As every sports fan is now aware of, the NFL is back and it has been in full swing. Last week was crazy as the "offseason" and training camps both started at the same time. It is something that we had not previously witnessed in the modern NFL era. With that being said, it did make things exciting because we had months of free-agent signings and trades condensed into one action packed week. With preseason games slated to begin this coming Thursday August the 11th and the dust now cleared from the flurry of moves, I thought that this would be the time to take a look at some teams to keep a watchful eye on. For some of these teams, you will want to watch because they are contenders, but others are

Last year, the Philadelphia Eagles entered life in the AD era. That would be life after Donovan as they had traded the quarterback who had been the face of their franchise for 11 years. At the time, it almost seemed as if the team may have to start to rebuild on the fly. The Kevin Kolb era was about to take shape and things seemed to be up in the air. Fast forward a year and the Eagles are now a favorite to win this year's Super Bowl and Kolb is not even on the roster. Michael Vick was able to resurrect his career last season as he showed a poise and pure pocket passing ability that had not been seen from him before. The Eagles were perhaps the most active team in free agency as they have added a multitude of talent to last year's playoff roster headlined by all pro shutdown cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. Asomugha was widely considered as the top free agent on the market and the Eagles came out of nowhere to sign him. He chose the Eagles as a place where he felt he would have a great chance to win and this may be based on how aggressive the team has been in adding pieces to a team that made the playoffs last year. Rather than making a few tweaks or additions, the Eagles have seemingly stacked their deck for a big time Super Bowl run in the upcoming season. Along with adding Asomugha, they also added defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins and defensive end Jason Babin. Both players are experts in providing a pass rush and pressure on the quarterback. The Eagles also added cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie from the Arizona Cardinals with a trade that sent Kolb to the desert. With the addition of the two aggressive cornerbacks to go along with two high energy pass rushers, the Eagles can go back to being the type of defense that we are used to seeing from them which is one that puts constant pressure on the opposing quarterback and forces mistakes. The Eagles also made some moves with their offense as they added Ronnie Brown to be the backup for starter LeSean McCoy and with Kolb now gone, they added Vince Young as the backup for Michael Vick. They have seemed to leave no stone unturned as they keep adding pieces for depth and impact which lead Young to call them the "Dream Team." This is a bold statement from any player nevertheless the backup quarterback, but there is no doubt that the Eagles now enter the season with a target on their backs. It will be interesting to see how all of the talent and egos mesh together as they still have to deal with a disgruntled DeSean Jackson and the issue of developing team chemistry. Andy Reid will need to find a way to keep all of these men happy and productive, but he has proven in the past that he is up to that challenge.

The New England Patriots are the team that is near and dear to my heart. They finished last year's regular season with the NFL's best record at 14-2, but they were handed a disappointing home loss to the New York Jets in the 2nd round of the playoffs. This left the team with a bitter taste in their mouths I am sure and Bill Belichick has gone back to the drawing board in an effort to keep this team as a serious Super Bowl contender. Tom Brady showed once again that as long as he is around and performing at his expected levels, he can make any team a playoff contender. The Patriots went last season looking like they were in a rebuilding year. The defensive roster most specifically was filled with many first, second, and third year players that did not have much starting experience. The offense still seemed to be loaded with Brady, Wes Welker, Randy Moss, and running back duo of Fred Taylor and Lawrence Maroney. Things do not always go as planned as Moss and Maroney were traded by week four, and Taylor was never healthy enough to make a difference. Fortunately the young players grew as the season went on and the reacquisition of Deion Branch helped the offense to be one of the best in the league. This year, the youth movement continues as expected growth and experience should help the younger players reach new heights and ability. Along with this, the team has brought in two polarizing and talented players that they are hoping will make a difference. The team has traded for Chad Ochocinco with two late round picks to help out a receiving corps that will bring back all of the players that were in the unit when the season ended. Although Chad does not give them the prototypical deep threat that the team seemingly needs to add an extra element to the offense, he does bring a strong work ethic and route running ability that will fit in well with his fellow teammates and the team culture. In the past, Ocho has been vocal and looked to make himself the center of attention, but he has vowed that he is a changed man since he is in a new "heavenly" scenario. The added weapon should help the offense out as he does still have the ability to burn the defense deep if they forget about him. That along with a defense that should improve should make the Patriots a force once again. The defense should be better with another year's worth of experience along with the trade for Albert Haynesworth. The talented yet troubled defensive tackle was easily had by giving up just a 5th round draft pick. If Haynesworth can keep himself motivated all season, it could be one of the biggest trade steals of all time. He has the talent to be one of the best interior pass rushers in the league, and could form an unstoppable force alongside Vince Wilfork. This combined with the recent additions of Shaun Ellis and Andre Carter on the defensive line and the return of Leigh Bodden at cornerback could make the defense the story this season in New England.

