GroveDiesel
Footballguy
If you're an NFL fan and a football fan, then you really need to be watching and relishing the rest of this football season. There are two big reasons that you NEED to be consciously enjoying the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.
First, is that there is some really awesome stuff going on in the NFL right now. Both the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts are undefeated after Week 12. Never before in NFL history have two teams both been undefeated this late in the season. Drew Brees and Peyton Manning have been unbelievable and the defenses have been coming up big when they need to as well. Just the possibility of a Super Bowl pitting two undefeated teams against each other is hugely exciting.
We're also seeing a total underdog in the Bengals set to win their division. Nobody gave them a second thought before the season started and we all mocked them when we saw how they ran things in HBO's Hard Knocks. And yet, here they are poised to win their division. Not only that, but they have a legitimate chance of getting the #2 seed in the AFC and getting a bye! Gotta love the parity in the NFL. And it's not been done with smoke and mirrors either. Ochocinco has revived his career and Cedric Benson has found his. Their play, along with a defense that has played extremely well is giving them an honest to goodness shot to do some damage in the playoffs.
In San Diego we have another young QB playing lights out. Rivers is quietly putting up numbers that rival Brees and Manning. His efficiency has been incredible with 5 straight games now completing 70+% of his passes, including 4 of them over 75%. The Chargers are flying under the radar with a 9-3 record and are really starting to round into form.
Love him or hate him, Brett Favre is putting on a clinic in Minnesota. He has the Vikings at 10-2 and is playing some of the best football of his career. It sure looks like he may have been the missing piece for the Vikings. With Adrian Peterson, Brett Favre, and their stifling defense, Minnesota is an exciting team to watch.
The NFC East hasn't really had a team stand out, but the division is one of the most exciting races right now to watch. The Cowboys, Eagles and Giants all have a shot and with several divisional games left between these teams, it should be fun to watch. We're also seeing some fantastic young wide receivers blossom in this division. Miles Austin, DeSean Jackson and Steve Smith look like they could be lighting up the NFC East for years to come.
Kurt Warner keeps doing what he's always done. He's putting up huge numbers and leading his team to wins. The Cardinals are set to win their second straight division title and their offense is extremely exciting to watch.
Oh yeah, and let's not forget about the surge of the Titans. Vince Young's amazing career resurrection and Chris Johnson's incredible season. Chris Johnson still has a very real shot at 2000 yards rushing on the season. He needs to average just a hair under 125 years per game to do it. Lofty numbers to be sure, but this kid is certainly capable of putting them up. One of the most electrifying players in the game today.
But there's another reason that you need to be enjoying this season, and that's because it could be the last year that the NFL exists as we now know and enjoy it. Next year, there is no salary cap. And trying to shut that door once its open will be next to impossible. Of course, that means that there will also be no salary floor as well. So big market teams will be able to spend $150M+ while small market teams may very well cut salary levels to $70M.
The owners have already scuttled supplemental revenue sharing between the teams. This model acknowledged that NFL is the ultimate league sport and has helped grow the league to its current popularity. It recognized that the big markets need the small markets to be competitive for the health of the league as a whole. And that ability of small market teams to compete on the same level has made the NFL so exciting to watch.
But now guys like Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder haven't won a Super Bowl this decade despite spending tons of money. They see the Yankees going out and buying titles and want to do the same thing. Mark my words, this isn't just about the big pocket owners not wanting to give money to small market owners, it's about guys like Jones and Snyder wanting to do anything in their power to win a championship, even if it hurts the league health as a whole in the process.
After 2010 the CBA officially runs out. Right now we're almost certainly looking at either a strike or a lockout in 2011. The union has threatened to de-certify which would lead to anti-trust lawsuits against the NFL, an abolition of the draft, and a whole host of other problems. Once we start going down this path, it will be almost impossible to ever get back to the point where we are now. A salary cap may never exist again. Small market teams may never be able to compete for long stretches of time again. The NFL as we no it may cease to exist.
