I’m not going to get longwinded about this, I just figure I will offer up a few observations about the upcoming season. Once again I don’t think the Giants will do well. Their secondary is weak and they’ve made offensive line changes that were needed but will take a season or more to take. Shockey will almost definitely have a very positive effect on their passing game but if the line can’t keep Collins safe (which it looks like they will have a lot of trouble with) then he will be giving the ball away again this season. This is also the year Ron Dayne needs to either put up the numbers or get lost. So far he’s been a bit of a bust. I don’t have a solid read on the linebreakers but I was very sorry to see Armistead go, he was and is a solid linebacker….

….So that’s about it on the Giants I guess. They will be lucky to go 9-7, and I’m figuring more like 8-8.

I don’t believe the Redskins-Spurrier ‘experiment’ will work out. Scrub quarterbacks in a pass-happy offense is going to lead to a lot of problems for them. We’ll see if their jackass owner can keep his nose in the finances and let the coaches coach this year. I’m not counting on it.

The Cowboys will be better but not as good as the pundits are claiming. They should manage an 8-8 or 9-7 season this year.

The Eagles should run away with the division, 10-6 or 11-5. ONLY if Deuce Staley stays healthy though – if he doesn’t they definitely will not go far in the playoffs, and even if he does stay healthy, I don’t see them making the show.

As far as legitimate playoff contenders, the Rams, Niners and Eagles are the teams to watch. I think the Bucs are paper tigers and don’t have a legitimate shot, though they should win their division. I didn’t pay enough attention to what the Packers did in the off-season so I can’t comment on them, they were solid last season but not spectacular. Hopefully they got a receiver or two in, they were weak at that position.

As far as the AFC goes, who cares 😉 I don’t think the Patriots will repeat or even really take a shot at it. I am betting on Brady going down or self destructing this season – no one is blessed by the fates in so many ways as he was last season without it coming back around the other way.

The Jets look better than I expected. The Steelers should be very strong, possibly strong enough to make it to the show if their mercurial quarterback can keep his shit together. I’m hoping the Titans do well, key players are coming off of injury plagued seasons and they’ve shored up their offensive line so I think they’ll do well. The Dolphins should make the playoffs but not go deep, unless Ricky Williams turns it on bigtime, in which case they might have a shot to go deep, though I don’t see them making the show either. The Colts are the real enigma to me. Some of the best money talent in the game, we’ll see if Dungy knows how to make use of it or if he piddles it away while trying to fix a weak defense.

Superbowl winner? The Rams should take it, they should have had it last year and if they had taken the Pats seriously they would have. Hopefully they’ve learned their lesson this year and will play to their abilities.