Surpises so far in This Year's NFL Season

This season has been far from what I have expected for sure, and possibly different from what other people were expecting. There have been upsets, surprising losses, injuries, and suspensions. This NFL season is just getting started, but already there is tons to talk about.
Major Surprises
The first thing will be the Colts. They have not played their week 2 game yet, but last week they lost to the Texans. This surprised some, but did not surprise others. It surprised me a little bit. I knew Houston was going to go out their and give it all they had so they had a chance to win their division this year, but I didn't think they would beat the great Colts team. Moving on to the Colts though, last week they couldn't establish the run. They couldn't keep defensive linemen away from Manning, and their defense was just plain awful. That doesn't sound like a superbowl bound team to me. I look foolish now for saying they would go 16-0. They will probably go 10-6.
That is just one of the surprises with a major Quarterback. Brett Favre has been stinking it up. Today he threw three interceptions, and lost again. Now the Vikings who were supposed to be so good are 0-2. Brett Favre means well and wants his team to win, but i think they could do better without him.
My Bears have been a surprise so far this season. I realize its only week 2 and its hard to tell anything from the wins and losses. We only barely beat the Lions and the Cowboys handed the game to us. But, I think we have something here. We now have a real offensive coordinator and Jay Cutler is doing way better. Matt Forte is healthy and he is a major weapon. Their defense is almost back to its original amount of swagger like in 2006.
Quickies. Surprises in a sentence
The Jets lost their first game, but came this week ready to play and beat the Partiots.
The Steelers are 2-0 without Big Ben, but Dixon got hurt and Leftwich is out too.
The Chiefs beat the Chargers on monday night and won again this week, giving them their first 2-0 start since 2006.

NFL Final Four

In this blog I will explain what I think will happen to each of the four teams that were left at the end of the playoffs last year. this should be interesting because all four of these teams are expected to do well again this year.
Jets
The Jets have already been expected to be really good this year. But, can you remember back to why they got to the AFC Championship game. If the Colts hadn't decided to give up on the perfect season, they would have lost that game and ended up probably not going to the playoffs. But, the Colts decided that they would save their players for the playoffs. Then the Jets go into the playoffs and get onto a roll and get lucky that they get to play the Colts in the AFC championship game. Then the Colts beat them like they are expected to. So the Jets really just got hot at the right time and ended up being lucky that the Colts gave up. Now I'm not saying they aren't a good team. This year I think they have everything they need. Sanchez was too young last year to be a great QB. This year they have one of the best defenses in the league. Now Sanchez has a whole year under his belt. They have added a couple really good receivers and LT. Now I think they can be a good team. But, the thing that will still carry the team is the defense. And the main person in that defense is Darrel Revis. And right now he is not with the team, so they won't have as good a defense, which in turn will out them not having as good a year. I also think that the fans and media members have put too much pressure on them just because they made it last year. Now they have to deal with being one of the favorite teams in the AFC East and in the AFC period. That might mean that the pressure could get to them and they don't have nearly as good a year as expected.
Vikings
The Vikings were not just lucky to get to the NFC Championship. They definitely deserved getting there. Brett Favre had probably the best season of his career. He threw for touchdowns and yards. And he also threw the least amount of interceptions in one year in his career. It was unfortunate that they had to run into the Saints and a defense that just ripped Brett Favre to shreds. That game almost made Brett Favre not come back this year. Now Favre is back. He will make his first start in their preseason game this weekend. It will be interesting to see if that ankle bothers him more when he is actually in the game, or if it won't be too much of a problem. Now that Brett Favre is back, many Vikings fans are hoping that they will go back to the NFC Championship game, or at least get to the playoffs and win their division. I think this is a reasonable expectation. I think myself that they will get to the playoffs and win their division. I don't like to say that because the Bears are in that division, but its true. Some people are saying that because they got to the NFC Championship, but lost that will put them down and they won't have just as good a year as they did last year. There is no way that Brett Favre will be able to match or do better than what he did last year. So this team might not be as good. Peterson seems to be fumbling more and more as the years pass by in the NFL. So this team might not be as much of super bowl contenders, but they still have a chance. So in the end I think they will get to the playoffs and lose in the first game.
Colts
The Colts have one thing going for them. And that one thing is Peyton Manning. The smartest QB to ever play. He knows the game so well. He is a great controller and is the perfect leader for this veteran team. They have a great receiving core that has been with manning for years and good running to set off the defense. Last year it was upsetting that they lost in the Super Bowl. I and most people expected them to win. And it was a close one. The most surprising thing was that Manning threw an interception to lose the game. Manning is the one guy who you wouldn't expect to make the mistake. And yet he was the guy who did it. I think this team will want to make up for that this year. They will have another great season like they did last year, but I think this year they might get it done. I think they have a good chance to win the super bowl. And I hope they do, Manning deserves to have two super bowl rings. And I think he will get that second one this year. As long as its not against the Bears again.
Saints
The Saints worry me. They have most of the same players that won the super bowl, which is good. They have a great QB in Drew Brees, but he is going to get injured. He might not necessarily miss games, but he will get injured. He is on the cover of Madden, so something will happen to him. And that has to be in the back of Saints fans minds. That has got to in sue major paranoia into many people close to the Saints. I do think that this is a good team, but I don't think that they will win the super bowl again. I don't they will make it back to the NFC Championship game. Even though most of the players say that winning the super bowl and that it will be hard to get back and to win again isn't in their mind before they take the field, it really is, because no matter what they say they will always think about that. I think that because of this they might not have the season that their fans expect. I went to New Orleans recently. And it was Saints Mania. Now all those fans who finally had hope, because the saints finally won a super bowl, are going to be disappointed. I think they will win their division, but I don' think they make it past the first round.

