The narratives are already out there; they’re just waiting to
be written.
Each NFL season is like a 19th century Russian
novel; 32 major characters with twice as many plot lines almost all of which will end
tragically for everyone involved. Can the Seahawks repeat? Are Manning
and Brady on a collision course for the AFC Championship? Can a guy whose last
name is “Football” overcome the irony of his surname (and his lack of height) to lead a
long-suffering franchise to something more than social media relevance? Those are big and important questions. And
there’s more. So much more…
Richard
Sherman won’t be shutting up any time soon…
We’ll start with the Seahawks quest to become the first to
win back-to-back Super Bowls since the 2003-2004 Patriots. Seattle certainly
looked capable of making history last Thursday night but as long as Percy
Harvin is healthy, don’t we all expect them to win by two touchdowns in their
home games? From my slightly inebriated perspective, there were times when it
was hard for me to tell if the Seahawks are just that good or the Packers
aren’t.
We’re only in chapter one and there’s time for several
reversals in fortune but the Seahawks have a championship defense and with
Percy Harvin healthy they have the triplets on offense in Harvin, Marshawn
Lynch and Russell Wilson. Seattle may have a weakness but it wasn’t exposed by
Green Bay Thursday night.
The
name’s Football. Johnny Football…
Is there room in today’s NFL for a guy who plays like Fran
Tarkenton? I think the answer to that question is yes. The bigger question is
whether or not Johnny Manziel is the next Fran Tarkenton or just another failed
Heisman trophy winner. The NFL has not been kind to Heisman-winning QBs (in
fairness, it hasn’t been kind to Heisman winners in general). Consider this
list…
· 2001 – Eric Crouch ~ Didn’t some team try to convert him to
defensive back? Did he play in Canada?
· 2002 – Carson Palmer ~ He was Andy Dalton before Andy Dalton.
Still trying to live up to his potential; now breaking hearts in Arizona.
· 2003 – Jason White ~ Would not have been able to name this
guy if quizzed on “Heisman Trophy Winners of the 21st Century.”
· 2004 – Matt Leinart ~ Ten years away from an appearance on
“Biggest Loser.”
· 2006 – Troy Smith ~ Is he still a backup QB for the Ravens?
· 2007 – Tim Tebow ~ Jesus is just testing him.
· 2008 – Sam Bradford ~ Apparently having knees made of glass
is not an impediment in college football.
· 2010 – Cam Newton ~ The jury’s still out.
· 2011 – Robert Griffin III ~ The jury just asked for
transcripts of the 2012 season.
· 2012 – Johnny Manziel ~ If he was really that good, shouldn’t
he have beaten out a career backup coming off ACL surgery?
· 2013 – Jameis Winston ~ Is it too early to see Winston being
drafted by the Oakland Raiders? Cue the JaMarcus Wilson comps!
It seems likely Cleveland will be 0-3-0 heading into their
bye week and that Manziel will replace Hoyer for the Week 5 roadie against
Tennessee. If Josh Gordon wasn’t selling cars, the Browns could’ve been the
most entertaining team in the NFL over the second half of the season.
Can
the Saints defense consistently hold opponents under 30 points?
No disrespect to Rob Ryan’s defense which is better than any
fielded by New Orleans since their Super Bowl run but how good do they have to
be with the offensive dreadnaught HC Sean Payton has put together? Drew Brees
never seems to get higher than #3 on the Elite QB List but he also never seems
to get lower than #3 on the Elite QB List, either. The Saints are deep and
talented at RB, WR and TE. Most NFL franchises would be happy to have either
Mark Ingram or Khiry Robinson as their lead back. Jimmy Graham is not a TE but
he is a match up nightmare. Brandin Cooks is the preseason consensus pick for
OROY, joining Marques Colton, Robert Meacham, Kenny Stills and Nick Toon at WR.
If the Saints can finish with the best regular season record
in the NFC and host the championship game, I think they have enough weapons to
edge the Seahawks.
Why
aren’t the Jacksonville Jaguars starting Blake Bortles?
They thought enough of him to make him the #3 pick in the
draft. Then they watched him light it up in the preseason. Okay, that was
mostly against second and won’t make the final cut string talent but after they
got a look at Black Bortles in practice and game action why didn’t they try to
get him reps with and against first team talent? Compare and contrast how the Patriots
handled Jimmy Garoppolo. Both teams knew exactly what they had at starting QB.
