So the preseason gets going tonight with the Cowboys and Colts. How do you like your team? Being a Texans fan, I’m doomed to another season of less than mediocre performance. We’re probably talking 5-7 wins and a battle with Tennessee for the cellar in the AFC South.
Thankfully, there’s fantasy football. You’re only like to use two Texans, Andre Johnson and Ahman Green. Andre will be a decent WR2 for most teams and I think he’ll do a little better with Schaub. (I don’t have a real good argument why, but just a gut feeling.)
Green’s nothing special anymore, but reports are that he’s healthy and won’t be in a committee. In years past, Domanick Davis put up some pretty decent numbers with some bad Houston teams so there’s some value there especially since Green will most likely get a high percentage of the offense to run through him. He’s probably a RB2 or bench RB for most teams.
Anyway, let’s hear the trash talk, fantasy analysis, whatever you got…
Being a Redskins fan, I am prepared for us to upset two very good teams, lose two to three games to clunkers, and finish the season either 9-7 and sneak into the playoffs in the weak NFC, or go 7-9 and try to lure Cowher out of retirement once Gibbs heads home.
Those are still better chances than the Chiefs have this year. The Redskins will at least lie to their convincingly. Here in KC we have a running back who wants to get paid, no one to block for him, and a cornerback (Ty Law) who falls down a lot.
The preseason started last Sunday, actually, with the Steelers and the Saints.
But I love preseason for one reason. After tonight, there are games on pretty much all the time on NFLN. Most are replays, but still…I can just leave it on all the time.
Ah, football indeed.
Oh, and the Titans won’t be at the bottom of the AFC south. Wait and see.
Russell still isn’t signed, is he? I wasn’t expecting him to play this year anyway, but that’s still got to be disappointing. He’ll be lucky to be the backup if he holds out much longer.
Every year at this time I manage to somehow convince myself that the Lions aren’t going to completely suck. It won’t be like last year:
-Calvin Johnson seems pretty good - maybe with Roy Williams, and Mike Martz calling the plays…
-Marinelli has a year under his belt, now he can really have things running the way he wants them…
-Maybe Matt Millen will get hit by a bus…
I’d be happy if the Giants managed to go 8-8 this season. No more Tiki to shoulder the offensive load which means the offense has to rely on Eli’s shaky QB skills. Strahan’s likely retiring which means someone else will have to step up and be the heart and soul of the defense, as well as the new defensive leader. I like Brandon Jacobs, but don’t know how he’ll work in an every-down situation.
If Eli can actually step his game up to where expectations were when they traded for him on draft day, the Giants could make the playoffs; most likely not, though, just from what we’ve seen of Eli so far.
I kinda expected it.
They signed Culpeper(sp). Which might be good. He has something to prove after Miami. Ofcourse he may just suck anyway. The Offensive line under achieves every year. So untill they get that straightened out. It won’t matter who the QB is.
The Cardinals really have a great offense, and I am expecting a good year from the team. I think you’ll see improvement in most aspects of the game from them. Quote this to shove it in my face later.
Erik J.
EDIT: Ravens fan. First year with season tickets. Really looking forward to it, and I think we have atleast one more good year before we scramble to find a QB replacement.
Hawks are on their way down, sadly. Alexander is well past the point when RBs start to decline. The only thing that might give him another good season is the fact that he had relatively few carries last year.
The O-line is the big question. I don’t imagine it will be any better than last year, which means badness. Fortunately I’m not certain that the 49ers are ready to win the division (next year certainly, but not this year).
The NFC West is kinda funny, in that it’s full of sleepers and teams no one takes seriously. Like no one is really taking the Rams or Hawks seriously, yet they’re constantly doing the best. When the Hawks do phenomenally well everyone is all “Pshah, it’s a fluke”.
But the Niners (under Nolan) and the Cards (under anyone) are like the constant total sleeper picks.
The Cards and Niners should both be monstrous this year, but everyone says that every year, and what’ll happen is that the Hawks will quietly have a 10-6 season and win the division and people will be all “Huh” and the Rams will sneak in with a wildcard at 9-7 and the Niners will be “just one more season away” and the Cards will fire their coach.
The Rams upgraded an already good offense with FA signings of Bennet and McMichael, and their rookie FB looked good in his first preseason game.
On defense they will probably be better, but that might just get them to a middle of the pack defense. Their first round pick, DT Carricker, has been wowing them in practice and had a good game against the Vikings.
They have a lot of weapons on offense, and it’s the second year with this new coaching staff, so I expect some improvement. I think 9-7 is very possible, which means with a few breaks they might win 10 games or might win 7.
I love NFL football. It’s the only sport I spend much time watching anymore. The others I follow from reading about them and maybe pick up some games during the playoffs, but I watch the NFL from game one to the Superbowl.
I don’t know BTG. I think you’re right in that the rest of the conference is on the way up but I’m pretty sure that neither Arizona nor St. Lous really have teams that are good enough to put together winning seasons. Both teams are maybe one draft away from being good enough though. The Niners are IMO the real contender with Seattle this year.
Either way I’m no longer confident in the inevitability of a division championship for the Hawks.
Additionally: The preseason is about twenty minutes old and I’m already happily shouting at the TV. I <3 Football…
The line is questionable, but they have a 2nd year player they are high on, Richie Incognito, and they have Alex Barron at RT who has a lot of ability and will hopefully continue to progress. They could have a decent line.
I don’t think age is a problem with Holt. Really, WRs age well in the NFL. The great ones seem to be able to have extended careers. I think Bruce still has something left too. Don’t forget that beyond Bennet, and I agree they probably overpaid for their FAs, they also signed Dante Hall to return kicks, but he can play some WR too. They really do have some weapons on offense and this is their second year under a new system.