So enjoy this season. Enjoy the amazing things going on, enjoy the parity, enjoy the league that we've grown to love. You may never see another season like it.
First, is that there is some really awesome stuff going on in the NFL right now. Both the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts are undefeated after Week 12. Never before in NFL history have two teams both been undefeated this late in the season. Drew Brees and Peyton Manning have been unbelievable and the defenses have been coming up big when they need to as well. Just the possibility of a Super Bowl pitting two undefeated teams against each other is hugely exciting.
We're also seeing a total underdog in the Bengals set to win their division. Nobody gave them a second thought before the season started and we all mocked them when we saw how they ran things in HBO's Hard Knocks. And yet, here they are poised to win their division. Not only that, but they have a legitimate chance of getting the #2 seed in the AFC and getting a bye! Gotta love the parity in the NFL. And it's not been done with smoke and mirrors either. Ochocinco has revived his career and Cedric Benson has found his. Their play, along with a defense that has played extremely well is giving them an honest to goodness shot to do some damage in the playoffs.
In San Diego we have another young QB playing lights out. Rivers is quietly putting up numbers that rival Brees and Manning. His efficiency has been incredible with 5 straight games now completing 70+% of his passes, including 4 of them over 75%. The Chargers are flying under the radar with a 9-3 record and are really starting to round into form.
Love him or hate him, Brett Favre is putting on a clinic in Minnesota. He has the Vikings at 10-2 and is playing some of the best football of his career. It sure looks like he may have been the missing piece for the Vikings. With Adrian Peterson, Brett Favre, and their stifling defense, Minnesota is an exciting team to watch.
The NFC East hasn't really had a team stand out, but the division is one of the most exciting races right now to watch. The Cowboys, Eagles and Giants all have a shot and with several divisional games left between these teams, it should be fun to watch. We're also seeing some fantastic young wide receivers blossom in this division. Miles Austin, DeSean Jackson and Steve Smith look like they could be lighting up the NFC East for years to come.
Kurt Warner keeps doing what he's always done. He's putting up huge numbers and leading his team to wins. The Cardinals are set to win their second straight division title and their offense is extremely exciting to watch.
Oh yeah, and let's not forget about the surge of the Titans. Vince Young's amazing career resurrection and Chris Johnson's incredible season. Chris Johnson still has a very real shot at 2000 yards rushing on the season. He needs to average just a hair under 125 years per game to do it. Lofty numbers to be sure, but this kid is certainly capable of putting them up. One of the most electrifying players in the game today.
But there's another reason that you need to be enjoying this season, and that's because it could be the last year that the NFL exists as we now know and enjoy it. Next year, there is no salary cap. And trying to shut that door once its open will be next to impossible. Of course, that means that there will also be no salary floor as well. So big market teams will be able to spend $150M+ while small market teams may very well cut salary levels to $70M.
The owners have already scuttled supplemental revenue sharing between the teams. This model acknowledged that NFL is the ultimate league sport and has helped grow the league to its current popularity. It recognized that the big markets need the small markets to be competitive for the health of the league as a whole. And that ability of small market teams to compete on the same level has made the NFL so exciting to watch.
But now guys like Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder haven't won a Super Bowl this decade despite spending tons of money. They see the Yankees going out and buying titles and want to do the same thing. Mark my words, this isn't just about the big pocket owners not wanting to give money to small market owners, it's about guys like Jones and Snyder wanting to do anything in their power to win a championship, even if it hurts the league health as a whole in the process.
After 2010 the CBA officially runs out. Right now we're almost certainly looking at either a strike or a lockout in 2011. The union has threatened to de-certify which would lead to anti-trust lawsuits against the NFL, an abolition of the draft, and a whole host of other problems. Once we start going down this path, it will be almost impossible to ever get back to the point where we are now. A salary cap may never exist again. Small market teams may never be able to compete for long stretches of time again. The NFL as we no it may cease to exist.
So enjoy this season. Enjoy the amazing things going on, enjoy the parity, enjoy the league that we've grown to love. You may never see another season like it.
