Well its about time for the midsummer classic...the MLB all-star break. I think MLB all-star extravagenza is probably the deepest of the all-star events. It has the futures games (minor league players acting out politics (e.g. USA versus the World), home run derby (although this year without steriods one wonders if there will be any home runs), and of course the all star game with all its fun and managerial intrigue (of course the coach is going to reward his own player ala La Russa appointing Carpenter the starter why even make it a debate ESPN).
However its all the time of year to start looking ahead to gridiron and the NFL. In this installment of Mighty Mike covers the NFL: Caballos Oscuros (or the parlance of our times Dark horses). Now what is a dark horse? According to the dictionary (which is a book that has definitions it in, but thats not important right now) a dark horse is "A little-known, unexpectedly successful entrant" . The etymology of this phrase, of course, was Super Bowl I MVP Nick Darkhorse, who led Green Bay to victory over the upstart Kansas City Chiefs. Anyway here's a quick run down of some potential darkhorses in no particular order:
1) Buffalo Bills - Buffalo was right at the cusp of the playoffs last year ending 9 -7. This year they have a quarterback instead of the human tackling dummy (Drew Bledsoe). Thats got to be worth a victory or two. The Jets seem to be inconsistent and the Dolphins will be forced to move their operations to New Mexico to avoid being supermerged by hurricanes and/or rabid FSU fans. New England may be as good as they were last year but certainly won't be better...hence the window of opportunity.
2) Arizona Cardinals - Dennis Green. One of my favorite coaches names to say. Why? Cause the man is nuts. Lets be honest , he's delusional, has rampant paranioa and treats sports reporters worse than Mo treats Boston fans (hey its one thing if I do it, I'm not paid millions of dollars to help sell tickets) Nonetheless the wild west is wide open. Seattle is never getting over the hump, I'm uncertain if the 49ers could win the WAC let alone an NFL game and the Rams are still commandeered by Mad Mike Martz. Personally its a long shot since the Cardinals still don't have a quarterback, possibly only have 2 offensive line and are relying on a rookie runningback. But hey its Dennis Green.
3) New York Giants - Eli was starting to come into the Manning mantle at the end of last year. They had a solid draft (and by solid I mean didn't forget to draft when it was their turn). Meanwhile Joe Gibbs is trying to institute the wishbone formation for the offense, Dallas apparently has 7 different quarterbacks on the roster (none of which are any good), and Andy Reid and Drew Rosenhaus (the walking symbol of a slimey agent) will be in starring in Wrestlemania XXV.
4) Carolina Panthers - They're really not a darkhorse team. I mean they came pretty darn close to winning a Superbowl two years ago. Last year the entire team from the running backs down the beer salesmen were hurt. They will be back in the playoffs. That I would be willing to bet an entire case of Norman Chad's Rolling Rock on.
5) Oakland/Kansas City
Frankly I think these teams are way way too similiar. One will be a darkhorse and push for the playoffs , one will stink. Why? Because both are out and out all offense. Raiders went out and got a great reciever and a solid running back. KC's defense is apparently being used up to keep central Missourians out of their fair city. So its question, who has better offense...beats me but I can guarentee that one way or another Dick Vermeil will cry over the answer.
Honorable Mention: Jacksonville, Houston, Detroit, Cincinnati
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2 comments:
First, Arizona is using Kurt Warner as of now. That's probably not a good idea, because he lost his thumb in the offseason, and last I checked, a thumb is needed to throw the football.
Anyway, I still like Buffalo and Arizona. I don't even think Carolina counts as a darkhorse, since they had so many injuries last season. I think Detroit is a strong darkhorse. I trust Coach Mariucci to get the job done, even with a strange QB arrangement (Harrington or Jeff Garcia).
I liked Buffalo last year but I worry about them regressing a bit with JP Losman at QB. Drew Bledsoe was obviously a walking tackling dummy but rookie QB's can't just step in and start winning, no matter what Ben Roethlisberger has to say about it. In a division where the Bills will play the Pats and Jets for a full quarter of their schedule, it won't be easy for them to do better than 1-3 in those games. If that's the case, it will be very hard for them to make the playoffs with a .500 record (at best) in their own division.
My favorite dark horse is in Washington. Everyone is quick to point out that Joe Gibbs had some problems coming back to the NFL last year. My feeling is that a genius coach like Gibbs will figure it out and get back to winning like he did before he left. If Vermeil can do it, there's no reason why Gibbs can't. The Redskins might not have the QB position shored up like other teams but Gibbs won 3 SB's with 3 different QB's (Theismann, Williams, Rypien) so I think he can make it work with the guys he's got. Plus, everyone's bashing Portis as "not fitting into the system" but not realizing that players can adapt to other systems or coaches can adapt offenses to other players. I think Washington can surprise people this year.
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