[HUbison]

2005 NFL Season: Who's for real, who's for show
By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch
07/27/2005




This may be a baseball town, but it's a football nation. With that in mind, it's that time of the year - when young men's fancies turn to "go" routes, trap blocks and safety blitzes.

NFL training camps are opening all across the land this week. The real games will be here before you know it. The sorting process is about to begin as contenders get sorted from pretenders on the road to Detroit and Super Bowl 40. But why wait?


CONTENDERS

New England Patriots

Yes, there has been a brain drain with the loss of coordinators Charlie Weis (to Notre Dame) and Romeo Crennel (to Cleveland). The absence of Tedy Bruschi, who is sitting out this season after suffering a mild stroke in February, will hurt from an emotional and physical standpoint.

But until proven otherwise, the Patriots remain the state of the art in pro football. They remain the team to beat as long as QB Tom Brady is standing upright.


Philadelphia Eagles

There are more exciting head coaches than Andy Reid. Heck, Bill Belichick sounds like Jay Leno compared to Reid. But the guy is a winning machine, consistently putting his team in the best possible position to win.

As long as Terrell Owens doesn't pull a Ricky Williams and take a season-long sabbatical, he and Donovan McNabb will continue to make beautiful music together.


Kansas City Chiefs

No team in the NFL did as much to upgrade its defense in the offseason as coach Dick Vermeil's Chiefs. LB Kendrell Bell, DE Carlos Hall, S Sammy Knight and CB Patrick Surtain should all be instant starters - and instant upgrades - for a KC defense that finished 31st overall last season.

With Trent Green, Tony Gonzalez and Priest Holmes on the other side of the ball, the Chiefs don't have to be dominant on defense - just decent.



PRETENDERS
Indianapolis Colts

For all the numbers piled up by Peyton Manning & Co., the Colts are 3-5 in the postseason over the past six seasons and have appeared in only one conference championship game.

Until Indy reaches a Super Bowl, it's insulting to compare the Colts to the Greatest Show on Turf in St. Louis from 1999-2001. Or talk about Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison in the same breath as Dallas' "Triplets" (Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin), who won three Super Bowls for the Cowboys in the '90s.

After the Colts did next to nothing in the offseason to upgrade their defense, don't look for them in Motown on Feb. 5.


Dallas Cowboys

With each passing season in Dallas, it's becoming more apparent that, A.) Bill Parcells isn't the shrewdest personnel guy around; and that, B.) the "Big Tuna" isn't quite the genius he was when he had Belichick around as his first lieutenant.

Defensively, the Cowboys are moving toward a 3-4 alignment with a coordinator (Mike Zimmer) who has never run the scheme. Offensively, it's hard to believe that a past-his-prime Drew Bledsoe will lead the 'Boys' to their first playoff victory since 1996.


Arizona Cardinals

Thanks to a series of offseason moves, not the least of which was signing Kurt Warner to play quarterback, the Big Red are the flavor of the month in the NFC.

There's no doubt that Dennis Green can coach and motivate. He has a proven track record at recycling veteran QBs: (See: Warren Moon, Jeff George, Brad Johnson, and Randall Cunningham in Minnesota).

But hey, these are the Cardinals. Bill Bidwill's Cardinals. The Futile Franchise. If there is a way to mess things up, they will find a way.


THE EXTRA LARGE SUPER BOWL

In what proves to be his final year as an NFL head coach, Vermeil guides the Chiefs to Super Bowl XL against his original team - the Eagles. It's a great storyline. Alas, TO and McNabb overcome DV and the pride of Vianney High (Green).