Spring Break
AFC boasts five of top six teams
NFL preview
Jake Williams
Issue date: 8/23/07 Section: Sports
It's the epitome of manliness. The violent nature of the sport is encouraged, the size of your salary is equivalent to your rank in the community and games begin in about a month.
The NFL season opens Sept. 9 when the defending champion Indianapolis Colts host last year's Cinderella story, the New Orleans Saints. Most analysts believe each team has a legitimate shot at playing in this year's Super Bowl.
Here are my NFL preseason rankings.
1. New England Patriots
In 2006, the Patties were one minute or two receivers away from another Super Bowl, so they went out and acquired three quality wide outs for their 2007 campaign. Tom Brady will now have Randy Moss, Dante Stallworth and Wes Welker as targets in the Patriot spread formation attack. He's likely not complaining.
The only question marks for New England come at running back and linebacker. Laurence Maroney replaces Corey Dillon this year, but few expect fireworks. He'll most likely be just good enough to take pressure off the passing game. Mike Vrabel, Rosevelt Colvin, Tedy Bruschi and Adalius Thomas are all big name linebackers, but Vrabel and Bruschi have each lost a step. Their brains keeping up with opponent's feet will be THE deciding factor when Brady isn't on the field for New England.
If they can knock off the Colts for the AFC crown, the Patriots will be champions. The two teams play November 4 in their only regular season meeting. Mark your calendars.
2. Indianapolis Colts
This season will be the tenth straight for Indy with Peyton Manning under center, Marvin Harrison at wide out, and Tom Moore coordinating the offense. Now that's stability. Manning remains one of the most dominant regular season quarterbacks in history and the Colts will have a great 2007.
There are three weaknesses for the Colts, though. First, Joseph Addai is now in sole control of the run game, and the sophomore has his critics. He'll need to prove them wrong. Second, Cato June's departure leaves the Indy linebacker situation up in the air. The Colts will be thin in the middle in 2007. Last, the man responsible for protecting Manning's blindside, OT Tarik Glenn announced his retirement in July. The Colts don't have much time to replace this crucial piece of their offense.
The NFL season opens Sept. 9 when the defending champion Indianapolis Colts host last year's Cinderella story, the New Orleans Saints. Most analysts believe each team has a legitimate shot at playing in this year's Super Bowl.
Here are my NFL preseason rankings.
1. New England Patriots
In 2006, the Patties were one minute or two receivers away from another Super Bowl, so they went out and acquired three quality wide outs for their 2007 campaign. Tom Brady will now have Randy Moss, Dante Stallworth and Wes Welker as targets in the Patriot spread formation attack. He's likely not complaining.
The only question marks for New England come at running back and linebacker. Laurence Maroney replaces Corey Dillon this year, but few expect fireworks. He'll most likely be just good enough to take pressure off the passing game. Mike Vrabel, Rosevelt Colvin, Tedy Bruschi and Adalius Thomas are all big name linebackers, but Vrabel and Bruschi have each lost a step. Their brains keeping up with opponent's feet will be THE deciding factor when Brady isn't on the field for New England.
If they can knock off the Colts for the AFC crown, the Patriots will be champions. The two teams play November 4 in their only regular season meeting. Mark your calendars.
2. Indianapolis Colts
This season will be the tenth straight for Indy with Peyton Manning under center, Marvin Harrison at wide out, and Tom Moore coordinating the offense. Now that's stability. Manning remains one of the most dominant regular season quarterbacks in history and the Colts will have a great 2007.
There are three weaknesses for the Colts, though. First, Joseph Addai is now in sole control of the run game, and the sophomore has his critics. He'll need to prove them wrong. Second, Cato June's departure leaves the Indy linebacker situation up in the air. The Colts will be thin in the middle in 2007. Last, the man responsible for protecting Manning's blindside, OT Tarik Glenn announced his retirement in July. The Colts don't have much time to replace this crucial piece of their offense.
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