Happy 2nd Anniversary to BSD and 2006 NFL Preview

Not only is the NFL season upon us, but it also represents the 2nd Anniversary of the Back Seat Driver’s founding. Last year’s anniversary column revealed a number of interesting things, such as the fact that 259 posts were made in the 1st year.

This year was a much more verbose period for BSD. Granted, the first year really didn’t have as many writers until much later in the NFL season (if not the MLB season). This year… the unofficial count is… 543 posts! In addition, this is exactly the 803rd post of the blog, according to blogger.com.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to do the breakdown of the posts by author, as I did last year. This year has been another year of stellar growth for BSD, as pictures and mytube videos have really spiced up the articles.

I will reiterate what I said last year, “I just wanted to thank Mighty Mike for his foresight in creating this blog, which has provided joy to jedi across the galaxy. In addition, his contribution to this very article was also helpful!” If Mighty Mike should be defeated by a corned beef sandwich before he reads this, then I would like to thank the new editor, Chunky Corned Beef Sandwich.

In addition, I would like to thank all of the other contributors (alphabetically): 24, Beth, Colonel Sanders, Hart, Jon, Josh Pho Minh, Laz, MJ, Mr. Nonymous, Publius. Some may have contributed more than others. For example, I don’t even recall “24” ever submitting anything. Nor do I recall “MJ” submitting any articles.

Alas, it’s time to get down and dirty… its time for the NFL preview! Many topics for this upcoming season have been covered already on Back Seat Drivers, so I will try my best to keep things as simple, fresh, and relatively brief as possible.

AFC East
1. New England – I just don’t see them losing their stranglehold on what has become a relatively weak division.
2. Miami – It’s possible if Culpepper regains his 2004 form that the Dolphins would overtake the Patriots. Honestly though, Culpepper tore all 3 ligaments in his knee so his comeback is the least likely of the 4 Horsemen of Injured QBs (Culpepper, Brees, Palmer Roethlisberger), especially considering Culpeppter’s mobility was a big part of his success.
3. NY Jets – probably the worst 3rd place team in the NFL. And their coach is a Mangina.
4. Buffalo – possibly the worst 4th place team in the NFL. Even Willis McGahee needed extra time to get back to 100% when he tore 3 ligaments. Maybe in the Miami-Buffalo game, Culpepper and McGahee can have some special alone time to talk about it.

AFC North
1. Pittsburgh – I hate them, but its hard to pick against them. Even after losing “emotional” leader Jerome Bettis.
2. Cincinnati – The big question mark is obviously Carson Palmer… the big certainty is jail time and parole for the other players.
3. Cleveland – they have a chance to be marginally better than the Ravens.
4. Baltimore – I’m just hoping the wheels fall off this year, and Ravens coach, Cobra Commander yells out “retreat!” I also find it strange how they keep adding Titans to their roster who were really good a few years ago (D. Mason, S. Rolle, and now S. McNair)

AFC South
1. Indianapolis – they still have a great team despite choking against the Steelers in the playoffs last year.
2. Jacksonville – the benefits of an easy division is that they are in position to make the wildcard each year. The problem this year is that they play the NFC East, where its possible to go 1-3, or even 0-4. Last year, Jacksonville played the NFC West and went 3-1. I think this could mean the difference in them not making it, though they are a good team.
3. Houston – who knows? Maybe they’ll finally improve a little bit.
4. Tennessee – certainly another rebuilding year for the state that has a “raccoon” as its official animal.

AFC West
1. Denver – They picked up Javon Walker from Green Bay, who’s coming off a knee surgery. They are solid on both sides of the ball, but this division can still be tricky, its just that Denver is the safest pick.
2. San Diego – Everything’s riding on a virtual rookie QB, Philip Rivers, and I just can’t think of the last time a QB played well in his 1st year after substantial dormancy. (Culpepper on Minnesota maybe? Pennington’s 1st and only good year?). Because Rivers has a reliable LT and Gates to rely on, I’m going to predict that they sneak into the postseason!
3. KC – KC’s got a good team, but their offensive line is very questionable for the first time in a while.
4. Oakland – I fully expect Aaron Brooks to shine in Oakland. Almost every veteran QB that goes to the Raiders revitalizes their career to some degree (see Jeff Hostetler, Jeff George, Rich Gannon). In addition, Aaron Brooks has a wildly inaccurate, but strong arm. It’s very similar to when Minnesota used Randall Cunningham to just chuck the ball down the field to Randy Moss. Granted, even if Aaron Brooks shines, the defense is still a mess on Oakland.

