We come to the culmination of my NFL-preview series, the 2006 NFL Playoffs!
Matchups: Wild Card Weekend-AFC Kansas City over Cincinnati, Miami over Pittsburgh. NFC New York G over Chicago, Dallas over Atlanta. Divisional Round-AFC Indianapolis over Kansas City, New England over Miami. NFC Carolina over New York G, Seattle over Dallas. Conference Championships-AFC New England over Indianapolis. NFC Carolina over Seattle. Summary: I think the whole season points to a rematch of the classic Super Bowl of 2004 when the Pats edged the Panthers (fantastic game that is unfortuantley remembered for Janet's tittie.) Indy will have a shot but losing Edgerrin James is big. They'll be in the mix. The Steelers may take a slight step back and Miami will make big-time strides in the right direction, provided Daunte Culpepper is healthy. The NFC East will be money. If T.O. contibutes like he can Dallas will be a major contender. Eli Manning looks to take the next step in his career and I think he does. Atlanta is always in the mix with Mike Vick (but when, oh when, will he reach his full potential?) The Seahawks will be in the mix as well, but like Indy, take a slight step back. In the Super Bowl, I like Carolina to avenge the aforementioned loss to New England. Jake Delhomme is clutch, Steve Smith is often undefendable, and the D is nice. I hate to ever bet against Tom Brady in crunch time, though....
Super Bowl XLI Carolina Panthers over New England Patriots
Major Award Winners: MVP-Tom Brady. I love Larry Johnson here but I have a feeling he may not play quite up to expectations this season (which are admittedly way high, i.e. 2,000 yards, etc.) Also in the mix will be Jake Delhomme, Shaun Alexander (again), Peyton Manning (again), and the ultimate wild card, Terrell Owens. I think Brady will put up sick numbers again and with the holes the Pats have, he'll be hard to overlook as MVP. Offensive Rookie of the Year-Reggie Bush. No surprise here. Bush's talent and versatility are unparalleled among rookies, and even among many NFL starters. He'll get plenty of field time as a kick returner, running back, and as a split wide out. The darkhorse pick here could be DeAngelo Williams, who'll be used in a similar role to Bush or WR Chad Jackson, who may become Tom Brady's favorite target pretty quickly. Defensive Rookie of the Year-Before training camps/preseason I would have said A.J. Hawk would have been the homerun pick here. Word is his play has been less than spectacular and he's been overshadowed by much-less-heralded rook Abdul Hodge. #1 pick Mario Williams is an unpredictable player, looking great at times and seeminlgy disappearing the rest. I'll go with Lions' LB Ernie Sims, a non-stop engine guy who can really mix it up inside and can get to the edge.
2006 College Football Preview. College Football may be my favorite sport of them all. And this season should provide some fantastic games and some sick action, with no clear favorite to win the National Championship. Also, we get our first look at a variation on the "Plus-1" system with 5 BCS Bowls now played.
Preseason Top-10 1.) Notre Dame 2.) USC 3.) West Virginia 4.) LSU 5.) Auburn 6.) Texas 7.) Ohio State 8.) Michigan 9.) Florida 10.) California
The Fighting Irish should be super-sick. Brady Quinn (see below) will be phenomenal, as will RB Darius Walker and WR Jeff Samardzija. Losing Maurice Stovall and Anthony Fasano hurts and ND's defense is suspect but Charlie Weis will manage to take the Irish back to major promenance and a second straight BCS Bowl. USC must replace a ton of talent, no question. Only 11 starters remain. But three straight #1 ranked recruiting classes should ease their pain. John David Booty has star potential (and experience, entering his 4th year in the system) and Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith, and Patrick Turner (and super-frosh Vidal Hazleton) make for a ridiculously talented WR corps. Chauncey Washington must step up at RB but remeber this, in 2003, Washington was a higher rated prep than Reggie Bush. West Virginia should be great and they have a soft (Big East)schedule. Pat White and Steve Slaton are a dynamite tandem, both just sophomores. LSU and Auburn will both be tested in the murderous SEC. LSU will be led by JaMarcus Russell who reminds me a lot of Daunte Culpepper. Les Miles enters his second season at the helm and looks to have some stability both on and off the field. Auburn will be led by the very able RB Kenny Irons, a Heisman candidate. My #6 and 7 teams, Texas and Ohio State, are ranked much lower than most have them. Texas has to replace Vince Young, the heart of their offense and the face of their program during last year's championship run. Two inexperienced freshman must replace him (contrast USC.) RB's Jammal Charles and Selvin Young will be money. But they also lost David Thomas, valuable pass catching and blocking TE. Also, the 'Horns must replace defensive heart and soul Michael Huff (and their best pass rusher in Roderique Wright.) And remember, Longhorn fan, UT is still 1-5 against Oklahoma in the Mack Brown era. Ohio State lost NINE starters on defense. Nine, including their entire LB and DB group. And not just any players but the likes of A.J. Hawk, Bobby Carpenter, and Donte Whitner, all first -round picks. They also lost their best WR in Santonio Holmes. Troy Smith and Ted Ginn, Jr. will both be super-nice but I think the Buckeyes are a little overrated nationally. Michigan returns 18 starters, including stars Chad Henne and Michael Hart. Head Coach Lloyd Carr will be feeling the heat so the Wolverines should be motivated. Florida enters year two of the spread offense of Urban Meyer. Another top-flight recruiting class will need to replace stars like Chad Jackson. I love QB Chris Leak, though he's not a true "spread" guy. Rounding out the top-10 is Cal, who, like Michigan, returns 18 starters. Marshawn Lynch will be one of the most dynamic dual threat RB's in America. The Bears will need to address the QB situation (likely going with Nate Longshore) and play more consistently to challenge nationally.
Major Bowl Matchups: Rose-Cal (10-2) vs. Ohio State (11-1), Fiesta-Michigan (10-2) vs. Texas (11-1), Orange-Notre Dame (11-1) vs. Auburn (11-1), Sugar-West Virginia (12-0) vs. Miami (11-1), BCS Championship Game-USC (12-0) vs. LSU (11-1)
As you can see, there should be several teams complaining about the BCS and claiming a valid beef with the match-up system. No bigger argument should exist than West Virginia, who looks to be the 2004 Auburn of this season. The USC/Notre Dame game of Nov. 25th looks to be the game of the season. The winner should be playing in Glendale on Jan. 8th.
National Champion: Southern California (somewhat surprising to me, even. But given the way things look to match-up, this is the outcome I see.)
Heisman Trophy Winner: Brady Quinn, QB, Notre Dame (other finalists, Adrian Peterson, Dwayne Jarrett, Kenny Irons, Marshawn Lynch, and Steve Slaton.)
Quote of the Week:
"A tyrant...is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader."-Plato.
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