Ready for Some Dome Ball

“I lost Patrick Willis in the snow.”  That will be Peyton Manning’s excuse for his latest late-season gag in Super Bowl XLVIII in February in Met Life Stadium.  After the Super Bowl was delayed 3 days due to the blizzard conditions, late in the evening on Wednesday night, February 5, 2014 with Super Bowl parties having gone on so long that the economy had nose-dived, they finally took the field.  The record-setting snow fall, (Obama’s fault) was thought to favor the Denver Broncos.  But 16 turnovers later, the football, as hard as a frozen brick, finally bounced San Francisco’s way, and shortly after Willis’ recovery, Colin Kapernick dove into the end zone and the 49’ers won 17-16, mercifully ending the NFL’s worst experiment since the Janet Jackson halftime show.

That’s how it will end.  I know.  I usually write how the Saints are going to win the Super Bowl.  But unfortunately I saw the Saints defense last year.  One-year turnarounds usually come on offense, not defense.  Will the Saints be better on defense?  Well, it would be hard to be worse.  How much better?  Well today’s game starts at noon.  Ask me at about 12:45, because if Stephen Jackson is running wild against the Saints, which he used to do when he played for a bad team and now he’s on a good one, it will be another long year for the defense.  Watch the nose tackles – they will be the key.  I don’t think we have the outside linebackers to play the 3-4 defense, but watch them too.  Here’s reality:  offense in the NFL has never been better.  With supermen like Calvin Johnson and Dez Bryant, neither of whom can be covered, and rules changes that are trending toward just going ahead and making defense of any kind illegal, barring injuries, records are going to fall in droves this year. 

Here’s the good news.  One of the record setters should be Drew Brees.  I’m excited about the young receivers that have been brought in.  Daddy’s back, and despite an extremely tough schedule, the Saints should win the division and make it to the playoffs.  Daddy supposedly rewrote the playbook, and plans on running the ball more, which is good news because 1) The Saints have added to their corps of great running backs, and 2) it will keep the defense off the field. 

Around the league, nobody can predict injuries, and the star quarterbacks that have emerged are backed up by guys who, well let’s just say there will be a serious drop off.   So, if you’re a betting man, try to bet on who you think will be upright at the end.  The usual statues, Brady, Brees, Manning(s), Rodgers, Flaco, Flynn should rack up record yards.  I suspect Kapernick will run less, throw more, and will be "elite" by year-end.

So, I’m off to the Superdome to start another recovery season. 

Who will be the Steve Gleason today?