You know hope springs eternal when the Arizona Cardinals are talking playoffs.
Think about it: A franchise as habitually bad as the Cardinals ? one that hasn?t won a world championship since Truman was president ? is full of hope. Amazing.
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The Cardinals have a new stadium and a revamped offense with running back Edgerrin James to go along with some talented receivers and quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Matt Leinart. You know what I have to say? Good for you, Cardinals fans. By that, I mean all two of you. Enjoy the buzz that comes with being a supposed sleeper team. As with most predicted sleeper picks, they will fizzle.
We have contact
One of the great things I heard this offseason was that coaches can challenge a play originally ruled down by contact by referees. For the life of me, I could never figure out how the fallibility of officials was in play for everything except them perceiving someone might have been down. The game happens too quickly not to leave the door open. Good decision.
Warm up the hot seat
It seems like the only thing more fun for football fans than picking fantasy teams is deciding which coaches will not make it through the season. Baltimore fans like to say if the Ravens struggle, Brian Billick might be one of those men. Don?t count on it. The organization really thinks the world of the man, and he wields quite a bit of power in Owings Mills. If he did get canned, the man would have a job the very next day. Marty Schottenheimer will be gone if the young, promising Chargers falter.
How it?ll all play out
In the NFC, look for paper champions, like the Chicago Bears, to be exposed and miss the playoffs. The Vikings will win the NFC Central, and the Seahawks will win the West. The Giants will barely win the NFC East again, with the Redskins taking a wild card spot. In theNFC South, Carolina will hold off Atlanta to win the division, with the Falcons getting the final conference playoff spot.
The Panthers, loaded on both sides of the ball, will make their second Super Bowl appearance.
In the AFC, the Steelers, bane of Baltimore?s existence, will have a tough time repeating their high-wire act that ended in a Super Bowl during 2005. Pittsburgh will be making the playoffs again but will once again lose the North Division to the Bengals. Three teams will come out of AFC North, including your hometown Ravens.
The Indianapolis Colts will win the South, and the Patriots will claim the East. The Chargers will finally get their act together, winning the West.
The Bengals will shock the Colts in the title game. The Panthers, however, will win their first Super Bowl.
Matt Palmer is a sports staff writer for The Examiner.
