Biggest Concerns for NFC Super Bowl Contenders

Biggest Concerns for NFC Super Bowl Contenders

Moves continue to be made in the NFL as we welcome you to a brand new hour of CBS Sports HQ. I’m Haley Sutton. Cut day on Tuesday saw teams secure that magic number 53 on the roster. And still a day later, clubs continuing to put the final touches on that roster ahead of week one. One move already a familiar one. The Vikings of course uh nearing a deal to acquire wide receiver Adam Thelen from the Carolina Panthers. According to our NFL insider Jonathan Jones, the 35-year-old Theelan spent the first nine years of his career in Minnesota where he was a two-time Pro Bowler. So maybe addressing some concerns for a potential contender in Minnesota. But of course, some other players may be looking to do the same elsewhere. We’ve got our guy Pete Prrisco joining us here on set as we take a look at some of these contenders and some top concerns for them when it comes to the NFC side of our Super Bowl predictions. I want to start with the Adam Theland trade though. Uh kind of feels like to me this is a band-aid for the first couple of weeks of the season to get them through. But how would you grade the trade here on either side? Yeah, it it is a band-aid because you you have injuries. Jefferson’s hurt, but he’s supposed to be ready to go uh for week one. Addison suspended for three games and then you have Naylor who’s banged up as well. So, uh they had hoped that Felton, the rookie, would have stepped in and done more. So far, he hasn’t. Uh it’s going to take him a little bit of time. he’s going to be a good player, but uh in the in the immediate need, they had to go out and do something. So, I get it. Going to get a guy, you know, uh going to get a guy who’s bit comfortable in that in that city. He loves it. You know, he was he’s played college football there where they used to train down at Mano. And so, I think it’s a good move from that standpoint, but you’re giving up a fourth round pick. There’s value in the fourth round and and so I think it’s a little rich. You know, there’s there’s a trade-off of other picks, but essentially it’s a fourth for the seven. So, I give him a B minus from that standpoint. I I don’t like giving up a fourth round pick for that. What about for Carolina? A B. And I don’t love it from their standpoint either in large part because I think he was such a nice security blanket for Bryce Young last year. You know, I know they have Ted McMillan and some other guys, but I think he was a guy that he leaned on a little bit down the stretch and so I think from that standpoint, it’s a little concerning. Okay, so obviously still some concerns on either side here. We do have a I’m looking at a video on social of Adam Thielen celebrating with his daughter and his dog. They’re to your point excited to go back to Minnesota. Um the did spend some time training with JJ McCarthy. So uh it doesn’t feel like that relationship will be very foreign. Um but there are still some concerns, Pete, when we continue the conversation with the Vikings. JJ McCarthy, one of your concerns for the Vikings this year. No question about it. And and look, he hasn’t played and and anytime you throw him in there, everybody acts like he’s a second year. know he’s essentially a rookie because he hasn’t played football and it’s been a long time since he’s played a competitive game of football. So, we don’t know what you’re going to get from JJ McCarthy. I was not one of those guys who loved his college tape. Uh I thought he was good. I didn’t think he was great. And you’re essentially replacing Sam Darnold who rolled up big numbers last year with JJ McCarthy. And when you do that, do you truly believe he can step in and put up those same type of numbers? I’m not so sure he can. There’s been some talk of concern about accuracy issues during the training camp and preseason for him. So, we’ll see. It’s a great situation when everybody’s healthy. When Jefferson’s there, when Addison’s there, uh, they can run the ball. The offensive line has been upgraded. So, he steps into a good situation. Kevin Oonnell’s a great offensive mind. But again, let’s see it before we start to say that he’s going to step in and do the same thing Sam Darnold did. The Vikings are going to take on the Bears in week one. So, that means we get to see Caleb Wilson or Caleb Williams, excuse me, versus JJ McCarthy. And of course in all of that is Ben Johnson, the former Lions offensive coordinator who is now the head coach. We go to Detroit next. See the six degrees of separation. I just took you through there, Pete. It’s true in that division. But when it comes to the Lions, your big concern, notably and rightfully so, is the fact that that team lost both of their coordinators. And those guys were a big part of what they did. Look, Ben Johnson was so creative on the offensive side of the ball, but we kind of overlook what Aaron Glenn did. Aaron Glenn had to compensate for losing Aiden Hutchinson and a bunch of bodies last year, and he did a great job doing that. So, you replace those guys. Kelvin Shepard takes over defensive coordinator. Johnny Morton uh takes over as the as the offensive coordinator. There’s going to be a transition phase there. That’s