 (By Gerry Wang)
1999-2000 NFL PREVIEW/PREDICTIONS
by Gerry Wang
Besides Christmas time and late June, one of my favorite times of the
year is the start of the football season. That's when you know autumn is here, and
school's starting soon, to your dismay. But there is something about college football, as
well as NFL football, that invigorates the sense of dedication and pride you have in your
favorite team(s).
There's nothing rowdier than a college football stadium. No one is more
fierce in their fanatical loyalty than college football fans. Similarly in the NFL, where
people go to games buck-naked in snowy blizzards with their team colors painted on their
beer bellies. Yes, pigskin is America's pastime. Football, to the rest of the world, is
soccer, the lamest sport ever created (Yes, even behind synchronized swimming).
Only in football do you get bone-crunching violence. Only in football
is it legal to smash someone as hard as you can wearing full protection and using lethal
weapons such as a helmet. Groin-kicking is legal. Eye-gouging is dirty, but legal. If you
come out of a game w/o blood on your uniform, it means you suck. Football is the ultimate
primeval activity. It's in our blood to war over precious territory. Mere yards are our
land. The end zone is our capital. We dare you to invade our capital. We'll die stopping
you.
But football is also a thing of beauty. There are few beautiful things
in sports. A perfectly executed fast break, a hole in one, a home run.............. those
are beautiful, but don't even compare to a long touchdown bomb or a Barry Sanders 75-yard
dash or a kick return touchdown. Precise execution and anticipation is necessary to make
these plays. It requires a team effort. Barry Sanders ain't going nowhere if his o-line
doesn't bust a gap for him. Brett Favre ain't gonna look good if he doesn't have
protection or a psychic connection with his receiver. Special teams touchdowns..........
well that's self-explanatory. Everyone better block his man.
It's safe to say that no one can hate football. There's always action
going on. If the offense is struggling, it's because the defense is too strong. And vice
versa. In fact, a 0-0 game is much more suspenseful in football, because you got
placekickers who can bomb 61-yarders like John Kasay, and every game counts. There's only
16 of them. The scoring system of football demands strategy and decision making. Do you go
for the 2-point conversion? Do you kick the FG or go for the end zone? How do you manage
the clock?
This is why football is great. It's truly a war between two armies,
with two generals complete w/ sergeants. The linemen are the infantry, the linebackers the
artillery. The secondary is the cavalry. All must work in synch to defeat the enemy. Those
who win the most battles wins the war-- The Super Bowl.
Alright, enough w/ this gay metaphor and lame attempts at melodrama.
Let's get onto the meat of this article. I'll try to predict the final standings for each
division, then predict the postseason. Along the way I'll give you some insights on every
team, like what their strengths and weaknesses are, and which players you should watch
for. I'll also highlight any significant offseason transactions.
Oh yeah, all the artwork you see is original........ ok, I didn't draw
it, but I spent a long time creating the backgrounds. Some genius at NFL.COM decided to
make his backgrounds transparent gifs. So I had to take a bunch of time making them
un-transparent and I had to cut a lot of stuff out, then repaste. Damn NFL.COM
AFC EAST PREVIEW
AFC CENTRAL PREVIEW
AFC WEST PREVIEW
NFC EAST PREVIEW
NFC CENTRAL PREVIEW
NFC WEST PREVIEW
POSTSEASON PREVIEW |