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The Football Diner Big Top 5
A Look Into The Crystal Ball
by Jody Jamieson
21/5/2008
Now that most of the major wheeling, dealing and roster additions have been made, we’re all spending far too many man hours studying the schedule and dissecting the opposition to see how far we believe our respective teams will go. We’re looking back on scouting reports and any game film that we can find to see if that 7th round draft pick might end up being a great steal, and we’re all hoping that maybe, just maybe our teams can add that last missing piece of the puzzle between now and opening day to turn our teams from nearly men to Super Bowl contenders.
It doesn’t matter if you follow the hapless, the hopeless, the hopeful or the wonderful. Everyone is feeling that optimism, however slight it may be in some cases, that 2008 may bring better days. I have been dragged into it by becoming stupidly excited at the catches DeSean Jackson is making in mini-camp. Yes, that is as ludicrous as it sounds.
But as we look forward instead of looking back, I thought it may be time to make some early predictions for the year ahead. Some may shock, and some may follow a popular trend that has formed around the league. But as we are looking ahead right now, I hope I won’t be looking back and wondering “What was I thinking?!?!” in about nine months time. This week on Top Fives it’s crazy predictions time.
I look forward to the roasting!
5. The Cleveland Browns will win the AFC North.
A popular choice among many. My biggest concern is still their defense. The trade for Shaun Rogers may be a great one, but giving up a 3rd rounder and Leigh Bodden was strange to me. Rogers can suffer from a bad case of lazy-itis at times, but he is undoubtedly a playmaker in an area of need. The problem is they have really weakened their secondary in doing it. Bodden had a very good year last year, and I worry about said secondary in his absence. Cleveland couldn’t stop the run, so adding Rogers and Corey Williams makes perfect sense, but Can they defend the pass now?
The good news for Cleveland is that no matter how many points their defense concedes, they have an offense that can be as powerful as any in the NFL. Derek Anderson slowed down slightly towards the end, but had a great year overall. Braylon Edwards is a true elite NFL receiver, and the addition of Donte Stallworth should add to an already exciting passing game in a positive way. If the Browns offensive line can keep playing as well as it has, and Jamal Lewis’s Indian Summer continues for another fall, they’ll fancy their chances of making at least the AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs. And we all know what can happen when you get there. That’s the beauty of them.
I still don’t see Cleveland as a Super Bowl candidate. They still have a bit of work to do. But with the Steelers looking like they can keep Big Ben standing, the Ravens in a bit of transition, and the Bengals being as dysfunctional as any team I can ever remember, the door is open for Romeo Crennel and his boys to win a possibly weak AFC North for the first time since they re-entered the league in 1999.
4. Chad Johnson will have 1000 yards receiving for the Bengals in 2008.
 If Johnson plays then this goes without saying. The biggest doubt is obviously that Agent Ocho is having a hissy fit about wanting to be traded and threatening to sit out the entire season. However we all know that Chad Johnson is a little bit over emotional and won’t be able to sit out for a whole year without getting itchy feet around July or August. He loves playing the game too much. Pair that with the $8 million cap hit from trading him which the Bengals would be stupid to take. Johnson will play and play well for Cincinnati.
I’m very confident of this.
End of discussion.
3. The Chicago Bears will lose 10 games in 2008.
I just don’t see how this team will compete in the new season. Their defense is still very very good. Unfortunately the offense is dreadful and won’t put enough points on the board to win games. Bernard Berrian was the only respectable receiver last year in Chicago, but he’ll be catching balls for a divisional rival in Minnesota this year. A bad receiving core has got much, much worse with that move and the release of Mushin Muhammed. Muhammed is getting on a bit, but he was still better than anything they have at the moment. From the draft I can’t say that the Matt Forte pick fills me with that much excitement. Chris Williams should be a solid pickup, but I thought that Branden Albert was a smarter choice in the first round for Chicago.
Any team that kicks to Devin Hester this season deserves whatever they get. The Bears have huge holes in every part of their offense (with the exception of tight end) and I think that right now I’d be willing to give them the field position as I’d be confident of holding them out of the endzone.
If the Bears were to go 8-8 I would honestly be shocked. I look for them to be 6-10 or 5-11.
2. Brett Favre will play in 2008.
The more time that passes since Favre’s emotional retirement speech, the more I am convinced that we’ll see him back.
