different approach and mentality he has brought to Boulder.

The Buffs first two games resulted in an upset win over the #17 ranked TCU on the road, and then a rivalry win at home against Nebraska. Both games drew a lot of attention to the program and how they would put up with the heavy competition as a brand new team. 

The Buffs went from being unranked just two weeks ago to now at #18 in the country. A lot can change in one year especially when you have the transfer portal. The Buffs went 1-11 last year, fired their head coach, hired Deion and he already has delivered more in 2 weeks than the Buffs did in 12 weeks a season ago. 

We are in a whole different generation of college football nowadays with the transfer portal and NIL. The amount of transfers we have seen go in the portal in recent years has been absolutely absurd. Some compare it to NFL free agency, how teams are literally going out and signing these guys to contracts with the appeal of NIL money. 

This exact thing that we have never seen before is being embraced by the Colorado Buffaloes. The Buffs had a record-high 51 transfers come into play for Deion this season. You heard that number right, 51. To put this number in comparison, a full NFL roster consists of 53 players. Deion essentially arrived in Boulder, shipped the old team out, and replaced it with 51 new players who have put the rest of college football on notice thus far. 

If you want to take another team doing the opposite into consideration with the Buffs, take the Clemson Tigers. The Tigers have created somewhat of a dynasty with successful season after successful season with Dabo Swinney at the helm. However, this year they had just 1 single player transfer into the program and currently find themselves unranked after being #9 in the preseason poll. 

So has Deion figured out and shown the college football world what it takes to be successful in his brief time coaching in the FBS? If the narrative is true, the transfer portal is going to make a huge difference in the outlook of college football for years to come.