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| Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots during warmups in a preseason game against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on August 28, 2009 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
(1) A federal judge lets the air out of the NFL's case against the New England Patriots and their quarterback Tom Brady for allegedly deflating footballs during the AFC championship game. The league-imposed four-game suspension against Brady has been rescinded, pending an NFL appeal. Nobody looks good here. Not commissioner Roger Goodell, which for him is par for the course. Nor for the Patriots and Brady, who now look like the type of people who think they could get away with just about anything. And they have all those Vince Lombardi trophies as proof.
(2) The usual assortment of players who were fined and/or suspended for drug and/or domestic abuse.
(3) Players who retire prematurely when they realize that all the safety measures in the world didn't prevent them from getting concussions, or they just didn't want to wait until it happened to them.
(4) The San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams--three franchises that once called Los Angeles home--are battling to see which one (or two) of them is going to ditch their current stadium situations for the City of Angels. LA hasn't seen NFL football since the Raiders and Rams left in 1995, and there's some question as to whether they'd be interested even now. But there are owners and developers with dollar signs in their eyes who are willing to find out.
All of this should matter to the millions who fill the stadiums, watch on TV and participate in fantasy leagues. Right now it just doesn't, because it's time for kickoff. American sports fans certainly don't demand much, do they?
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Meanwhile, back in Minnesota, the Vikings and coach Mike Zimmer think they have all the tools necessary to make a run at a playoff spot. Teddy Bridgewater is the undisputed starting quarterback, which is something you couldn't say for years unless your name was Brett Favre. Mike Wallace (brought in from the Miami Dolphins) and Cordarrelle Patterson are here to enhance the offense.
Adrian Peterson returns from NFL-imposed exile and a brief hankering to try his luck with another team (only to be told he couldn't), to see if he has anything in the tank left at age 30 after such a long absence. Peterson might also be wondering if everyone would forgive him, but not forget, the reason why he was suspended in the first place. Having a good season has a way of inducing collective amnesia among Vikings fans.
This is indeed a team that could make the Wild Card round of the playoffs if it weren't for one big fat question mark: How will the offensive line be as effective in protecting Bridgewater, now that Phil Loadholt is out for the season after getting injured in a preseason game? If the Vikings can't find the answer to that question, they'll spend their last season at TCF Bank Stadium out in the cold.
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For those who care what we think, here's our picks for who will be in the Super Bowl tournament come January.
NFC North Green Bay Packers
NFC South Carolina Panthers
NFC East Dallas Cowboys
NFC West Seattle Seahawks
Wild Card Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions
AFC North Baltimore Ravens
AFC South Indianapolis Colts
AFC East New England Patriots
AFC West Denver Broncos
Wild Card Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals
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