The Patriots gave Garoppolo the preseason game 3 start so they’d have a better
idea of whether or not they could trade Ryan Mallett and use the QB3 spot on
the roster for another position of need.
The Jaguars will be starting Chad Henne at QB simply because
that was the plan all along.
Will
NFL defensive coordinators catch up with Chip Kelly’s offense?
How do you regress to the mean when there is no mean?
Yes, Nick Foles posted numbers in 2013 that will be difficult
to replicate in 2014. He won’t have DeSean Jackson to throw to for one thing.
Defensive coordinators have plenty of film on Kelly’s fast-paced variation on
the read-option and will likely do a better job minimizing the explosive
running plays that make the Eagles offense special; there’s a reason LeSean
McCoy is talking about rushing for 2,000 yards this season. Opposing defenses
may know what they have to do to stop the Eagles offense but do they have the personnel
to get the job done? We shouldn’t forget the Eagles have the benefit of a full
season in Kelly’s system and the confidence that comes with success.
More importantly, Philadelphia plays in the NFC East. The
rest of the division is essentially starting over or in denial (I’m looking at
you, Dallas).
Washington has a new Head Coach and an incipient QB
controversy as RG III has yet to look like the game-changing force he was
before the knee injury and Kirk Cousins has looked fabulous against guys who didn’t
survive the cut to 53. New York has a new OC and a new offensive system that so
far has seemed to befuddle Eli Manning and his receivers during the preseason.
Dallas looks poised to lose a lot of games 35-31. Has any team ever finished
Top 5 in points scored and Bottom 5 in scoring differential? These Cowboys look
like they could make that happen.
So, Foles will likely throw more than 2 INTs in 2014 but he
may also throw for more TDs. LeSean McCoy may not reach 2,000 yards but 1.75K
doesn’t seem out of the question. I like the Eagles to finish Top 4 in the NFC.
They could get to the NFC Championship with a favorable draw but I’m not
feeling good enough about the Eagles to leave my seat on the Saints’ bandwagon.
Has
the 49ers Super Bowl Window already closed?
Yes.
Whose
winning the NFC North?
The correct answer is not Minnesota.
Whose
winning the AFC North?
The correct answer is not Cleveland.
Who
wins Legacy Bowl XVI? More importantly, who wins Legacy Bowl XVII?
There’s a good chance Peyton Manning and Tom Brady will face
off for the 16th and 17th time this season. Legacy Bowl
XVI is a given, of course, but most of us have penciled them in for the AFC
Championship game as well.
And why not? They Patriots met the Broncos in the AFC finale
last year and both teams got better in the off-season. They have defensive-minded
head coaches who boast playmakers at every level of their defenses and first
ballot Hall of Fame quarterbacks running complex, up-tempo offenses. In the run
up to the Week 9 Sunday Night Football game, both Manning and Brady will
downplay the rivalry. They will point out that they don’t actually play against
each other; they play against the defense. They will admit that they need to
play well while pointing out that this is true of everyone who steps on the
field. “We all have a job to do,” and “We all need to play well,” and “We’ll
have to play our best to win.” They will talk about how much they respect each
other, their approach to the game, how the other one works, competes, what they’ve
accomplished, how much they love to watch the other one play his game. But we
all know better (and so do they). This is all about Brady and Manning, the two
leading characters in the book titled “NFL, 1998-2018.” These are men who live
to win Super Bowls. And to beat each other.
Brady vs. Manning already holds a place in the history of the
NFL, if not all of sports. Bradshaw vs. Staubach? Please! Brady vs. Manning
transcends Ali vs. Frazier, Russell vs. Chamberlain, Palmer vs. Nicklaus,
McEnroe vs. Borg.
Yeah, I said it.
Football is the ultimate team sport but no position on the
field is more important than quarterback. Denver and New England might be
playoff teams without Manning and Brady; they might finish 10-6-0 – okay they
might finish 9-7-0 and sometimes that will get you into the playoffs. Manning
and Brady make these teams credible Super Bowl contenders. Okay, no, they don’t
play against each other but how they play will dictate the outcome.
I’m hoping both teams are healthy when they meet in the
regular season and in the playoffs. I’m hoping Brady and Manning both play well
and they’re both great games.
You didn’t think I was going to stop there, did you?
Yeah, I hope the Patriots win. Both games.
But you knew that.
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