The NFL is heating up!

Week 2 in the NFL is set to begin tomorrow, and I have to say I've been excited by what I've seen so far. I've been an NFL football fan for as far as I can remember, and there's just something about the return to the field each year that makes me feel like a kid again. Not that I'm THAT old now - but you get the point.

I remembered at the start of every NFL season heading up to the local park with my good friend Jeremy to play a game called "punt/pass". The idea was to throw the ball as far as you could towards your opponent who would in turn throw it back. Then, you'd punt (kick) it back to your opponent who would in turn punt it back to you. Wherever the ball landed was where you had to play from. The idea was to drive your opponent back across the opposing goal line. Did I mention my friend had a good 5-inches on me in height, and a solid 40 pounds in weight? As you can imagine, I didn't win as much as I'd like, but it was a lot of fun anyway!

As for this newly formed NFL season, I have a few predictions I wanted to throw out. As always, I'm interested in your thoughts too!

Overrated teams...

The Kansas City Chiefs will be a big disappointment. The team was getting older on their powerful offense, and the recent loss of QB Trent Green will hurt more, but their biggest problems remain on defense. You can't win if you can't keep your opponents out of the end zone.
Okay, it's no secret I don't like the Dallas Cowboys. Not too many people do! I feel this team might be the most "overrated" in the league. I feel QB Drew Bledsoe is past his prime, they've inherited a headache signing diva WR Terrel Owens, and this is only to name a few plot holes in the Cowboys quest for another Superbowl. They won't be a bad team, but they certainly aren't going to put up the numbers some people are predicting.

Underrated teams...

I like the Jacksonville Jaguars a lot this year. Their offense, even without retiring all-star WR Jimmy Smith, looks to have improved. Combine that will stellar defense and you have a team on the rise.

I like the look of the NY Jets this year - at least to massively improve on their 4-12 season in 2005. I strongly feel the key for the Jets is the health of their Quarterback Chad Pennington. Pennington has been much maligned by fans in recent years given his injury troubles and his apparent "lack of arm strength". I look at him another way. He's a proven winner that rarely makes mistakes. If she stays healthy, we're looking at an 8-8 Jets team, maybe even better.

Teams that had potential, but didn't go far enough...

The Washington Redskins have a dynamite defense, a good running attack, and came within two games of the Superbowl last season. Their problem, they are hanging their hopes on a 36-year old quarterback whose best days are well behind him. It's a shame. Had they sprung for a decent QB, they could have made even more noise.

Teams I have a soft spot for...

The Seattle Seahawks. It's geography as much as anything else for me. That and growing up where the Seahawks were always on TV! I don't know if they'll make it back to the Superbowl this year, but they still should have a solid season. That's as much as I can say - I don't want to doom them with a prediction two weeks in to the year!

My early pick as the Superbowl winner...

The New England Patriots. Tom Brady will do it again - mostly on his back.