The NFL Pre-Season Report: Best Time of the Year

When NFL training camps start to open, it is my favorite time of the year. The NFL season goes by so fast. We are treated to great games every Sunday for five months and then have to wait so long for it to all start back again.

There is a cloud over this season and the powers that be for the NFL had better get the CBA figured out. Waiting seven months is long enough for the NFL; there had better not be a work stoppage to make my wait longer between 2010 and 2011.

I am going to ignore the dark cloud and focus on what is right in front of us all, the 2010 NFL season.

I am going to give a report on all 32 teams in my own way and see if I have the energy to make some predictions too.

My Team: The Cleveland Browns

I am a life-long, long suffering Cleveland Browns fan. I did not like the hire of Eric Mangini when the Browns were 1-11 last year I was focused on the Cavs. Then Cleveland won their last four games, including a win over Pittsburgh that kept the Steelers out of the playoffs.

Suck on that Steelers fan.

I loved the Browns draft. I think that Josh Cribbs is going to be the next king of Cleveland. I like the direction that Mike Holmgren is taking the program. If Colt McCoy can be protected by the Browns offensive line, I want to see him play. If the coaching staff determines that the offensive line cannot protect the young QB, throw Jake Delhomme to the wolves.

I look for Cleveland to improve on their five wins from 2009.

Teams That I Like

The Indianapolis Colts loss to the New Orleans Saints still bothers me. I am an AFC guy and really like Peyton Manning and the Colts. The Saints won the game; I am not going to take anything away from them. The Colts had chances to make big plays and did not execute, end of story.

The Colts will have another look at perfection this year as they are the best team in the AFC.

The Tennessee Titans have two of my favorite players in the league. QB Vince Young and RB Chris Johnson make every snap exciting. Their defense let them down last year and Jeff Fisher is too good of a coach to have that happen again.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are a blue collar team that I can get behind. Jack Del Rio's motto is we are going to run on you and we are going to stop the run. Every year though I wonder why they don't bring in more playmakers for their offense. Maurice Jones-Drew is their only legit offensive threat and he is not enough to make the Jags a playoff team.

Look for the Jags to lose a bunch of close games again this year.

To finish off the AFC South, I like the Texans too. They seem primed for their first playoff run as they have been for the past few seasons. They were 8-8 for a few years, pushed it to 9-7 last year and need to get to the 10 win plateau this year to make the playoffs.

Look for the Houston Texans to make that playoff run become a reality in 2010.

The Philadelphia Eagles are my favorite NFC team. They had a brutal off-season as they let go of a franchise QB in Donovan McNabb. The jury is out on Kevin Kolb but he does have some nice pieces around him as the Eagles should be a competitive team in 2010.

No playoffs though, they are in a tough division.

I like McNabb so much that for the first time in my life I like Washington. I think they will be vastly improved from their four wins last year and should make a playoff push in the NFC.

The Washington Redskins might not make the playoffs in 2010 but they will be a Super Bowl team in a few years with their franchise QB leading the way.

The San Diego Chargers have the best roster in the NFL. There problem is that they have an average coach in Norv Turner. Philip Rivers has to fill in that gap between the great roster and average coach.

He will fall short again this season.

The Miami Dolphins were the first team to do the Wildcat and I like the Wildcat. They get points for that. They have all of the pieces in place to return to the playoffs. They started out 0-3 last year and that is a death sentence for a playoff run.

They should get off to a better start in 2010.

The New York Jets are also primed to take over the AFC East. Their young QB, Mark Sanchez, is a year older. The Rex Ryan led defense is going to be a year nastier.

No one wants to play the Jets in January, I can tell you that.

The Arizona Cardinals are looking to win the NFC West for the third straight year. They have had a bunch of changes from last year. It will come down to Matt Leinart. In a QB driven league like the NFL, you just can't win with poor play from that position.

I think that Leinart is going to have a nice year.

Green Bay Packers fans should be very excited about their team this year. They have all of the pieces in place for a really nice year.

Look for more consistent play out of the defense and a lot of wins.

Neutral Teams

The New Orleans Saints are the defending champs. They might be the first team to ever repeat as NFC South champ. Drew Brees should continue his amazing level of play.

The Saints should be the team to beat in the NFC this year.

The New England Patriots are in a re-tooling mode. They do have Tom Brady still so they should be able to contend for the playoffs.

They won't make it there this year though.

The Denver Broncos fizzled after a fast start last year. It is hard to gauge where they will be in 2010. They look like the second best team in the AFC West. Tim Tebow is in a situation where he can be successful.

They should fall below their eight wins of last year though.

The New York Giants saw their defense get exposed against the Saints last year and they never recovered. Their roster does not look as good as it did last year. With Washington looking better, the Giants and Eagles might be playing for third place in the NFC East.

The Giants will be the third best team in that tough division.

The Chicago Bears finally got a franchise type QB in Jay Cutler and the guy threw 26 picks. The good news there is that if he only throws 25 in 2010 then he is improving.

It might be another long season in Chicago.

If Brett Favre comes back then the Minnesota Vikings look like a team that can win a ton of regular season games. Then he will blow it for them in the playoffs. If Favre does retire then we will all be shocked.

Look for Favre's season to end with yet another pick. I am not going to even guess if this is going to be his last year.

Matt Ryan should bounce back from a sophomore slump and the Falcons can push the Saints for the NFC South crown.

They will fall short though.

The Carolina Panthers have a great coach in John Fox but their roster is in transition.

If the Panthers let go of Fox he will have another job within the week.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might have a franchise QB in Josh Freeman.

They don't have a playoff team though.

The San Francisco 49ers look ready to push the Cardinals for the NFC West crown.

You would like to have a better QB in place.

The Seahawks begin the Pete Carroll era in Seattle.

Year one will have them out of the playoffs.

Teams That Are Only Harmful To Themselves

The Buffalo Bills will be looking up at the other AFC East teams again this year.

The Oakland Raiders have a talented roster and they will have a better QB this year. I picked them for the playoffs last year but won't go down that road again anytime soon.

The Kansas City Chiefs have been moribund for awhile now. It makes me wonder if the Chargers are really that good or do they just play four games against two bad teams every year.

The Detroit Lions are drafting better. They are in a tough division though and have always lagged behind the other three teams.

The St. Louis Rams have three wins in the last two seasons. I am feeling optimistic so look for the Rams to get three wins this year. I sure hope that Sam Bradford doesn't get killed along the way.

Teams I Don't Like

The Dallas Cowboys are loaded this year. They suffer from the Charger syndrome where there coach is not on the level of the talent he coaches. Tony Romo closed that gap last year and the Cowboys actually won a playoff game.

I have a feeling that the Cowboys will have a lot of home games in the playoffs this year.

The Cincinnati Bengals looked a lot better last year and should be able to contend for the AFC North crown again.

I do wonder how the Terrell Owens and Chad Ochcinco thing will play out.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will have their franchise QB on the sidelines for the first four games.

They should go 2-2 in those games and be okay for the playoffs this year.

The Baltimore Ravens have the offense that they have never had as their defense continues to decline.

They might actually outscore teams this year.

So there are all 32 teams. I waxed on long enough that I can do another article later with my picks for the playoffs.

You see why I love this time of the year?