football hysteria.
put your hands down, fool.
i simply lack the words to describe how much i have been thirsting for football season to start. it’s not because i think my giants will make a nice run this year (they won’t, and are clearly garbage). it’s not even because i’m salty to win a fantasy football title (even though i am). this year i’m psyched for football because every other sport has reeked of suck this year.
conversely, the nfl rarely lets you down. sure, the superbowls are sometimes boring as hell, but any football fan will tell you that its the playoffs leading up to the superbowl that always deliver.
to all the people (lets face it – usually women) who don’t get the appeal of football, let me break it down to you like this: no other form of entertainment has ever produced better drama and cliffhangers than this one. the nfl is the greatest, longest running soap opera/reality show there ever was. once you view it from that perspective, you might start to understand football hysteria.
that being said, allow me to fuel my own hysteria. once again – for posterity’s sake – here are my predictions on this year’s playoff participants:
AFC
afc east / patriots – too much offense for any of the weak sauce teams in that division to stop them.
afc north / bengals
i think carson palmer is going to have his first mvp-type season.
afc south / jaguars
i truly believe the colts will have a superbowl hangover (why? because it happens almost every year).
afc west / chargers
you really shouldn’t piss off guys like ladainian tomlinson, new england fans.
afc wildcards / broncos, ravens
i think denver will have a great year – just not quite as tremendous as the one san diego will have. the ravens will limp into the playoffs, and willis mcgahee will see to it they are blown away.
NFC
nfc east / eagles
for the sake of my fantasy football team, donovan mcnabb will pick up right where he left off.
nfc north / bears
i really want to pick against any team quarterbacked by rex grossman, but who could really challenge chicago here?
nfc south / saints
i think this is a letdown year for new orleans as well, but their competition is so weak they’ll probably still sneak into the playoffs.
nfc west / seahawks
i think they’ll dominate the nfc most of the season and hold down home field advantage early on.
nfc wildcards / cardinals, cowboys
i think romo will have a nice season, but at the end will be victimized by seattle once again. i think the cardinals sneak into the playoffs and upset some team that has a suspect pass defense (saints, perhaps?).
superbowl match-up:
chargers
vs.
seahawks
seattle puts up a tough fight but after making it through the minefield of the afc playoffs the chargers won’t be denied. tomlinson gets his title.
Oddly enough, I agree with almost all of your predictions. I never agree with anyone on these things. Are you mental or something? Not feeling well?
The only exception would be the Seahags. They will not be getting anywhere near the Super Bowl.
Losing Marcus Tubbs to injury again is a big blow to their run stuffing ability. They finished near the bottom of the league in stopping the run last year, and it will happen again. The offense lost their best WR in Jackson as well as TE Jerramy Stevens and did nothing to replace them. The offensive line isn’t very good and hasn’t played together. Getting swept by the 49ers last year was a hint of things to come for Seattle.
explain how football leaves u with cliffhangers? or for that matter, drama? you know, besides players getting sued for giving out the herp and dog fighting?
OMAR - i think last year the seahawks defense suffered because they couldn’t get off the field. with shaun alexander back the offense should monopolize the clock more – letting that admittedly suspect defense rest. don’t forget – despite seattle’s failings they were a hiccup away from beating chicago last year.
saucy - every season there are dozens of unanswered questions in every nfl city but one. the cliffhanger is anticipating what happens next when football season starts again (basically the same theory as ANY serialized drama on tv).
the drama? damn, thats pretty self-explanatory: beat the clock. during any given game, any season, and over the course of any career, nfl players are battling time. at our jobs we have a 20-30 year window (at least) to achieve our professional goals. pro football player’s careers average 4 years. the pressure to fulfill your ambitions is intense, and at the end of the day it’s barely in your own hands.
i guess the way i see it is, it’s just a game. at the end of the day just be glad u got overpaid millions and gazillions of dollars to play…most people don’t. so that’s why the appeal is lost on me. once u made it on a team, i don’t really see the suspense.
Ok one of a few females who actually looks forward to football season myself. Basketball is my first love but you cannot deny the entertainment value in football. Yes, I know what a first down is, how to get a first down- how you many downs you get. I love football- and not like most females because there are hot, sweaty, muscular men in spandex- although i cannot deny it is a nice bonus.
However, Im going to be cheering for 2 teams this year. For my own personal reasons.
Detroit Lions- they defense has been lacking in the past. This year in the draft they got 5 fresh defensive players. Right now my boy *who is the main reason im watching this team* Gerald Alexander is bout to share the Free Safety position that just opened up due to Daniel Bullocks ACL injury *OUCH*. Between Alexander and Bashir, thinking my boy is going to take over the spot. *No disrespect to Bashir but dude was on the injured list until this year. Also, Lions have Ikaika Alama-Francis from Hawaii state. Boy is bad as DE. So it should be a decent year for them. Now lets not forget they did get WR Calvin Johnson from Georgia Tech * I could be wrong and dont feel like googling the answer* So right now- Im all for the Detroit Lions. I gotta cheer for my boy GA.
Secondly, San Francisco 49ers. Nothing but love for my boy Dashon Goldson- another Safety. Awww remember him back when he was rocking a bald head- now he think hes cute with the dreads.
YEAH MAN…..im ready for football season,…