Since Rex Ryan took over in the New York Jets have been entertaining to say the least. The Jets embody the personality of their coach with great displays of swagger and bravado. Although I am not always a fan, I must say that the team is also great at backing all of the talk up and showing what they can do on the football field as well. Last season, the team once again made it to the AFC Championship game of the playoffs. This was their second straight year of achieving such a feat which is remarkable considering that they are also the first two years of Ryan's head coaching career. He has shown himself as able to coach in big moments and games and he has quite the talented team to go to war with every Sunday. The Jets went for a homerun in this offseason with a failed attempt to sign Nnamdi Asomugha, but came up short as you learned earlier. This would have given them one of the greatest cornerback tandems in league history as they already have Darelle Revis who is one of the best in the business. Instead they were able to re-sign Antonio Cromartie who is also a talented cornerback and quite the consolation prize. Along with Cromartie, the Jets were also able to bring back their number one receiver from last year Santonio Holmes. They have a new number two and three this year with the signings of Plaxico Burress who is back into the league after two years away due to a prison sentence and the ageless Derrick Mason who will bring veteran leadership along with consistency at his position. The defense adds some youth through the draft and plenty of trash talking ability to a team that is always fun to watch whether they sink or swim.

The Atlanta Falcons caused a stir during the most recent NFL draft when they made the decision to give up their 2011 first, second, and fourth round picks along with their first and fourth round for 2012 for the right to move up to the number six draft pick which had been previously held by the Cleveland Browns in order to draft University of Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones. Whether or not Jones was worth all of this bounty is debatable, but we will not discuss this here. What we can discuss is the fact that Atlanta was trying to accelerate their process from budding team with talent to outright championship contender. They now feel that they have the number two receiver worthy of lining up opposite of all pro receiver Roddy White to play on an offense that already has emerging quarterback Matt Ryan, solid and still talented tight end Tony Gonzalez and workhorse running back Michael Turner. The Falcons front office is aware that nothing is guaranteed and nothing lasts forever, so they are striking while the iron is still hot. They drafted Jacquizz Rodgers to help compliment turner in the backfield as well as add another wrinkle and element to their offense. Although their offensive line looked like they would need to be rebuilt, the Falcons were also fortunate enough to re-sign two of the three starters that were eligible for free agency, and that crisis was averted. On defense, the Falcons improved their pass rush by bringing in Ray Edwards who achieved a lot of success while playing for the Minnesota Vikings for the last six years. He gets to stay on the fake turf while still playing his home games in a dome which always seems to help pass rushers. The biggest problem for the Falcons will be that they are playing in the loaded in NFC South which may be the toughest division in football this year. They will have to play the New Orleans Saints and last year's surprisingly tough Tampa Bay Buccaneers twice this year which is no easy feat and may ultimately be their downfall.

The team that could turn into this year's version of team turmoil is the Chicago Bears. Although they won their division last season and played their way to the NFC's 2nd best record, the Bears always seemed like they were who we thought they were. It seemed as if there were a lot of smoke and mirrors that attributed to their success and they were ultimately defeated by their division rival in the playoffs, the Green Bay Packers. It would appear as if this would be a strong building block for the team, but things may fall apart for them pretty quickly unless they can get off to a fast start. The Bears have made some moves this offseason as they started early with the signing of wide receiver Roy Williams who had fizzled out for the Dallas Cowboys. Although Williams had probably his best career season when he played for Chicago offensive coordinator Mike Martz when he held the same position when both were in Detroit, he has spent most of his career being a disappointment and draft bust. There is hope that his size can be just what the offense needs, but if things are not going well, he may be more talking off of the field then what he does with his play on it. That has been one of the few consistent things for Williams as he seems to always have reasons as to why he is not producing to expectations. The Bears also have a situation with their starting runningback as Matt Forte initially wanted to holdout for a new contract and is now playing with the idea of sitting out of preseason games until he gets a new contract. If this lingers into the season, this could affect the whole team and not just Forte. The locker room is already unhappy about the fact that team leader and popular mainstay Olin Kreutz was not re-signed despite the fact that he had badly wanted to remain with the Bears. This along with the trading of tight end Greg Olson who was an underused weapon last season has made things a little chippy and taken away from the atmosphere at training camp. The team already had to deal with the Jay Cutler controversy from the playoff loss and these other matters have not helped. Coach Lovie Smith came into last season on thin ice, and even though everything changed with last year's success, I can easily see him still being let go if things go wrong this season. Their schedule will be tougher now that they will have to play a first place schedule, and players are almost sure to question Cutler's toughness at the first sign of weakness this season. They will make things entertaining as this could be the soap opera of the season. It could be coming to your town very soon.

These are just a few of the teams that can provide some excitement and entertainment this season. There could and should be more as the NFL always provides us with some sort of surprise or letdown. I for one am excited to see what will happen this year and who will emerge as both this year's title contenders and the laughing stock of the 2011 season. I will be watching every Sunday, Monday and sometimes Thursday to see what happens. Can't wait haha.

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