I love it when players go out on a high and don’t play long after their bodies start to shut down and performances start to drop. That’s why Favre has timed his retirement very well indeed. Sure, it would have been perfect to go out with a Super Bowl ring, but he had his best season in years and led a very young Green Bay team to the brink of the Super Bowl. Favre has nothing left to prove.
Now I’m no psychologist, but it seems to me that Favre is having second thoughts already. He came out and made a “something is bound to happen” comment recently on an American chat show which was the biggest hint that he’s open to any offers. It obvious he still has the desire to play, but he doesn’t seem to have the desire to practice. If something was to happen to Aaron Rodgers they’re not going to throw 2nd round pick Brian Brohm in straight away. That’s when Green Bay would likely pick up the phone.
Number 4 would have a hard job turning that offer down.
1. The Super Bowl Champion New York Giants will fail to make the playoffs.
 Blasphemy I hear you cry!
Well I have my reasons for this one. First off, I’m still not convinced that Eli Manning is going to be as consistent over 16 games as he was in the playoffs. It wasn’t a million years ago that he threw 4 interceptions against the Vikings in a Meadowlands mauling. He had a few ropey games towards the end of the regular season before he stepped up in a big way to lead the Giants to the biggest prize in football. But they’re still a team who can be beaten on any given Sunday. They may have the best pass rush in the game, but one of the biggest pieces of that puzzle, Michael Strahan, may not come back. Justin Tuck should slot in nicely, but Strahan has been the heart and soul of that D for a long time now, and would be sorely missed. Their secondary still has question marks, and their offensive line is not particularly consistent in my view. A few free agent losses, most notably at linebacker, are likely to have an effect, although I do think Kenny Phillips is an excellent replacement for Gibril Wilson, and will most likely become an upgrade.
I cannot see the Giants winning the division. That will likely go again to Dallas. Which leaves essentially 12 teams battling for two spots as a Wildcard team. While the NFC isn’t awash with elite teams like the AFC, they have a lot of teams capable of winning 10 games and beating out the Giants in the race for a wild card spot.
I don’t want to take away from their fantastic achievements last year. Winning the Super Bowl against all the odds was incredible.
Off-Season Thoughts
The Baltimore Ravens caused a bit of a scene at OTA’s recently, getting involved in a huge brawl among themselves. This can be looked at in two ways. Either it’s a case of a hungry team who are so desperate to succeed they are up to full intensity in May, or it’s a case of a team which is lacking any sort of discipline. We all know what has happened to the Bengals in their crazy schoolyard, and it would be sad to think that the Ravens are going the same way. However I wouldn’t worry about it too much, and in most situations if I’m new head coach John Harbaugh, I’m standing watching the madness unfold with a wry smile on my face, delighted by the passion of 85 guys fighting for 53 roster spots. This could be a defining moment in the Ravens ’08 campaign. I hear that Brian Billick’s team events were rather relaxed and lacked passion. Maybe this spat is the sign that things will change for the better in Baltimore under the new regime.
The chance of the NFL owners opting out of the CBA is getting higher by the day. Many people point to this as being the end of football as we know it. I like the Salary Cap and think it is a great thing, but in all truth if it was to go I’m pretty sure I’d get over it. What really worries me is the possibility of a 2011 lockout. In my opinion, the NHL hasn’t quite recovered even now from their lockout a few years back, which was so damaging at the time, and still has some lasting effects. In America, football is king, and I think both parties have to think long and hard before the jeopardize this over money, however greedy they all seem to be.
And Finally…
I’ve never been much of a basketball fan, but I have to say I did really get into the NCAA March Madness Tournament this year. The set up is fantastic and it is a great way to decide the National Champion in college basketball. It is because of the success of March Madness that it really bugs me that those who run the BCS in college football can’t somehow come up with a knockout tournament that would make the end of the season even more exciting. Obviously having a 64 team tournament would be far too many, but how difficult would it be to have a 4, an 8 or even a 16 team knockout tournament to decide the National Championship? I know they love their bowl games because of the money side of it, but would it not be just as prestigious to have the best teams playing each other in loser goes home matches for the biggest prize in football? I love college football, but I have to say that the current set up is under whelming and needs a real shake-up.
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