Letter From The Commish

OK, so it's only one week into the NFL (and OFFL) season. But you're doing it. You know you are. We all are. We're sitting around soaking up all the information, all the statistics, all the scoring plays, scoring combos, and Week 1 analysis that we can. We're walking through our teams, making our lists, checking them thrice. We're tinkering. Let's see...who was a keeper in Week 1? Oh yeah, Dyson for the Titans and there was LeFleur for Dallas. Although six teams already find themselves at 0-1, we all continue to think our teams are playoff caliber. So what exactly do we take away from this past week in the NFL? Or is it, what exactly do we THINK we take away from this past week? One Commish's take:

The poor Jets. They lose Vinny "Barbarino" Testaverde and Leon Johnson for the year. Suddenly, everone's preseason AFC representative in the 2000 Super Bowl finds itself in a struggle merely to plug the holes in the dike and attempt to make the playoffs. Ah, but the Jets' misfortune may be Curtis Martin's goldmine. Without Johnson, Martin stands to see more carries in any event. But without Vinny and the passing attack that his arm brings with it, Parcells isn't as likely to throw as often if he can maintain an effective rushing attack.

What of the Steelers 43-0 pasting of the Browns (see left--just a coincidence)? The Browns looked terrible, enough so that now Tim Couch gets the Week 2 start. It doesn't look good in Cleveland. Similarly, expectations were not high in the Steel city this season. Kordell is coming off a bad season. Bettis is already banged up. There were more offseason defections on both sides of the ball, most importantly for the Steeler's style of attack, the offensive line where Pittsburgh likes to dominate. But on Sunday, Stewart played well and Bettis was solid. If Stewart is anything close to the QB he was two years ago, he could lift the Steel Curtain onto his back--not all at once, that would be a record or something. But as suddenly as he started getting criticism last season, he's now being propped up as 1999's comeback player. Against Cleveland. Perhaps. But I want to wait a week or so.

Join me in welcoming a top new receiver into the limelight. May I introduce Germaine Crowell of the Detroit Lions. Already a personal sleeper for several teams, he blew up on Sunday against the Seahawks' secondary. That shouldn't be a surprise. Charlie Batch discovered him during the 2nd half of last season. That was while Herman Moore still was healthy, too. With Moore gone 3-5 weeks, Crowell steps into the starting lineup. As long as Batch holds up OK, expect big things from this 2nd year man.

The 49ers suffered a 38 point setback this week. Normally in years past, we could expect that they'd shake it off and reel off five or six straight. Something tells me that 1999 may be different. They are a no-longer dominent, aging shell of the franchise they've been the past 18 years. They are suspect vs. the run as well as in the offensive line. While they'll still win more than they lose, the margin for error has been greatly reduced and it will be interesting to see whether or not Steve Young is still standing at season's end.

Everyone is suddenly high on Kevin Dyson. However, one should not expect his Week 1 performance to be indicative of what we should expect over the next 14 weeks. With that said though, Dyson will improve from his 1998 season. He has a year more of experience under his belt and, perhaps most importantly, he appears to have a better QB tossing the ball in '99. The name is the same but 1999 may be Steve McNair's coming out party. He's always had the talent. It now appears that he has begun to master the NFL game to the point that he can better utilize that talent. Dyson and Eddie George could both be winners as a result.

I liked Tony Martin before the season started. I like him even more now. He should provide the Dolphins with the deep threat they've been lacking the past few years. Another winner because of that will be Dan Marino. Similarly, though not as much discussed, Raghib Ismail should do the same for Dallas. While Washington is taking criticism over their defensive vanishing act in the 4th quarter Sunday, let's not be so quick to chalk it up solely to the Skins' shortcomings. The Cowboys' offense could rebound in the same manner as Miami's. Their defense is another matter, however. The Skins shredded it. Michael Westbrook and Albert Connell both had outstanding games. Westbrook is another of this year's so-called sleeper picks. Based on his Week 1 performance, it could be merited. But first, I want to see him against a better D than Dallas'.

OK, so we've all had a chance to watch Brian Griese in action. His Broncos got outhustled, outplayed, outscored and thoroughly beaten by the Dolphins. However, here's one take that says Griese showed well for himself and that the outcome would have been the same, or worse, had Bubby Brister started. Griese appeared composed, he threw a nice ball and, statistically, had a good game. He looks to be for real and I would expect him to have a good season. It's only natural for the Broncos to suffer a letdown after back-to-back Super Bowl's followed by John Elway's retirement and the celebration that went along with that at Mile High on Monday night.

The wonderful thing about the NFL, all sports for that matter, is that as quickly as we all form our takes based on Week 1, Week 2 is just around the corner to reset them. With that in mind, let's see what Week 2 holds.

-Go deep, I'll throw it!

Back To Main Page