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The most important event of preseason 2004 is the continued enforcement of the pass interference rules resulting from the NFL championship games. Back then on this forum, I had gone against conventional wisdom to predict a Colts/Eagles Superbowl and came back to this forum with sour grapes over the clutching and grabbing that marked these games. Apparently, my viewpoint was not original. I can only imagine that if I am an owner and I'm paying my offensive players $50 million+, I'm kind of ticked off that these guys get to the championship game and are unable to do anything to contribute to my team winning. So the viewpoint is understandable.
Now, those who have followed hockey know these kind of changes all too well and they seem to lose luster after a while. How will these games be called come playoff team? Will the time-proven adage "Defense wins championships" take a shot from this rule change if it is actually enforced? Could we actually see a swing in who would be/would have been the SB contenders based on a simple rulebook change that favors offense over defense?
These questions will take time to answer, but the new rule will be on full display when the NFL kicksoff September 9th with the Patriots playing the Colts. One point worth considering is that although the rule was put in place to benefit teams like the Colts, could it in effect backfire considering that the Patriots corners are better than the Colts and will be able to adjust to the news rules more effectively? In other words, the flag flies both ways.
The other thing that has grabbed me is how unchanged the landscape seems from 2003. This is not unusual. The preseason rarely gives accurate hints of the rises and falls of the 2003 teams that are virtually inevitable. When I saw the panthers last weekend, they looked like the exact same team that marched into the Superbowl. Will they be? Or will they be a 7-9 mess that more resembles a team that frequently won games by a couple points? Did Philadelphia and New England get better with their high profile acquisitions? Were the Colts just one rule change from the Superbowl last year? Was the Packers Farve-led end of season surge a one-time event or the harbinger of something new?
Besides the high-flyers looking good, the low-flyers are looking bad. Dennis Green has surprisingly concluded his team is the worst in the NFL, despite the Chargers playing just west of them. I struggle to name the starting QBs of the Bears, Lions, and Bengals. I know who the QB of the Browns is, but he hasn't looked as good so far.
And then, there are the Dolphins. How can you lose to the Redskins 17-0? Really?? The Skins must have had a good chuckle to themselves in the film room, creaming a team with gut plays. The Falcons haven't looked a great deal better, although we know 60 minutes of Michael Vick can change things a lot.
And just what the heck is Dallas thinking? Not that I mind their annual ritual of dumping their starting QB every other August, but they will also rue the day they selected Julius Jones over Stephen Jackson. Does Julius Jones have a much better chance of outdoing his brother as does, say, Eli? Combined with the Giants looking terrible and the Skins being a mystery, this might be an easier year for the Eagles than we first expected. I must wonder outloud if Warner should have given himself a real chance to start in Arizona rather than being in a lame duck, no offensive line protection situation he has found himself to be in New York. If Warner still had a little magic in him -- and he still seems to throw an accurate ball -- it won't materialize in New York for certain.
Now, those who have followed hockey know these kind of changes all too well and they seem to lose luster after a while. How will these games be called come playoff team? Will the time-proven adage "Defense wins championships" take a shot from this rule change if it is actually enforced? Could we actually see a swing in who would be/would have been the SB contenders based on a simple rulebook change that favors offense over defense?
These questions will take time to answer, but the new rule will be on full display when the NFL kicksoff September 9th with the Patriots playing the Colts. One point worth considering is that although the rule was put in place to benefit teams like the Colts, could it in effect backfire considering that the Patriots corners are better than the Colts and will be able to adjust to the news rules more effectively? In other words, the flag flies both ways.
The other thing that has grabbed me is how unchanged the landscape seems from 2003. This is not unusual. The preseason rarely gives accurate hints of the rises and falls of the 2003 teams that are virtually inevitable. When I saw the panthers last weekend, they looked like the exact same team that marched into the Superbowl. Will they be? Or will they be a 7-9 mess that more resembles a team that frequently won games by a couple points? Did Philadelphia and New England get better with their high profile acquisitions? Were the Colts just one rule change from the Superbowl last year? Was the Packers Farve-led end of season surge a one-time event or the harbinger of something new?
Besides the high-flyers looking good, the low-flyers are looking bad. Dennis Green has surprisingly concluded his team is the worst in the NFL, despite the Chargers playing just west of them. I struggle to name the starting QBs of the Bears, Lions, and Bengals. I know who the QB of the Browns is, but he hasn't looked as good so far.
And then, there are the Dolphins. How can you lose to the Redskins 17-0? Really?? The Skins must have had a good chuckle to themselves in the film room, creaming a team with gut plays. The Falcons haven't looked a great deal better, although we know 60 minutes of Michael Vick can change things a lot.
And just what the heck is Dallas thinking? Not that I mind their annual ritual of dumping their starting QB every other August, but they will also rue the day they selected Julius Jones over Stephen Jackson. Does Julius Jones have a much better chance of outdoing his brother as does, say, Eli? Combined with the Giants looking terrible and the Skins being a mystery, this might be an easier year for the Eagles than we first expected. I must wonder outloud if Warner should have given himself a real chance to start in Arizona rather than being in a lame duck, no offensive line protection situation he has found himself to be in New York. If Warner still had a little magic in him -- and he still seems to throw an accurate ball -- it won't materialize in New York for certain.