AFC Playoffs

6-San Diego over 3-Pittsburgh – Due to his offseason motorcycle accident, Roethlisberger has no face, so there’s no way he’ll see the oncoming Shawn Merriman. This game should provide plenty of old footage of that 1994 AFC Championship game when San Diego went into Pittsburgh and somehow won with Stan Humphries as the QB and Natrone Means Business as the RB.

4-New England over 5-Cincinnati- Cincy will have to wait until next year. Only if Carson’s healthy will the Bungles get a better position than going to New England.

1-Indy over 6-San Diego – Classic revenge game. San Diego wrecked Indy’s perfect season last year which sent Indy into some kind of strange tailspin.

2-Denver over 4-New England – No one will expect Denver to win twice in a row, but I see the game coming down to a kick for New England in Mile High, and without Vinatieri, there’s no given the Pats can do it.

1-Indy over 2-Denver – Indy had one of the better defenses last year, and this year should be no different. Losing Edgerrin James should not be a big deal as long as the O-line is intact.

NFC
NFC East – biggest crapshoot of all
1. NY Giants – Could Eli meet up with Peyton in the Super Bowl???
2. Philly – as my friend Paul pointed out, obviously, the conspiracy theory is that the whole reason the TO situation got out of hand last year and TO was forced out of the games, was so that they could bring in Jeff Garcia this year as a backup. Obviously.
3. Dallas – TO rocks. Except when he sleeps in. I still believe the downfall of this team is the immobile QB Drew Bledsoe, and if even QB Tony Romo-cop steps in, they will be better off. Think about this – both of TO’s QBs that were successful at getting him the ball [McNabb, Garcia] were elusive enough to buy enough time for TO to get down field and get separation.
4. Washington – Portis is dinged up at the beginning. The difference between succeeding and failing in the NFC East could come down to just starting 0-2.

NFC North – still pretty weak
1. Chicago – I’m expecting QB Brian Griese to be in charge of this team and take them to a 2nd-round bye due to a very weak schedule (playing the NFC West and the AFC East).
2. Detroit – Coach Rod “Sensei” Marinelli should have his players worked up into a frenzy all season long. Plus, Martz as offensive coordinator always finds ways to score points, which has certainly been the bigger problem for the Lions the last few years. “There is no pain in this dojo. NO Sensei!” I was going to annoint them the “sleeper team”, but its just going too far.
3. Minnesota – Brad Johnson is QB. Is this 1998?
4. Green Bay – The “Farewell Favre” tour begins and ends in the cellar of the division.

NFC South – holy moly, always a tough division
1. Carolina – I’ve chosen the Panther in the Super bowl, or to win the super bowl for each of the last 2 seasons. Honestly, I was prepared to pick them for a 3rd, but too many people have jumped on this bandwagon, so I’ll just jump off of it for now. They still will go far though.
2. Atlanta – I may be the only person who still thinks Vick can improve.
3. Tampa Bay – Should be a much tougher road to the playoffs, what with this division playing the NFC East and the AFC North.
4. New Orleans – I’m excited to see how the Deuce-Reggie backfield is going to work.

NFC West – holy moly, always a crappy division
1. St. Louis – Craziness, I know. St. Louis is switching to a run-oriented offense based on S. Jackson. If Seattle falls to the curse of the Super Bowl champion, St. Louis has the best chance in this division to “seize the day” and the division title, and hence, their switch to a sensible offense, and a reasonable head coach is the basis for me adopting them as my “sleeper team.”
2. Seattle - The last 7 Super Bowl losers have failed to get back to the playoffs. Shaun Alexander is on the cover of Madden, Alexander had a ridiculous amount of carries last season, and they lost their top offensive lineman. That seems like enough superstitious reasons to pick them out of the playoffs. Gotta love superstitions! [Please note: I have no real reason for doing this other than the superstitions].
3. Arizona - I just don’t know when they will turn that corner. Maybe next year, when they have the new stadium.
4. San Fran – Yawn.

NFC Playoffs

3-NY Giants over 6-Philly – great rivalry game. Going w/ home field.
5- Atlanta over 4-St. Louis – St. Louis’s magical run comes to an end.

3- NY Giants over 2-Chicago – Another bye for the Bears, another immediate exit.
1-CAR over 5- Atlanta – CAR always has had Vick’s number

3-NY Giants over 1-CAR – I’m only doing this so I don’t pick CAR.

Super Bowl
1-Indy over 2-NY Giants – I can’t believe I’m doing it, but I’m predicting a Manning vs. Manning showdown. Both have great defenses, which is the main reason they will be having the showdown. I just as easily could have put any of the other NFC East teams in the Super Bowl, as all 4 of them are capable of making the run through the rest of the NFC.