just inevitable. I don’t, you know, they can say he knows Johnny Morton knows the offense. He’s been around Dan Campbell. He knows what he wants and Shepard’s been around. But the difference is who’s calling the plays, the voice in the in the headset. And I think that’ll take a little adjusting. So, I I am a little worried about that. We’ll see. That might be great coaches. We don’t know. But until we we see what they can do, it’s always going to be a concern. Kind of like the same thing with J.J. McCarthy, just until we see it, we don’t know. So, we’ll keep a question mark there. Uh, you told us and you’ve been telling us all offseason, it feels like that you believe in the Packers. If there was a concern though, something holding you up from them getting to that Super Bowl, what would it be? And it’s concern number one for them as well. I mean, talking to Matt Laflur, it’s major concern for him is can they generate the pass rush when they need it? And Rashan Garry’s been a good player, but he needs to be a better player. And you know, in fairness to him, he was one of the most chipped defensive ends in the league last year. That tells you everybody was focusing on him in large part because he didn’t have much on the other side. Well, Lucas Vaness, the former first round pick, has had a great summer. He’s been dominant at times in their practices. If they can get him going and help Gary, that gives him a one-two punch off the edge. And Kenny Clark’s healthy. You know, he didn’t play healthy last year. He was hurt all year. And that showed up in his pass rush. So, I think you combine all of those, I think they should be better rushing the passer. and and and if they are, they’re going to be a pretty good defense. I have some personal pass rush questions, concerns on this list later down the road, but we’ll get to that when we get there. Let’s talk about the 49ers first though, Pete, because it it just feels like for Brock Pury, he’s going to always have to have something, right, that’s in his way. Last year, it was the game manager narrative. This year, it’s the fact that he doesn’t really have much to throw to here for the 49ers. Well, yeah, cuz everybody’s hurt. You know, you talk Brandon Aayuk’s coming off a knee injury. We don’t know when how when he’s going to be ready to go. Then you talk about Jeron Jennings is banged up as well and not happy with his contract. So there’s an issue there. Uh so they do have major problems at the wide receiver position. Ricky Pearaw will be one of their go-to guys early in the season. They’ll have to compensate by doing things differently. Hey, they still have Christian McCaffrey who’s healthy and they still have George KD who’s healthy and one of the best, if not the best tight end in the National Football League. So the 49ers with Kyle Shanahan will find a way to scheme away from them for a little while, but you have to get those guys back. You got to be able to stretch the field a little bit. That’s what I did. You have to be able to take some of the top off defenses and be able to back them off. If you can’t back them off as good as a play caller as he is, it’s going to be a problem for the 49ers. It’s good news though for the 49ers because if I’m not mistaken, they have one of the easiest schedules this year uh going forward. So, and they still have stars, by the way. People sleep on the 40. Don’t sleep on the 49ers. Still have stars. They’re not underdogs ever, are they? Uh let’s talk about the Rams. Uh some serious concerns with Matthew Stafford, Pete Prrisco. Think at first people were like, “H, he’s old. Give him his rest.” But now we’re looking at week one and he’s got a handful of I’m going to call them meaningful reps for lack of a better term here, but there are some serious quarterback concerns in LA. The concern with me is an older quarterback who has back issues. Anytime anytime you have back issues, it’s always a concern, but it’s even more so when you’re older. And so I think this could be a problem for them. And right from the get-go, who knows? Maybe he twists wrong or turns wrong when he’s in the pocket and all of a sudden he has to go out of the game and there’s going to be a real major issue there. And as somebody who can speak from experience from having back issues, it is not fun. And when that pain starts to set in, the first thing they want to tell you is get that thing surgically repaired. And most people fight back on it until the pain gets so bad that you can’t. So it’ll be interesting to see how he handles it. Can they handle it? We know he’s getting the best medical treatment you could possibly get. Uh again, but at some point 36 and back injury, it just doesn’t seem to mesh. Let me ask you this because yesterday when we were talking, you mentioned Jimmy G as your number two backup in all of the NFL. I’m looking at the schedule here. The Rams get the Texans, the Titans, the Eagles, the Colts, the 49ers, and the Ravens. And that’s just the first six. At any point in those first six games, if Matt Stafford, it’s just not looking right. the throws aren’t working, the mechanics, whatever it is. Can you see a world where we see Jimmy G early or is this just something we are locked in? Matt Stafford’s going to play through this back