NFL Is Back

The National Football League returns tonight.  Many men will disappear until early February.  Depending on your area of the country, leaves will remain unraked until spring and many dogs will walk with crossed legs on Sunday afternoons.  Suddenly, the words "Tony Romo" and "Life and Death Decision" are uttered in the same breath, usually by a desperate fantasy football owner.

I will watch a little bit this Sunday.  I have other obligations tonight and baseball is still on the docket while the weather is good.  Just because I'm not shutting down for the start of the season doesn't mean I'm not paying attention to what is going on.  As usual, I have an opinion.

-It will be interesting to watch the progress of defending read option quarterbacks.  Players like Russell Wilson, Robert Griffin III, and Colin Kaepernick have had success using that scheme.  Defensive coordinators have had a lot of time to figure out how to attack it.  The aforementioned quarterbacks had pretty good preseasons.  I believe the first half of the season could be very successful for these guys.  When the weather starts turning bad, the defensive coordinators will start winning.

-Football is still football.  The best performing blockers, tacklers, and skill players will lead there teams to victory.  Heavy emphasis given on blocking and tackling.  You gotta score points to win.  I believe Ryan Kerrigan will step up in Washington and become a defensive force.  Too bad he plays for one of football's worst owners.

-Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are still setting the standard.  The Patriots are showing some age, and the preseason scare involving Brady's knee should have put a little sense into their preparations for the season.  They cut the read option quarterback, some guy named Tebow.  It boils down to a simple philosophy: We don't have to do a lot different, we just have to do it better.

-Super Bowl picks?  Why not?  I can be wrong at any time.  Prefacing that I am a fan of the Seattle Seahawks, I do like their off season moves, and they have played dominant defense in the preseason.  Their two regular season games with San Francisco (9/15 and 12/8) could be must-see football. I believe a Wilson/RG III NFC Championship game would be as entertaining as last year's playoff match-up.  One of those three teams, but I favor Seattle, based on team defense.  AFC is still the Patriots, but the Texans have a lot of tools.  But the Patriots set the standard one more time.  I see the Patriots going all the way, only because the NFC is still finding their identity.

I know...go out on a limb.

So...am I off base?