A One-Man Scuttlebutt Session

It’s a day for rambling, in my mind.  The sky in Seattle is grey, the first time in weeks with no sun, and with coffee and donuts at my side in  one of my favorite hangouts, let’s get started with this singular entity and his “gossip”. (please note: I am by myself, so the gossip is virtually only in my head…)

Is Peyton Manning 100%?  That is a headline I saw somewhere today.  Answer: does it really matter?  I’ll take an 80% Manning over a 200% Tebow, a 150% Brady Quinn, or fill-in-the-blank-with-another-QB.  You get the picture.  Now, if his neck comes into play as far as a long term problem, then that is another story, but, if I’m a Broncos fan, I am breathing easy right now.

Can we please, please, please, stop referring to the Dallas Cowboys as “Americas Team”? Please?  This team has one playoff win on its dossier since 1996 (in 2010), and frankly, they haven’t been all that impressive unless you count all the finger crossing that Tony Romo will lead them to the promised land.  I applaud you, Dallas fans.  As a Browns fan, where the motto is “wait till next year”, maybe he WILL be the man.  But, in reality, Dallas is just another football team, and have been for quite awhile.  Americas Team indeed.

I don’t do man crushes, but if I did, my lone NFL crush would go to one Calvin Johnson Jr.  You might know him as Megatron.  As great as Randy Moss was in his prime, we have never seen the likes of a WR that is 6′ 5″, over 230 lbs. and can run a 4.3 40.  He’s also got hops mixed in with super strength.  Think about this: he is just starting to be in his prime and has a stud QB in Matthew Stafford (who is only getting better).  Enjoy the ride Detroit fans, you have something very special going in The Paris of the Midwest.

Hey, have you heard the talk today about the Jets and Tim Tebow?  I kid, and I’ll move on; your welcome.

I’m on Twitter quite a bit and follow a good many football writers (@NFLMocks as on example), and one of the writers I follow asked for bold predictions from his readers.  My entry was this: I am predicting that my Cleveland Browns go 3-3 in their division this year.  Bold indeed, but I am sticking to it.  We won’t win the division by any means, nor sniff the playoffs, but if you look at how well this team played defense last year, keeping most of their losses to single digits, we will no longer be automatic wins, helping our other 3 divisional rivals reach the playoffs.  Stay tuned.

Playoffs.  Yep, I’m going there in the preseason.  I’m thinking the Falcons don’t make it, despite the Julio Jones salivating going on, and get this: neither do the defending Super Bowl Champs New York Giants.  Just a gut feeling on the Giants, but there are some really good teams in the NFC this year.  My guess is Green Bay, Detroit, Carolina, Philly and San Fran for sure.  Add in a maybe on Chicago who will be better, and that leaves the Falcons and Giants on the edge with the Saints as a wild card.  Regardless, I’m looking forward to how it shakes out.