injury. Well, he he’s such a competitor and such a tough guy that he will try and play through it. But if it gets to the point that the pain a the pain is is so severe or b he can’t make the throws, then they have a decision to make and they pull him off the field. I think he’s smart enough, he’s been around long enough that he would take himself out of that scenario. Okay, something to follow. Uh giving you one last look there at the Rams schedule. It all begins with the Texans. Um, lots of questions with Matt Stafude there. Matthew Stafford, excuse me. Um, let’s talk about my Cowboys, Pete. Uh, we all know the one thing that the Cowboys have needed to fix for as long as I can remember, and that’s the run defense. They just cannot get it together. They brought in Mazy Smith a few years ago. That hasn’t panned out here. Who else on this team can help the Cowboys improve? Well, I think Mazy Smith has to be one of the guys. And And I know there were moments in camp where he did some good things, and there were moments in camp where he said, “Look, I I need to be better.” He knows it. Uh, but there’s a big body and the defense has changed now. So, I think it suits him a little bit better. But again, it’s all on him. You’re a first round pick. You’re a big body. You have to step in there and stop the run. And I think that’s going to be important for them. If you have pass rushers like Micah Parsons, he’ll be there. Don’t worry about it. He’ll show up. He’s going to get a new contract. You watch maybe in the next couple days. That’s the way it works. That’s the way the Cowboys always make it work. They do. Right at the buzzer. And so, I think you to stop the run, you can turn your pass rushers loose. If you can’t stop the run, they’re just going to run it, run it, run it. And the one thing you want to do when you’re not a great, you know, look, Micah Parson’s a great pass rusher. He’s good chasing down plays in the run game, but when you run at him, that’s what you want to do. That’s the weakest part of his game is running right at him because he’s not a big guy. So, I think when you look at it from that standpoint, they have to be better stopping the run. I picked up Mazy Smith from the airport when the Cowboys drafted him a few years ago. And every year since, I have just willed him to be the player that we expect him to be because he’s a humongous body. He’s going to be a big time player and the potential is there, but uh still needs some work. So, uh, big eyes there on Mazy Smith as the Cowboys try to take the next step in that run defense. Uh, if we talk about the Buccaneers, Pete, uh, you’ve also said that you believe that this is a team that can win that division for obvious reasons. They’ve done it what, five years in a row now, looking for number five, I should say, but Tristan Worfs, a big question mark here. Positive that he came off the PUP, but where’s your concern with him and the Bucks? Well, it’s always a concern when you have a player of that stature who’s not playing. And when he’s coming back, they don’t know. I mean, he’s coming off the pup list. We don’t know if he’ll be ready to go in week one. Hopefully, he is. They didn’t think he would be when I was there in training camp. They definitely didn’t think he’d be ready in week one. If he’s not there, it changes who they are offensively because you have to chip and that means they have to bring a tight end in to chip and and help who’s not really going to be a factor in their normal passing game. They got to bring one of the better blocking tight ends in and so that’s going to be a problem for him. So, it’ll be interesting to see if he’s not there how they adjust. And in talking to them, they feel they can. Look, as Baker Mayfield said, the offense will be no matter what happens. And and they’ve added some guys. I been sensational in the summer. No matter what they do, it’s going to be run the ball and Mike Evans. Run the ball and Mike, that’s right out of Baker Mayfield’s mouth. So, they’ll adjust to it. But anytime you lose a player like that, that’s tough. Let’s wrap it up. Talking about the team everyone is chasing, the Philadelphia Eagles. What concerns do you have about the reigning champs? Well, they’re making adjustments on the defensive line. You know, you get guys out of there. Sweat’s out of there. Milton Williams in there. You need got young guys to step in. Nolan Smith needs to step up and become a big-time edge rusher. I mean, so I think that’s the biggest concern for me is the adjustments on the defensive line. All right, everyone chasing those Eagles. They open the season against my Cowboys on September 4th. Pete, going to be exciting to see the NFL finally return to CBS Sunday, September 7th is the day that we have circled on our calendar. Make sure you check your local listings and as always, find the action streaming on Paramount Plus.

Pete Prisco joins CBS Sports HQ with his biggest concerns for each NFC Super Bowl contender.

(0:00) Minnesota Vikings
(3:33) Detroit Lions
(4:38) Green Bay Packers
(5:34) San Francisco 49ers
(6:48) Los Angeles Rams
(8:44) Dallas Cowboys
(10:09) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
(11:18) Philadelphia Eagles

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