So this may be a season that is not expected for these four teams, but we are going to have to wait and see. The preseason will tell us nothing. When we get to around week 10, then we will know if these predictions are correct or if they are totally wrong and all four of these teams are insanely good.

Headlines!

First I want to say that I am writing this because there was so much that was worth writing about in the headlines today so I'm gonna touch em all.
Last night Matt Garza threw a no-hitter. It was the 5Th no no this year. It should have been the 6Th, but we won't bring up that Gallaraga thing again. It was a typical no-hitter. It wasn't like the terrible no-hitter that Edwin Jackson got. It was legit lights out pitching. Maybe this is what the Rays needed to get a spark to push and beat the Yankees in the division. The thing that is just odd is that all the no-hitters except for Halladay and Jimenez were by pitchers who were relatively unknown up until that point. But mostly I am writing this little section just to say Congrats to Matt Garza on a no-hitter.

It seems like everyday some kind of source says that T.O is going to go to a certain place. Yesterday it was the Rams which was the stupidest idea ever. Today its the Jets which is almost as stupid. In both situations there is a young quarterback that will probably lose all self esteem because of T.O. Even worse in New York Mark Sanchez has already shown he is shaky. Getting T.O is not going to help. I think that the perfect fit is with the Vikings. They obviously don't agree with me because they are not going after him. He will end up in Cincinnati that is my ultimate prediction. But its not like that is the smartest idea ever. It just seems like wherever T.O goes there is going to be something bad.

Recently we have heard Jeff Fisher talk about Lane Kiffen and get mad at him. Saying that there are certain rules that must be followed. The reason that Fisher said this. Lane Kiffen looked at and hired one of Fisher's coordinators without even telling Fisher that they were looking around at him. You are supposed to tell him so that he can find somebody to cover if that guy leaves. He doesn't want to end up one day with the coordinator and the next day have him gone. Now the Titans have made more of a push. They are going to sue Kiffen and USC for just stealing their coach. Its not something to be taken lightly. This is the kind of thing that we expected Lane Kiffen would do eventually. So far the year was going well he wasn't making any unrealistic predictions, wasn't claiming other coaches had recruiting violations. Overall the year was quiet until this surfaced. Now we see that Kiffen is the same Kiffen that he always was. He is so arrogant. He has a head the size of Alaska. If he just doesn't try to make headlines and think he is something special so he can do whatever he wants he is going to continue to be hated.

The final story of this blog is about Chris Paul. Recently there were trade rumors. He wanted to be anywhere but New Orleans before the beginning of the season. Then he has a meeting with the owner GM and coach. He comes out and says that he wants to stay in New Orleans as long as possible. The other people in the meeting say that he didn't even ask for a trade in the meeting. Apparently Paul was pleased with the way that they wanted the team to head. Could this mean that the Hornets are going to make some big moves this summer or next summer? I guess that's a possibility. But really when you think about it. What is Paul supposed to say when he asked. Is he supposed to be like ya i want a trade this place sucks. So I think that Paul might still get traded and I think that if he doesn't don't act surprised when the hornets sign a couple really good players and start to make a team out of themselves.

AFC/NFC Championship predictions

lets start with the first game first. The AFC game between the Colts and the Jets. Nobody but the Jets and Rex Ryan thought that they could have made it this far. I knew that i thought Rex Ryan was crazy when he said that his team was the best in the playoffs. I thought that they wouldn't even get past the wild card game. Now they are here in the AFC championship game. The Colts, well I fully expected them to be here. I also expected them to be undefeated at this point, but for some reason the coaches thought that they would make the players and all the fans mad by taking the starters out of the week 16 game. This game should be very exciting even though I think that the Colts are a huge favorite. They have a lot of talent and want this year to end with a trophy and huge rings so bad that they are going to make it happen. The way that Peyton Manning, a veteran quarterback, takes over the game and leads his team to victory compared to Mark Sanchez, a rookie, kind of just goes along with things is the difference. The quarterback position is meant to be a position of leadership and it isn't with the Jets and that might cost them. That is why I am picking the Colts to win.

The NFC championship game will also have to do with the leadership of the quarterback. This time, though the match-up is a little more even. Still there is a favorite between the two. Would you pick Brett Favre or Drew Brees. This year some people might have picked Drew Brees, but if you know Brett in the playoffs and so far this year in the playoffs, he has really stepped it up as a leader. The thing that I love about the Vikings is that they have a great running back in Adrian Peterson, probably the best in the league. They also have one of the best quarterbacks ever, Brett Favre. When you have a great running game and a great quarterback that gives you so many play action options that just makes you dominant. That is why I am picking the Vikings to win.