Tuesday Mid Afternoon Interior Lineman: 2009/10 NFL Season Preview

Brett Favre looks awkward in purple. He looked odd in Jet green, but he looks awkward in purple. I wish that were all I was going to say about Favre this season.

Reality is, his signing with the Vikings was one of the top three or four stories this offseason, for better or worse. And the only really annoying thing about the story is that everyone talks about how annoying it is.

Forget the soap opera aspect of Viking Favre, and let’s focus on how much better he actually makes the Vikings. He certainly seems to be an upgrade over Tavaris Jackson, though Jackson did play well last week. But can he hold up over the 19 or 20 games Vikings fans hope the team plays this year?

He couldn’t last year, when a final five dismal weeks coincided with a torn bicep that sapped him of his famous velocity. So far this preseason, he’s already complaining of a cracked rib. And if his conviction was questionable just a few weeks ago, when he first decided not to sign with Minnesota, then how strong can we expect that conviction to be now that he’s signed?

The common refrain is that he wouldn’t want to miss a game and end his streak, but he’s proven throughout this ordeal that he doesn’t really care about his legacy. Also, does he congregate with these teammates more than he did with his Jets mates last year? There’s already a supposed rift in the locker room. How much effect will that have?

My guess is that Favre suffers through another inconsistent season with similar results to the Jets 9-7, no postseason campaign of a year ago. If he gets hurt enough to miss a game, I think he calls it quits right then and there.

And if he does make it through the season, the saga finally ends, because no one will want to sign a guy that was at best the third best quarterback in a division with only two good quarterbacks.

Two other enormous offseason stories involve quarterbacks. I won’t bother with the Steve McNair tragedy, other than to say that it was, well, a tragedy. I always thought McNair was a better leader than anything else, and I appreciated watching him gut his way through many a painful season.

The other story is Mike Vick’s release from jail and joining of the Philadelphia Eagles. The vulgarity of Mike Vick’s crimes has been well-covered. I cannot fathom how someone could torture a living creature, any living creature, for sport. And those that say it’s less a crime because it happened to dogs and not people are complicit in the animal abuse and cruelty problem that continues to exist.

Now that I’m off my soapbox, I only think the Eagles’ signing of Vick was the wrong thing for them to do because it seemed so clear at the press conference that owner Jeffrey Lurie wanted nothing to do with him.

You can’t sell your soul for a championship, and you’d think the Eagles would have learned that one already with the Terrell Owens affair.

Again, looking past the tabloid nature of the story, was Vick and Philadelphia a good mix? Vick was never a very good quarterback before his two-year layoff from the NFL. He was a great player and a tremendous athlete. He deserved his monster contract as much as anyone deserves monster contracts in pro sports.

But he was never an accurate passer or a great “field general” (as I type this, Matt Schaub just pulled up lame. Didn’t mean to tie these two together again as this was a coincidence, but can that poor kid and team catch a break?).

So Vick comes back in the Wildcat era, which is perfect for him because two years ago he was a tremendous athlete. But he’s been out of the game for two years. He hasn’t taken an NFL hit in two years. The other athletes in the league have gotten better in the last two years.

And it’s probably likely that NFL defensive coordinators, given a full offseason to study it, have come up with ways to limit the effects of the Wildcat.

In Vick’s first action, he didn’t seem to add much to the offense, and even Donovan McNabb hinted that the shuffling in and out of Vick disrupted the offensive rhythm. Sure, it’s only one game, but it isn’t a good sign.

And then there’s the McNabb factor. He’s already emotionally shaky, and Philly fans are notoriously short-tempered. When McNabb struggled early last season, the Philly faithful cried out for him to be benched in favor of the completely unproven Kevin Kolb.

Imagine what happens if McNabb struggles now, with the first quarterback to win a playoff game in Lambeau Field in decades on their bench.

The move was heralded as good for Vick because of the Eagles’ stable situation. But where’s the stability? Longevity of coach and quarterback doesn’t necessarily mean stability. Andy Reid’s job, much like McNabb’s, is called into question routinely by fans and media alike.

One of the best locker room presences in football was sent packing to Denver this year, so that the Eagles could add questionable character in the form of Jason Peters and Vick himself (Schaub is back in. Thank God). McNabb apparently was the voice that pushed for Vick’s signing, if you believe the post-announcement reports, but he’s already starting to waiver on that with his postgame remarks about disruption.

The Vick experiment in Philadelphia could work, or it could not. I don’t see it blowing up in the Eagles’ faces, because it’s a small investment they’ve made financially and structurally.

But they have written a big moral check, and even though PETA has already given up on the controversy, Lurie’s conscience might not have. One slip could spell the end.

