In the Spotlight

The Brett Favre saga has made this off-season drag along even more slowly than usual, but with that finally tied up and the pre-season out of the way (including the usual injury controversies and calls for shorter pre-season) it’s almost time for the regular season to get under way. Every team has endeavored, with varying success, to upgrade their personnel and prepare as much as possible to be ready for business. At this time of year there are questions hanging over every team. Will the big name player they traded for perform? Can a coach turn around a suffering franchise? I’m going to look at a few teams in the league and the questions staring them in the face as the 2008 season approaches.

Buffalo Bills – Is Trent Edwards ready to lead the team to the next level?
The Bills did a very good job last season of beating the teams who were around their level or lower, with all wins over the Dolphins and Jets amongst others. What they need to do this year is to try and punch above their weight, and Trent Edwards will be a key part of that. His good and bad games didn’t always come at the same time as good and bad games for the whole team, but both his form and the form of the team was up and down. Marshawn Lynch produced in his rookie season, so if Edwards can get that same support from the running game the Bills could make a real run at… well, second place in the division is certainly doable. Quarterbacks coach Turk Schonert has been promoted to offensive coordinator, so he should help look after Edwards in his second season.

Miami Dolphins – Ricky Williams
This is sort of obvious I suppose, but Ricky Williams –who has signed a new contract with two more years on it- will be the one to watch. Ronnie Brown has a couple of good seasons only for his 2007 to be cut short by injury after he’d started well. Since Williams is reinstated he’ll be hoping to get out of the blocks quickly At the end of the day people will be watching Williams to see if he can behave. If he doesn’t and Ronnie Brown stays fit, it’ll be less of a predicament for the Dolphins than Ricky might like to think.

New England Patriots - Super Bowl hangover
As if it the dreaded “Super Bowl Hangover” wasn’t enough to be getting on with, the Pats record in the post-season since beating the Eagles in February 2005 has been what can only be described as shaky. By their standards at least. In the 05/06 season divisional game they capitulated in Denver, in the 06/07 AFC Championship game they led the Colts 21-6 at half time only to allow Indianapolis to score a staggering 32 points in the second half. And of course we all know what happened to the 18-0 Patriots last season. The Patriots are in danger of becoming known as perennial chokers, so wiping the slate clean is vital to their chances this year.

New York Jets – Brett Favre
I tried to come up with somebody else but nobody even comes close to generating the level of interest that Favre will this year. I’d go into it, but frankly we’ve all read enough about the matter already.

Baltimore Ravens – Offensive line
The task for the offensive line in Baltimore was already looking fairly sizable. With positions vacated by Jonathan Ogden and Mike Flynn, who were both Super Bowl winners with the Ravens, John Harbaugh was already looking for a safe pair of hands under center. So when Kyle Boller and Troy Smith (who it was believed was moving into pole position in the race to quarterback the team) both went down injured and Boller being put on IR, that leaves Joe Flacco to step up. Flacco has a nice arm but, as with any rookie, isn’t a proven quantity in the NFL and he’ll need the revamped offensive line to look after him and give him the time to make the right choices.

Tennessee Titans – Vince Young
Call it the Sophomore Slump, blame it on the Madden Curse, but there was something not quite right about Vince Young last year. Many of his key stats actually improved. Completions, yards, completion percentage and quarterback rating all went up. Unfortunately, so did the number of interceptions he threw and his touchdowns –both passing and on the run- slipped by a fair percentage. His basic play improved and as a passer he was better, the problem seemed to be the key moments. In his rookie year he was prone to making huge players that kept the Titans rolling but last season it was more infrequent. Whether it was just a dip or whether teams knew how to deal with him, Young is going to have to make the most of a bad lot if he’s to improve. Aside from Alge Crumpler (who frankly could go either way) there’s been scant improvement in passing options for Young, and he needs downfield threats if his runs are going to have a chance of catching opponents off guard more often. As a rookie Young had explosiveness and unpredictability, in his second year he was less erratic on basic plays but for some reason at the expense of doing the unexpected. A happy medium would make for a good year for Vince, and might help to quell some of the doubters’ concerns.

San Diego Chargers – Shawne Merriman
Shawne Merriman’s much-debated decision to play through ligament damage will mean a morbid mini-sport during every down he plays this year. Even step, every run, every tackle, every hit will be watch intently if Merriman is involved. I’m in the group of people who think he’s being very silly, but it’s his own career he’s toying with. But every play he’s rolling the dice with millions of eyes watching to see if his luck holds.

New York Giants – Eli Manning
Peyton’s Kid Brother finally stepped out of his shadow and played when it mattered. He shook off pressure and his own inconsistency to lead the Giants through the post season and looked like the genuine article. It’s easy for some people to say the defense were what got the Giants to the Super Bowl, and there’s no point arguing the impact they had but let’s not belittle Manning’s contribution. He might never attain Peyton’s technical proficiency, but he started to look like a leader last year and started to find a way out of situations that previously would have left him flustered and wasting the ball. There are those who are more than ready to talk about the “same old Eli” but I think he’ll only get better. With Michael Strahan gone and Osi Umenyiora out for the year the pressure is on Manning even more. And you know what? I think it’ll do him good.

