nfl-general
The 2005 NFL regular season hasn’t even begun yet, and already the league is decimated by tragedy. The San Francisco 49ers’ offensive lineman Thomas Herrion collapsed and died in the locker room after a preseason game, Hurricane Katrina has left the New Orleans Saints homeless and hopeless, and a beloved legend is finally calling it quits.
From the day the NFL season kicks off to the day of the Superbowl America is glued to their television on Sunday afternoons and nights. For people in Philadelphia, New England, San Diego, and other cities that have solid division contenders the worries don’t start until the Playoffs. For the fans of teams in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit and other underachieving cities there is anticipation of a complete turnaround. Every year there is a surprise and this year will be no exception.
I’ve revisited the power rankings that I posted back in July and have made quite a few changes to them. Here is my revised edition of power rankings:
There are some things about the 2005 NFL preseason that have made you cheer, and some that have made you absolutely cringe. Here are some of the best and worst performances so far in the first three weeks of the preseason:
(Note: for purpose of this article, the week that featured the Colts-Falcons game in Tokyo and the Hall-of-Fame Game is referred to as Week One).
Every season there are several teams that make the big leap from mediocrity to Super Bowl contention. In 2004 San Diego, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta rose above most prognosticator’s preseason expectations and secured playoff berths by winning their respective divisions. This year will provide similar results for three teams who have long been NFL bottom feeders. Fans in Detroit, Arizona, and Cincinnati will be dizzy with joy flying with their teams into the rarified air of post-season play. Here’s the breakdown by division.
As the T.O show continues; so do training camps and the rise of the “other” teams in the NFC East.
Every year we await football season like die-hard conservatives await new furs from a recently endangered animal. We make our projections and tell everyone how right we’ll be.
And then the crazy people like myself even project which coaches will be fired. Ah, how fun it is.
So I got to thinking, just who is the worst head coach of all time?
August is upon us and some teams have already established themselves as favorites in their respective conferences. Between returning starters and new additions, the offseason has dictated some preseason favorites to win it all. On the other side of the ball, certain teams have been eliminated from competition before a regular season game has occurred. Whether it was a bad draft, no significant signings, or a major injury, these teams will be fighting to stay out of the basement all season.
by Trevor Freeman
If the NFL had a playoff system like the NCAA Tournament, where each team that won their division got an automatic bid and the rest of the tourney got filled out by the next best teams, AFC fans would rejoice. This is because the AFC would probably fill just about every at-large bid. You can make a very strong argument that seven of the NFL’s ten best team are in the AFC. From the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots to the “on the cusp” Houston Texans, the AFC is flat out loaded. The AFC East and West look to be particularly bruising. Since we began in the “Not So Wild” NFC West for our NFC preview we start back East for my AFC version.
Sportscolumn has one open slot for an NFL expert to be part of our weekly picks crew. This year, we are doing a podcast along with the written picks. Here are the requirements:
1. You know football.
2. You have cable or DSL.
3. You have a computer capable of running Skype.
4. You can commit to a weekly conference call on either Wed or Thurs night (TBD).
5. You don’t sound like you’re 12 and feel comfortable speaking “on air”.
6. You aren’t a complete jackass.
If you’re interested, send me an email at [email protected] with your name, age, favorite team, and any thing else you care to tell me about why you want to be part of our expert panel.
Thanks,
Vin