Team By Team Predictions

Buffalo Bills—The ratings for the TO Show will be higher than the ratings for any Bills games this year. Dick Jauron will not be back. Neither will TO.

Miami Dolphins—The innovators of the Wildcat will be the first team to see that an offseason of learning is enough for defensive coordinators to counter a gimmick. Chad Henne will be starting by week 5. Chad Henne will be back on the bench by week 8.

New England Patriots—Bill Belichick will have us all scrambling to find out how he’s been cheating this year.

New York Jets—Leon Washington will do less to deserve his contract than Mark Sanchez will do to deserve his.

Baltimore Ravens—Joe Flacco will continue to suck, and the defense won’t be good enough to cover up his suckiness anymore.

Cincinnati Bengals—The Bengals will have fewer players arrested than anyone else in the division (yeah, I’m recycling old jokes, but there’s nothing interesting about the Bengals. Just ask HBO).

Cleveland Browns—Brady Quinn will start for the Browns this year. The Browns will have a high draft pick in the 2010 draft, and will take one of the three Heisman Trophy Finalist Quarterbacks. Only since the Browns are stupid, they’ll end up with Tim Tebow and not a real NFL quarterback.

Pittsburgh Steelers—Ben Roethlisberger will continue to be called “Ben” by every commentator, except for the few that mistake him for 312 pound center Justin Hartwig.

Houston Texans—Dan Orlovsky will start more games than Matt Schaub. The Texans will continue to not have a winning record.

Indianapolis Colts—Peyton Manning will make a funny commercial that gets overplayed so much that Dwight Freeney intentionally takes out his knees in practice.

Jacksonville Jaguars—Jack Del Rio will be free to wear whatever suit he wants to his next job interview, scheduled sometime around January 4th, 2010.

Tennessee Titans—Vince Young will not be in the Hall of Fame. At least not the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Denver Broncos—I don’t know how else to say it, but the Broncos won’t be very good. At all. Only, unlike the Browns, I expect them to end up with one of the good Heisman Finalist Quarterbacks.

Kansas City Chiefs—The Chiefs will be happy that they only gave up a second round pick for Matt Cassel. That’s all they’ll be happy about.

Oakland Raiders—Jeff Garcia will do enough with the offense to allow the defense to lead the Raiders to be the 2009 Out Of Nowhere Team.

San Diego Chargers—The Chargers will be good. Really good. Good enough for Norv Turner to let them down in the AFC Championship game.

Dallas Cowboys—The low-hanging scoreboard will be less of a factor than everyone is making it out to be. The wildly overrated talent won’t be.

New York Giants—Demolition crews won’t need to tear down Giants Stadium. That will be taken care of when Tom Coughlin explodes after another horrendous loss to the Eagles on December 13th.

Philadelphia Eagles—The Eagles will go 9-7 with a late season run that sneaks them into the playoffs and will lose in an uninspiring divisional round game, yet Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid will do just enough down the stretch for the Eagles and their fans to talk themselves into another season.

Washington Redskins—The Redskins will surprise people.

Chicago Bears—The Bears will have a better offense than defense for the first time…ever?

Detroit Lions—Jim Schwartz will save the city of Detroit by winning more games than last year.

Green Bay Packers—Aaron Rogers will make Cheeseheads smile while leading the Packers to a Superbowl berth.

Minnesota Vikings—The Vikings and their fans will be far happier in September than they are in December.

Atlanta Falcons—Matt Ryan will take a step forward in year two, but the team overall will regress. Mike Smith will pop a blood vessel celebrating a coin toss victory.

Carolina Panthers—The Panthers might be less interesting than the Broncos. But they’ll be better. John Fox will continue to get better play out of this team than he should. I reserve the right to go back on this if Steve Smith misses any time.

New Orleans Saints—The Saints will win the division this year because Reggie Bush’s teammates will slip the Kim Kardashian/Ray J video onto his video iPod before every away game.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers—The Bucs will miss Derrick Brooks more than any team will miss a departed player, and the league will miss him equally if he goes unsigned and retires.

Arizona Cardinals—Beanie Wells will push Tim Hightower, and Hightower will prove to be the running back needed to take some pressure off of the passing game.

San Francisco 49ers—Mike Singletary will win Coach of the Year, and the 49ers will make the playoffs.

Seattle Seahawks—The Seahawks will draft the other Heisman Trophy Finalist Quarterback.

St. Louis Rams—The offense will mostly struggle, but Stephen Jackson will run hard and Steve Spagnuolo will have the defense playing well enough for the team to triple its win total from 2008.