Finally Talking About Football

As rain continues to pour down upon the Bronx (and potentially ruining my experience at Phantom of the Opera this evening), I'm committed to finally writing a blog that's not about baseball.  Seeing as I'll most likely go back to making this a baseball blog soon enough with awards season right around the corner, today looks like a good time to keep my promise of finally talking about America's favorite sport: football.

Randy Moss is once again a former Viking.  Evidently, he's not a good teammate.  Does the fact that Minnesota, a popular Super Bowl pick when the season began, is 2-5 have anything to do with it?  No, couldn't possibly.  They picked up Moss because the offense desperately needed a spark with Sidney Rice out for the year, then promptly went 1-3 after acquiring him, beating only the Cowboys, who have their own problems.  The only reason Minnesota's not in last place is because they beat the Lions (who are also 2-5 and technically tied with the Vikings). 

Anyway, Moss is now a member of the Tennessee Titans, who were in danger of falling out of the AFC South race without Kenny Britt.  Moss can help the Titans, but I'm not sure how much.  After Monday night's win in Houston, Peyton and the boys have regained their rightful place at the top of the division, and I don't think anybody really expects them to fall out of first any time soon.  The AFC is so deep that the second-place team in the South might not make the playoffs, so it's tough to say Moss will be a difference-maker in that division.  I'm not sure the Titans are a better team than the Texans anyway.

The other big waiver pickup was Shawne Merriman going from the Chargers to the Bills.  Now, the Bills have sadly finally hit rock bottom.  As a Bills fan, I think it was only a matter of time before this happened, and as much as I don't want to root for them to lose, the only way things are going to get better is getting the No. 1 pick and taking a stud quarterback (read, not J.P. Losman and not JaMarcus Russell).  The Merriman acquisition is mutually beneficial.  He'll get a chance to show he still has something left in the tank (which I think he does), and Buffalo finally has a stud defensive player again.  (The last time the Bills were good, Takeo Spikes and London Fletcher were both on the team.  Coincidence?  I think not.)  Merriman said he'll report (although he doesn't really have much of a choice), but probably won't play in the annual Toronto game against the Bears this week.

Perhaps the biggest surprises of the NFL season other than the complete ineptitude of presumed Super Bowl contenders Dallas and Minnesota are the first-place Chiefs, Bucs and Seahawks.  Now I'm still not convinced that Kansas City is that good, and their record is more a reflection of how pathetic the rest of the AFC West (including the Chargers) is, but still.  They have an easy remaining schedule and it would be a surprise if they don't lose on Wild Card Weekend.  (In other AFC West news, the Oakland Raiders once again resemble a professional football team.)  Seattle probably isn't as surprising, seeing as most people figured it was just a matter of time with Pete Carroll at the helm.  The chic pick to win the NFC West was the 49ers, but some bad luck and bad play has left San Francisco behind the 8-ball.  I still think San Francisco's the best team in the division, and with five division games left, they can still make a run, but it's the Seahawks' division to lose.  And the St. Louis Rams are on their way to becoming legitimate contenders, too (Bills, see what the benefit of being terrible, then drafting a stud QB No. 1 is?).  Out of the three, Tampa Bay's probably the biggest surprise, if only because there are actually good teams that reside in their division.  But here the Bucs are, tied for first place with the Falcons, who might be the best team in the NFC at the moment, and ahead of the Super Bowl champion Saints, who haven't gotten every possible lucky break known to man this season (like they did last year).  I also think that out of the three, Tampa Bay's the one with the least staying power, but the Bucs could definitely make things interesting in the NFC South.  And going 9-7 to earn a wild card isn't totally out of the question.  Seeing as the five best teams in football are all in the AFC (Patriots, Steelers, Ravens, Jets, Colts), 8-8 might even do the trick in the NFC this season.

I think that's it for today.  I hope you enjoyed the first installment that didn't feature any baseball talk at all.  And if you're only reading for the baseball talk, how come you made it all the way to the end?