NFL Predictions: 10 Players Who Are Guaranteed to Slow Down in Season's 2nd Half

There are several players around the NFL this season who have gotten off to great starts. Unfortunately for them, this won't continue.

Whether it's a combination of a weak schedule or just dumb luck, sometimes certain players' numbers aren't indicative of how they will ultimately finish.

But as the season goes on, these players aren't flying under the radar anymore and have caught the attention of opposing teams around the league.

Here are 10 players who fit that description.

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Before this season, Ryan Fitzpatrick was thought to be a nice replacement for a team in need of a temporary quarterback. He certainly wasn't thought to be able to lead his team to overachievement.

Fitzpatrick has done just that in his third season with the Buffalo Bills.

The Bills are currently 4-2 and in second place in the AFC East. Nobody picked them to be where they currently stand and Fitzpatrick has been vital to that success.

Fitzpatrick has thrown for 1,477 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions with a 66 percent completion percentage.

Problem for Fitzpatrick is that he doesn't have much of a track record starting 16 games. The most he has ever played in a season is 13, but with the Bills winning, he will be playing a full season this year.

There just isn't much in his past to tell how he will react to big games against good teams late in the season. Seven of the Bills' last 10 games are against teams with a .500 or better record.

With more pressure than he's ever faced and a tough schedule moving forward, I don't see Fitzpatrick keeping up the type of season he is having.

Ben Tate

The Houston Texans have an interesting problem. They have last year's league-leading rusher, Arian Foster, as well as his replacement, Ben Tate.

Foster missed two of the first three weeks this season and in his absence, Tate emerged as the Texans' top rusher.

Tate finds himself in the top 10 in the league in yards (466), but don't expect that to last much longer.

With Foster becoming healthier each week, expect to see Tate's carries dwindle down to that of a backup running back.

Best-case scenario for Tate, he will be splitting time with Foster in the backfield, making it tough for him to have the 1,000-yard season he was on his way to having.

Victor Cruz

Weeks 3 to 5 were the biggest of young Victor Cruz's career.

Over the three weeks, Cruz had 17 catches for 369 yards and three touchdowns. They were three weeks that made many believe he was the new No. 2 receiver for the Giants.

Not so fast.

Last week, Cruz had only two catches for 12 yards and certainly didn't look like the great, new option that many thought Manning had.

Cruz now has the attention of defenses around the league and will draw better coverage as a result.

Looking at the Giants' schedule, it won't be easy the rest of the way. If all goes according to plan, Cruz may find it a lot more difficult to get yards and put up good numbers from here on out.

Cam Newton

Cam Newton got off to a ridiculous start this season.

The Carolina Panthers rookie and No. 1 overall pick has certainly made his case for rookie of the year in 2011. He is currently fourth in the league in passing yards.

Newton started the season throwing for almost 400 yards or more in three of his first four games and picked up a ton of running yards in the process.

In his last three games, Newton has barely been able to break 250 yards once, including a three-interception day against the Atlanta Falcons. Normally, you'd take that from a rookie quarterback, but after his fast start, Newton has slown down and made the mistakes you'd expect from a rookie..

Nobody can be expected to keep up the pace Newton set to start this season, let alone a rookie. Expect to see Newton's numbers even out over the rest of the season.

On top of that, seven of the last nine games on the Panthers' schedule are against teams .500 or better.

That certainly won't help.

Matt Forte

When your quarterback has been sacked 21 times and leads the league in that same stat, it can't be indicative of a good offensive line.

That's the reality for Jay Cutler in Chicago.

So it's hard to believe that Bears running back, Matt Forte, has been so successful this year. Forte is third in the NFL in yards (672).

Don't believe for a second those numbers will sustain this season. The Bears offensive line will catch up to Forte and the offense, and with a tough schedule, it won't be easy for Chicago.

Forte will get his 1,000 yards this season, but most likely won't get the 1,500 or so he is on pace to get.

Calvin Johnson

Don't get me wrong, I am certainly in the camp that believes Calvin Johnson is an elite wide receiver in the NFL. But the current pace he's on for touchdowns this season won't be sustained.

Johnson has 41 catches for 679 yards and 10 touchdowns.

I don't doubt he can almost keep up the pace on the receptions and yards, but there's no way Megatron will finish with the 21-22 touchdowns he is on pace for.

He would be breathing down the neck of Randy Moss' record 23 touchdowns in a single season.

Johnson's touchdown total will lessen as defenses put more pressure on him—especially in the red zone. Because of this increased attention, Matthew Stafford will have to look elsewhere to get into the end zone.

Also, keep an eye on Matthew Stafford, who got hurt last week. He has been described as "day-to-day" by coach Jim Schwartz, but if he misses any games, expect that to hurt Johnson's numbers further.

Darrelle Revis

Seven games into the season, Darrelle Revis is tied for second in the NFL in interceptions with four. He is already two picks away from his career-high in a single season.

I'd go out on a limb to say he won't surpass that.

Revis has three interceptions in his past two games and I'm sure offenses around the league are taking note.

It was well-known by teams around the league that you just don't throw the ball Revis' way. And that is being reinforced by Revis himself, routinely picking passes out of the air this season.

I expect defenses to adjust and the ball to come Revis' way much less. As a result, he will get less picks moving forward and Antonio Cromartie will be busier too.

Alex Smith

Alex Smith was a No. 1 pick of the San Francisco 49ers way back in 2005. He has only started paying dividends in 2011.

Smith has avoided making mistakes and is compiling a very nice season. He hasn't thrown for a ton of yards this year, but he does have eight touchdowns with only two picks.

His interceptions have averaged out to about one per game during his career, a stark contrast to what he is doing this season.

That being said, it's hard to believe that, after all this time of being a terrible quarterback, Smith has all of a sudden turned the corner and become a consistent quarterback.

Maybe it's Jim Harbaugh who has helped get this newfound success out of Alex Smith, or maybe it's a result of the 49ers playing better football all around.

No matter what you attribute it to, Smith has proven to be a disappointment in year's past. I have the "doubting Thomas" approach on this one: I'll have to continue to see it, to believe it.

Willis McGahee

Bad team? No problem for Willis McGahee, who has still compiled a very solid season with the Denver Broncos.

McGahee is 10th in the league in yards (460) and is certainly on pace for a 1,000-yard season from Denver's backfield.

Injuries may slow that down. Last week, McGahee fractured a bone in his hand and has admitted he will miss Week 8, but will be back by Week 9.

That seems to be an underestimation, as Redskins running back Ryan Torain had the same exact injury and didn't get back on the field for four weeks.

There's no telling if McGahee will be back as soon as he thinks and, if not, his numbers will take a hit. Even if he does return, there's no guarantee he will be 100 percent and get the normal amount of carries he is used to this season.

Steve Smith

With the addition of Cam Newton on this list, it's only natural that you can group Steve Smith in with him.

I already made the case that Newton's numbers will not sniff the pace they were in the beginning of the season. And naturally, if Newton's passing numbers go down, most likely, Smith's receiving yards will follow.

In his last five games, Smith has only broken 100 yards twice. In the same span, Smith has accumulated 484 yards. In his first two games, he had 334 yards.

So his pace has slowed down along with Newton's and that will continue. The tough schedule will make it difficult for Newton to continue putting up big numbers and, in turn, Smith will suffer the same fate.