Chicago Bears – Whole offense
The Bears are presumably unwilling to address a blatant problem at quarterback, because they’ve had the opportunity to fix it and haven’t. Kyle Orton has wrested control of the quarterback position from Rex Grossman for now, but the impression is that the Bears haven’t much explored other options. For me, this is thrown into perspective when I hear that Daunte Culpepper retired. Culpepper’s had injury issues and the extent of his recovery is debatable, but surely he would have been worth a gamble? With an uninspiring group of receivers and Devin Hester’s returns seeming to the Bears’ best scoring chance much of the time it could be a tough season for Lovie Smith’s men.

Detroit Lions – Calvin Johnson
You remember Calvin Johnson, right? He’s the wide receiver the Lions drafted who was going to catch everything thrown in his direction and score the touchdowns that would help Detroit really compete. Well after finishing the season on Vicodin to ease back pain Johnson is a little older, a little wiser and hopefully a lot healthy. He’s one of those players who most fans of the sport would like to see make the most of his potential just to see how dangerous he could be. The Lions are hoping to run the ball more this season, but that won’t stop fans, players and coaches alike keeping an eye on Johnson.

Green Bay Packers – Aaron Rodgers
It’s been a hard summer for Aaron Rodgers and his season probably won’t be much easier. Certainly not to begin with. After being told he was the man to replace Brett Favre, he then (after apparently stepping up to the role admirably, by all accounts) suffered weeks of uncertainty as the Packers and Favre thrashed out Number 4’s future. He’s been spared facing Favre on the opening night, but it’s still a game against the Vikings and with all the hype surrounding the team they’ll be eager to get going. Including that unpleasant pass rush which racked up 38 sacks last year. It’s a real baptism of fire for Rodgers, one which could set the tone for his year.

Minnesota Vikings – Adrian Peterson
Adrian Peterson was the most exciting rookie in the league last year, if not the most exciting player of any age. His production and workload were both reduced in the second half after missing a few weeks through injury. There are concerns that he runs too hard and will lose more playing time through injuries he might have avoided, but it’s hard to think that way when you see him tearing down the field and breaking off enormous gains. Performances such as the one against Chicago (224 rushing yards, three touchdowns) and San Diego (296 rushing yards, three touchdowns) have already made him a hero in Minnesota, and Vikings fans will be hoping in his second year he can be the generator that powers Minnesota into the post season.

Atlanta Falcons – Michael Turner
If you’ve got to be the back-up to any running back in the league it might as well be to LaDainian Tomlinson. No shame in that at all. But having been an ever reliable back up it was inevitable that when the time was right he’d be leaving to try his hand at being the main man, and it was Atlanta who gave him such a chance. It won’t be as easy as subbing for LT by any stretch of the imagination, but Turner will thrive on being relied upon and could keep Atlanta in a few games they might fall out of with an inferior back. Assuming, that is, that Turner’s cameos in San Diego weren’t misleading. We finally get to find out.

New Orleans Saints – Defense
Last season New Orleans completely failed to live up to expectation, be it theirs or anybody else’s. They missed Deuce McAllister as Reggie Bush unsurprisingly failed to thrive as an every down back and the defense, supposedly upgraded, didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. A big name deal was to bring in Jeremy Shockey, who should only help to make Drew Brees more dangerous, and the first few picks of their draft focussed on bolstering their defense. Defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs will be acutely aware that a poor defense is letting down a potentially Super Bowl level offense and will be doing everything in his power to fix it.

Arizona Cardinals – Matt Leinart
It hasn’t been easy for Matt Leinart since being drafted tenth overall pick by Arizona in 2006. With highlights including a rookie record 405 passing yards in a game and lowlights including injury and spending a lot of time on a rotation with Kurt Warner it’s been a turbulent time for the former Heisman winner. Some are already declaring him a bust which is somewhat harsh, but the time is rapidly approaching when Leinart will have to prove himself. His first priority will be to regain the starting job from Kurt Warner, and then to maintain good form and keep it. It should be interesting to see what happens if Warner is pulled from a game through injury or bad play, because Leinart’s reaction to any opportunity could make or break his career as a Cardinal.

Seattle Seahawks – Mike Holmgren
It’s Holmgren’s last season in Seattle, and possible in the NFL altogether. He’s been with the ‘Hawks since the ’99 season, and in those nine years he’s won the division five times (including the last four years) but only reached one NFC Championship game, which was on the way to a Super Bowl defeat at the hands of Pittsburgh. Few will fancy Seattle ahead of the likes of Dallas and Minnesota, but Holmgren will be hankering after another chance at the Super Bowl with Seattle.

Thursday’s Season Opener
Washington Redskins vs New York Giants
Praise be, the real football is finally here! And what a game we could have on our hands, too. Super Bowl champions New York Giants entertaining their rivals in the highly competitive NFC East, the Washington Redskins. Both teams of course want to get their seasons and NFC East campaigns off to a good start, but the Giants will undoubtedly be gritting their teeth at those who suggest their big win in February was somehow fortuitous or more to do with New England under-performance. I think it’ll be a close game with plenty to entertain as there’s two teams with the ability to rack up points but also make big players on the other side of the ball. I think Eli Manning will win the passing battle with Jason Campbell and a few big plays will overcome the steadier production from Washington.

-Ian Hetherington