Friday, October 29, 2004
NFL-Summary: Who goes to Superbowl 2005?
By far the biggest surprise has been the New York Giants. I thoughtthey would have one or maybe two wins by game six. Instead, the intensityof Tom Coughlin has produced on field performance. A disappointing surprise has been the Dallas Cowboys. They are nowherenear as good defensively and Bill Parcells made a mistake in not drafting StevenJackson. Instead they selected an already injured Julius Jones. In Washington, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is making an impact andClinton Portis really is not. Most would have thought that the oppositewould have happened. In Philadelphia, there have been no surprises at all. This may be thebest football organization not located in New England.
The Detroit Lions are the surprise team to me. If Ben Roethlisbergerdoes not win rookie of the year, how about Roy Williams? You cancompliment all the so-called skill players you want, but the Lions are a betterteam because of their offensive and defensive line improvement. Green Bay is no surprise, except for their Tennessee game on Monday NightFootball. I do wonder how much longer Brett Favre can separate hispersonal and professional life. He only has so much emotion to work with. Minnesota with Daunte Culpepper is a surprise, but remember the support thathe's getting from Mewelde Moore. When you can find a starter from the 4thround in the draft, you elevate an entire offence, especially the quarterback. I think Chicago will surprise people later in the year. I am sure theydid not anticipate using Craig Krenzel at quarterback by game seven. On amore positive note, Thomas Jones has been solid at running back.
Watch out for Brian Griese and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Personally, Ireally didn't have a lot of faith in him but he may have found the perfectmentor in Jon Gruden. In the exact opposite, Atlanta is having a good year, but quarterback MichaelVick is not. By Week 10 or so, this West Coast Offence and his skillsshould begin to mesh, if not, the NFL's greatest athlete may need to sit downfor a game or two. With Carolina, losses in free agency in combination with injury have made aSuper Bowl participating team look very average. In New Orleans, the temptations of Bourbon Street seem to take the mosttalented players and diminish their skills to the average.
The Arizona Cardinals are my surprise team of the year. I was going towrite all about how real they are, but I've yet to see them on TV.Arizona is turning it around because of head coach Dennis Green. The St. Louis Rams have no surprises in that they throw to win, and run tokill the clock. I have immense respect for Mike Martz but I do questionthat penalty assessment in the Miami game. With San Francisco, check out the next seven games on their schedule. ForSeattle, their November 14th game at St. Louis will probably determinewhether the Seahawks finish first in the division or even make the playoffs atall.
The Buffalo Bills are not a surprise to me at all. Their training camphad all kinds of side issues not related to football and consequently they nevergot it together offensively. With Miami, I think they still can win six or seven games because they're toogood on defense. Now that they're out of the playoffs they will play witha nothing to lose mentality and that's dangerous. The New England Patriots are the class of the NFL and will continue to be,but I also really like the New York Jets. Lost in the loss to the Patriotslast week was the fact that the Jets held New England to only 13 points, whichis a season low for the Patriots.
I think Baltimore is a surprise because Brian Billick has yet to develop adominant quarterback. I would not be surprised as all to see AnthonyWright as the starter by Week 10. The Pittsburgh Steelers are starting to look like the obvious choice in thedivision. Ben Roethlisberger beats the Patriots, then he will beconsidered the next Terry Bradshaw. The biggest surprise has been TroyPolamalu at strong safety. For a team to win consistently their number onedraft picks must come through as soon as possible and Polamalu in his secondyear is doing just that. The Ohio teams - the Browns and Bengals - can go either way. ClevelandBrowns competed extremely well against Philadelphia and Cincinnati beat a Denver teamthat was going into the Monday Night as the number one ranked defense and thenumber four rated offence. Both Ohio teams should be confident in the lasttwo thirds of the season.This is my favorite division. I don't know how Jacksonville does it,but with four wins inside the last minute of a game, you have to ask whether thewins come from skill or luck. I understand the mentality of winning theclose games, but the Jags are the Carolina Panthers of 2003. Carolina wonseven games by three points or less last year. Another team on the rise are the HoustonTexans. Considering theiryouth at so many positions the Texans are going to be good for a long time. I expect the Colts to continue to win again starting this Sunday in KansasCity and would not be surprised if they won their next eight games. Tennessee is a mystery to me. Did the absence of Javon Kearse mean thatmuch to the pass rush? What about Eddie George to the team leadership?The Titans are a good team that are not playing up to their talent level, exceptfor the Green Bay game of course.
The surprise in this division is the San Diego Chargers. Thedisappointments are Kansas City and Oakland. The known quantity is theDenver Broncos. I still think that Denver will win the division. The question iswhether or not the Chargers make the playoffs. They play the Chiefs onNovember 28 and the last game of the season, January 2. If San Diego cancontinue to improve in the next month, then both games can be competitive. Oakland reminds me a little of New Orleans, lots of talent everywhere butsomething is missing. Maybe the Raiders are missing a dominating runningback, like Ricky Williams. Then there is Denver. I'm am not a fan of any particular team, but I doenjoy watching the Broncos just a little more than anyone else. Rod Smithis the most undervalued receiver and in general, football player there is.
For Chris Schultz 10/28/2004
The Buffalo Bills are not a surprise to me at all. Their training camphad all kinds of side issues not related to football and consequently they nevergot it together offensively. With Miami, I think they still can win six or seven games because they're toogood on defense. Now that they're out of the playoffs they will play witha nothing to lose mentality and that's dangerous. The New England Patriots are the class of the NFL and will continue to be,but I also really like the New York Jets. Lost in the loss to the Patriotslast week was the fact that the Jets held New England to only 13 points, whichis a season low for the Patriots.
