Not to gloat but I think I nailed it when I talked about speed being the ultimate arbiter of success this year and in the future. We saw the emergence of Chris Johnson, Desean Jackson and Eddie Royal, the continued dominance of the Giants speed based pass rush and the delayed yet foundational birth of Reggie Bush.
We also saw the sad reality of the NFL and injuries; but we pay to see cause so cannot deny effect.
What really did this first weekend tell us outside of beginning the narrative of speed? I think it is clear that the myth of parity is just that. Coming out of the weekend we can clearly place the Eagles, Cowboys, Giants(maybe the exception), Steelers and Bears as teams that will vie. While the Patriots, Chargers and Colts are coming off sub-par performances they will almost certainly the three of them make the playoffs. On the other hand I think there are exciting things coming out of Buffalo and Arizona (Finally), and definite sleepers in Atl, Tennessee and Denver.
A final note: the emergence of Special Teams, long the domain of sparse yet stellar constellations, as a skill position certainly warrants a mention. Not only do we here have a another instance of the speed narrative, but more and more often we are seeing guys who do, or could, play a substantial offensive role fielding kicks. Desean Jackson, Eddie Royal, Devon Hester, Dante Hall, Darren Sproles, Hightower, Roscoe Parrish are all guys who you have to watch out for everytime they touch the ball, whether on an end around, an out, a kickoff, punt or fly, these guys are almost singlehandedly deconstructing the standard classifications of the NFL.
No comments:
Post a Comment