I might be wrong, but...
I'm taking a brief sabbatical from my book.
With the NFL season officially over, it is time to make my annual predictions.
For those of you who are unaware, every year after the Pro Bowl, I make ten-ish predictions about the upcoming season. These predictions are done before free agency, draft day, training camp, preseason, and opening day kickoff. In other words, I'll probably be dead wrong. That being said, I've never finished worse than .500 and last year I went 7/10. In case you are keeping score at home, some of the correct predictions from one last year include:
Favre’s retirement, un-retirement, late season collapse, and retirement (again).
The failure of the Patriots to win their division.
The retirement of Tony Dungy.
The rise of Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Johnson to the status of best receivers in the league, along with the subsequent (and rapid) decline of Terrell Owens and Ocho Cinco, among others
So, without further ado, here are some predictions for 2009-2010:
We are exactly 15.5 months away from Michael Vick becoming an NFL player again. And it won’t be much longer until he never makes another NFL roster.
Tom Brady will be healthy and the Patriot’s designated starter by the preseason. By November, there will be a QB controversy in New England.
Andre Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald have been the best receivers in football for a while now. But next year they still won’t dominate the headlines. Partly because their teams will not make the playoffs and partly because we are more interested with random touchdown celebrations than regular touchdown scorers.
The Denver Broncos will make the playoffs. The San Diego Chargers will not.
At the conclusion of next season, there will be legitimate discussion in Dallas about finding a replacement for Tony Romo. Jerry Jones will publicly give him the vote of confidence, but it will only be prolonging the inevitable.
Anquan Boldin, Marvin Harrison, and LaDainian Tomlinson will all be wearing new uniforms next season. Ray Lewis will not.
Of all the teams will a new Head Coach, they Seattle Seahawks will have the biggest improvement.
Of all the playoff teams, the Carolina Panthers will have the biggest drop-off. And they will not make the playoffs this year.
Marvin Lewis will be the next head coach fired.
The biggest NFL storyline will probably be something Dallas Cowboys related, but it should be one of the following:
Cap Off:
Two years from now, there is a good possibility the NFL will be without a hard salary cap. With the current economic climate and the cutthroat business nature of the NFL, this has potential to be the most radical transformation the NFL has underwent in the free agent era. And it won’t last long.
Young(er)? (In)experienced? You’re hired:
Blame the Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, and Arizona Cardinals for this one. In a league where job stability is non-existent, the success of these franchises (among others) has made hiring a young and/or inexperienced coordinator as Head Coach a popular move. There are lots of reasons for this but I won’t waste your time with them now. Instead, I’ll let clueless TV announcers refer to digital graphics that say something like “[Team] Players Older Than Coach [Blank].“ You’ll be sick of it by Week Four, trust me.
Most important position on the field? Not Quarterback.
I’m cheating on this one. I predicted this last year, and we started to see it in its early stages. Several teams making the playoffs with mediocre (see: Collins, Kerry) or terrible (see: Jackson, Tarvaris) play at the quarterback position has made this one of the most intriguing storylines. It was once believed that you couldn’t win without a true superstar at QB. But the rise of rookie QBs, combined with Jackson & Co. starting playoff games and Brady Brees Favre & Associates watching the postseason on television, this attitude has changed. Expect this trend to continue.
[Chapter One: Dogmatic Unorthodoxy/Why I’m A Heretic coming soon]
A Completely Unrelated Postscript
Some advice:
- Attend Spartan Playoff games this weekend.
And next weekend.
And start looking at airfares from Vancouver to Ottawa. Just in case.