We have football!

OMG!  The Redskins are going to the Superbowl!!!  And did you see Tebow?!?!  Duuuuude!!!!  MVP man.  MVP. 

And now back to reality.  This is the week where the bullshit begins.  It will remain that way until the full-on bullshit train runs full steam right after week 1 of the regular season.  It's awesome seeing football again.  But lets not go crazy just yet.  Until about week 6 we're not going to have any idea how this season is going to play out, and even then it could flip on its head.  That's what makes it so much fun to watch, right? 

Some teams are going to let their players go out and make a statement.  Others could care less about the outcome of the game and are treating them like a practice.  Teams lost all their OTA's this year, and with training camp reduced to everyone sitting around playing Madden, many coaches are in a position where preseason game tape is the most reliable source they have for evaluating teams.  Teams that are relatively stable and have had the least changes will obviously benefit the most.  But honestly, that's not most teams.

So what do we take out of the preseason?  There's still plenty, but you really have to take it in context to get much out of it, and know that it still doesn't mean all that much.  I like to use it to watch the rookies and backups and see what kind of depth teams have.  For example, watching backup qb Josh Johnson in Tampa Bay was good times.  This kid has game and is the kind of guy that Seattle should have been looking at for a young qb to lead their team into the future.  He's got a fast release, a strong and accurate arm, will stay in the pocket for his first couple of reads, but then has the athletic ability to take off and run.  That he is on the bench says a lot about how special Josh Freeman is.  If you didn't get to watch the game then you missed an amazing stat - 74 of the 90 players in Bucs camp are 25 or younger.  There are 3 guys out of 90 that are over 30.  And don't forget that they won 10 games last year and were THIRD in their division and missed the playoffs.  I told you last week to get on the boat, and I'm gonna say it again.  Get on the boat.

Some random crap:

• The signing of Steve Smith in Philly matters.  Jeremy Maclin can kiss his starting job goodbye.  I know he's ill right now but it won't matter.  Smith is solid and is an upgrade.  Maclin in the slot will still be scary, but look for him to seek a trade or release at the end of the season cause he's got an ego and will want to be a #1.  

• Speaking of Philly, I'm starting to think that Andy Reid is the best QB coach of all time.  Favre.  Mcnabb.  Vick.  Kolb.  Now Kafka?  He's like the Mike Shannahan of quarterbacks...he can give just about anybody the ball and make it work.  Speaking of which I am officially attending Eagles camp to try to get that 3rd spot.  

• I can't believe that Billy Volek has been in the league for 12 years!?!  What a life, man.  He's really talented and has had to hold a clipboard for Steve Mcnair, Matt Schaub, and Phillip Rivers.  But he gets paid and almost never has to take a snap.  Sad he never got a chance to start but it clearly doesn't bother him, so I say good for you dude.  

•  If Matt Cassel gets hurt the Chiefs can kiss their season goodbye.  They're gonna have a rough go of it anyway but their backups are AWFUL.  Stanzi might be ok in the long run but he abandons his reads too quickly.  Palko is a joke.  The Chiefs have a 5 game stretch where they play the Patriots, Steelers, Bears, Packers, and Jets.  They're good, but no team gets out of that run better than 3-2 and it comes in the latter part of the season.  Ugh.

• If I'm a Bills fan, I am pissed.  Paul Posluszny, Donte Whitner, and Lee Evans all out?   To win you must add talented players and build from the draft.  The draft is so hit and miss and ya'll hit on all three of these guys.  It ain't like you got talent to spare.  What are you doing??? 

That's it for now.  Let's see what the rest of the weekend brings us.  

Some things I think

It appears as though the craziness that was free agency has finally settled down.  For the most part we now know who is going to be where, and therefore are free to make wild and fantastic predictions about how the Eagles are going to win the Superbowl and the Browns are going to the toilet bowl.  Not so fast kiddos.

Because e'body wants to talk Eagles, I'll indulge for a moment.  Could we chill the f*** out for a minute?  Cause I know we all want to name, well, just about anybody the next Heat, or the next Jordan, or the next Tiger (not that the Heat should be in that class, but you get my point.)  Let's play a game.  How many top flight free agents did the Eagles sign this offseason?

I'll wait while you think this out.  No cheating.  Take a real guess.

Tell ya what, I'll talk about something else and we'll come back to that in a jif.  Time for a bunch of stuff that I predict we will see this season...

• The Packers will not go to the Superbowl again.  Now don't get me wrong, they're extremely talented.  But back-to-back appearances are rare enough that I feel comfy making this prediction.  Remember that a first place team plays a first place schedule.  The NFL does this on purpose ya'll.  
• The Patriots probably will.  Cause, well, the evil genius is the evil genius and the additions of 85 and Haynesworth (who they got basically for a ham sandwich) make them dangerous.  
• The Eagles and Falcons are gonna contend for a trip to the big game.  
• The Seahawks are gonna suck.
• So will the Redskins.
• And the Jags.
• Tampa Bay will not.  If you haven't been paying attention, you'd better (Josh Freeman grew up a Chiefs fan so he's on my happy list).  Same goes for the Rams.  
• Bills will be better than the Fins.  Fo sho.  And Fitzpatrick will finally get some love from the media. 
• Somebody is gonna get desperate and sign T.O.  It won't matter. 
• Cam Newton is going to make a great play to win a game (a...as in singular.) and people are gonna go crazy and crown him the king for no good reason.  
• The Broncos are gonna be horrible and Tebow is gonna get a shot.  It. Will. Not. Matter. 
• Bob Sanders will tear his bicep.  Again.  And retire.
• We're gonna hear Favre's name again around week 5.  
• Kolb will be ok, and the Cards will go 7-9 and finish in 2nd in the west.  Ugh.  
• Ray Lewis plays his last season with the Ravens.  

There's probably more but that's it off the top of my head.  Now back to the Eagles.  The answer?  One.  Sounds low right?  Except it's true.  Vince Young (backup.)  Ronnie Brown (backup).  Cullen Jenkins and Jason Babin (top tier? not so much.)  So the answer is...One.  One dude.  Now they traded for Rodgers-Cromartie and he's solid.  Not top 5, but solid.  So why the Heat comparisons?  The Heat added three top flight stars to a 5 man lineup.  That's 60%.  The Eagles would have to add thirteen top flight players to their team to do the same thing.  NO team can afford that.  So what did they do?  Add two solid corners and sign the only dude in the NFL who can be a decent backup to Vick when he goes down.  That's not an upgrade, it just prevents a massive downgrade.  That said, I still think they're gonna be a great team, and they are incredibly fun to watch.  But let's not crown 'em just yet.

Oh, and before I forget, Rodgers-Cromartie is about to find out the hard way why it sucks to be the second good corner on a team.  Cause the other team is going to throw.  Period.  And if the best corner is on the other side of the field they're gonna have to just suck it up and throw at you.  And I don't care how good a corner is, he's gonna get beat more often than not cause that's how the NFL have set up the rules.  He should ask his cousin how his year went with the Jets playin opposite Revis-Island.  He had 3 interceptions (tied with 25 other players for 30th in the NFL) and had 30 tackles (that didn't even make the top 100 among all DB's in the league.)  Ironically, Asante Samuel will probably have the better year.  I actually think he may get more picks than any other DB in the league cause he'll be playing against slot receivers, and lately those guys have become the go-to receivers in the league. 

That's it for now.  Gonna go set my DVR cause football starts THURSDAYYYYYYYYYY!

Go Chiefs.