NFL Kickoff

Woohoo! NFL season is finally here! Unfortunately, my excitement has been tempered lately by a) long hours at work and b) the Colts beating up on the Saints on Opening Night. But once Sunday rolls around....oh it's on, baby.

Blogman and I usually start off the year trying to predict which teams will make the playoffs in the coming year. Generally, a good rule of thumb to start with is that of the 12 playoff teams from the previous year, only half will make the playoffs again, and six new teams will enter the fray. Checking the previous years' results:

2005 playoff teams:
AFC: Patriots, Colts, Broncos, Steelers, Jaguars, Bengals
NFC: Bears, Bucs, Redskins, Seahawks, Giants, Panthers

2006 playoff teams:
AFC: Patriots, Colts, Chargers, Chiefs, Ravens, Jets
NFC: Bears, Seahawks, Giants, Eagles, Cowboys, Saints

Pretty close--in the AFC, the Broncos, Jags, and Bengals all had a chance to get final playoff spot, but somehow they all managed to lose a must-win game and allow the Chiefs to get into the playoffs.

So what does the Wacky Chinaman predict for 2007? Let's start with the crummy NFC.

Returning NFC teams:
Bears - hard to imagine them not winning their division, even with Grossman stinking it up
Eagles - healthy McNabb makes them hard to beat
Seahawks- process of elimination: Giants suck, Cowboys suck, Saints probably not as good/lucky as last year.

New NFC playoff teams:
Panthers - still a good team, though ridiculously inconsistent
49ers - much improved over last year, probably sneak in as a wild card if they don't win their division
Falcons - maybe I'm crazy, but I think they'll be better without Vick

In truth, I'm not comfortable with any of these guesses. No one in the NFC looks good to me, really. As for the AFC, it's a much better conference, and also more predictable:

Returning AFC playoff teams:
Patriots - Can't go wrong with Brady and Belichick!
Colts - pretty obvious they'll be in the mix, but will receive no compliments from the Wacky Chinaman
Chargers - I think they'll struggle more than most people think, but ultimately claw their way in.

New playoff teams:
Steelers - last year seems like an aberration
Broncos - they're always in the hunt--I think they beat out the chargers for the division title
Titans - of all the remaining teams, they has the best coach/QB combo, though I admit the rest of the team doesn't look so hot. At all.

I'll close this football-heavy post with some quick thoughts on the upcoming Patriots-Jets game:

-Stop calling Jets coach Eric Mangini "Mangenius." I suspect this got started after last year's improbable win over the Patriots, but honestly, it's a little much. The Jets definitely play better under him, but it's a little early for this moniker, no?

-I don't think I'm going to ever be a Randy Moss fan, but I'm sure excited to see what he can do as a Patriot. He seems to be a lousy route runner, but damn if he doesn't look fluid hauling in deep passes.

-I'm going to miss Seymour and Harrison. Not so much Seymour, because his contributions aren't highlight-reel stuff, but Harrison is just plain fun to watch. As a Rodney Harrison fan, I'm really disappointed that he was caught using HGH. This unfortunately means that his career is tainted, regardless of if he had been clean for 95% of the time. However, I am happy that he made no excuses for his bad decisions, accepted his punishment, and reportedly cooperated fully in the investigation without ever trying to cover up his actions. That, at least, sounds like the Rodney Harrison I know.

RBs are the new WRs

Remember when it was only wide receivers who wrote self-important football memoirs and provided the sports media with juicy sound bites? This week, running backs Jerome Bettis and Tiki Barber generated some mild sports controversy with some sneak peeks at their upcoming books. It's no coincidence that both these retired players now work as analysts for major sports networks.

Bettis' book reveals that he once faked an injury to avoid being cut, an admission that seems to rub some Steelers fans the wrong way. I don't particularly have a problem with what he did (it's not hard to believe that this kind of thing happens when there's so much money on the line) though I do think this kind of public admission is a bit unseemly. Bettis is a pretty popular player, but he probably would be better off if he had kept this story to himself.

As for Tiki Barber, king of the self-important sound bite, his new book asserts that he would not have retired were it not for NY Giants head coach Tom Coughlin robbing him of the joy of playing football. Openly criticizing Giants employees is nothing new for Barber--not only did he bitch and whine about the coaching staff as a player, but he recently ripped Giants QB Eli Manning on NBC a few weeks ago.

According to the NY Daily News, Tiki's book states:

"If Tom Coughlin had not remained as head coach of the Giants, I might still be in a Giants uniform....[Coughlin] robbed me of what had been one of the most important things I had in my life, which was the joy I felt playing football. I had lost that. He had taken it away."

Hold on a sec. Let's not forget that the 3 best years of Tiki's 10-year career were the 3 years that he played under Tom Coughlin. So perhaps it should have read:

"If Tom Coughlin had not ever been the head coach of the Giants, I might still be another mediocre player who never reached his potential...[Coughlin] robbed me of habit I had of fumbling the football. I had lost my propensity to fumble and underachieve. He had taken it away."

Tiki begrudgingly acknowledges that his best years were under Coughlin, but unsurprisingly still comes off as an ass:

"It's a double-edged sword, because as much as Coach Coughlin helped me, I also helped Tom Coughlin." Like BOTH times you told the media that the Giants were outcoached? Yeess....no further thanks necessary.

I give it 3 years before Tiki starts complaining to TV Guide about his bosses at NBC Sports.

Things like this make me appreciate players like Tedy Bruschi even more. At least when he writes a book, he resists the temptation to throw his colleagues under the bus. Bruschi's book is pretty light on self-promotion and heavy on the introspection, as he discusses his stroke, the tension with his wife and family during his recovery, and mentally struggling to come to terms with what appeared to be the end of his football career. A great read for Patriots fans, totally boring for everyone else.