NFL Year End Review

With the holiday season officially coming to an end, it's time to put a nice little bow on another great NFL regular season. Experts and journalists from New York to Los Angeles made their pre season predictions last fall. At the risk of tooting my own horn (beep beep) let's re-visit a few of my predictions that hit squarely on the bulls eye.



Tennessee Titans: Heading into week 2, I noticed how eerily similar this team was to the 1999 team that made it to the Super Bowl. (Titans: Back to the future? 9/8) By season's end, both teams finished with identical 13-3 records. Both teams won behind strong running games and a stingy defense, and both team had pro bowl rookies as first round picks (defensive end Javon Kearse in 1999 and running back Chris Johnson in 2008). The Titans still have work to do to ultimately match the 99' squad. The last time Tennessee was the #1 seed, they were bounced out in their first home game.



Jacksonville: The Jacksonville Jaguars were the sexy pre season pick to dethrone the Colts as king of the AFC South and make their Super Bowl debut in Tampa. Their stellar play in 2007 warranted the praise, however, I was concerned (Jacksonville Jaguars: too sexy? 08/08) the team would not be able to carry the success of 2007 into 2008. The Jaguars still have not put together back to back playoff seasons. Fred Taylor did indeed wear down and became a non factor midway through the season. The ripple effect forced quarterback David Garrard to take more chances (3 int in 07 / 13 int in 08). Gregg Williams was a predictable bust as Defensive Coordinator, leading to his firing after only one season.



Side Notes: In my pre season week one recap (8/08), I predicted Peyton Manning to be the NFL MVP. Fantasy football fanatics were encouraged in my week 2 recap (8/08) to take Drew Brees as their sleeper stud. He finished the season an incomplete pass away from breaking Dan Marino's record for passing yards in a single season. I am humble enough to shrug this off as beginners luck. I just wanted to share some highlights from my first season of blogging. Happy New Year!