| If you believed prior to the start of the
2000-01 NFL season the New Orleans Saints would not only make the playoffs but also
dethrone the vaunted St. Louis Rams for the NFC West title in the process, raise your
hand. Nobody? Come on, at least one of you … yeah, you back there, the redhead.
That is all it took. The eternal optimism instilled by first-year head coach Jim
Haslett spread like wildfire throughout the Saints’ locker room and created the
rarified presence of promise in the Bayou. The season prior to Haslett’s arrival, the
Saints scuffled through injuries and in-house bickering to stumble across the finish line
at 3-13 under Mike Ditka.
Haslett came in from Pittsburgh, where he was known as a defensive tactician, and
steered a team with 31 new players to a 10-6 regular-season mark and a playoff win over
the Rams. Remember it was just a year earlier when the Rams won Super Bowl XXXIV, capping
a dramatic turnaround from a 4-12 record in 1998-99.
St. Louis unveiled an innovative, fast-break offense to take the league by storm. The
Saints did it with a transfusion of new talent, great defense and a change at the top.
Who will provide the encore? Which cellar dweller has done the most to edge its way
into contention?
Like Haslett, every coach believes his team fits the bill at the opening gun. In
reality, only a handful of teams can consider contending with the established powers such
as Baltimore, Tennessee and St. Louis.
Picking through the nominal offseason transactions and acquisitions, here are a few
clubs to keep your eye on this season.
Buried in the catacombs of the AFC East, the New England Patriots have seen their win
totals drop from 11 in Bill Parcells’ curtain call with the club to 10 in ’97,
nine in ’98, eight in ’99 to a humbling five wins in Bill Belichick’s
inaugural season as the leading Patriot.
Clearly there were several problems with the equation. For starters, the aging club
lacked a first-round pick — it surrendered it for the right to hire Belichick from
the Jets — and two of its top draft choices from previous seasons, RB Robert Edwards
and LB Andy Katzenmoyer, suffered career-threatening injuries.
The only true star in place for Belichick was QB Drew Bledsoe, who was sacked like
groceries throughout the season despite never missing a start. The running game was
abysmal, with J.R. Redmond and Kevin Faulk leading the division’s worst running
attack (1,390 yards). The biggest reason for the Bledsoe brutality and the anemic running
game was an awful offensive line.
C Damien Woody, the team’s top pick in ’99, struggled in certain situations,
and at times his ineptitudes in the shotgun forced Belichick to move him to guard. That
may be a benefit now, after ex-Lion C Mike Compton came aboard. Big OTs Adrian Klemm and
Greg Robinson-Randall added a year of experience, and OG Kenyatta Jones can fill in, if
not make an impact early.
New England has hitched its playoff trailer to new RB Antowain Smith, a power back who
finally provides Bledsoe with a threat in the backfield. Edwards continues to work out but
hasn’t taken on contact. His recovery would be a welcome miracle in Foxboro. A
healthy and inspired Smith (1,200 yards in ’98) would finally mean Belichick has the
ammunition to break away from the pass-happy attack, which would benefit Bledsoe because
of his lack of agility in the pocket.
Legal problems have cast a world of doubt on WR Terry Glenn, and it couldn’t have
hit at a more inappropriate time in his career. Last season Glenn started 16 games for the
first time in his career and had 79 catches, his best season in three years. He gave
Bledsoe a reliable target alongside Troy Brown (83 receptions), who came into his own with
the best season of his nine-year career.
The questions surrounding Glenn prompted Bob Kraft to ink free-agent WRs Torrence Small
and Charles Johnson, giving Bledsoe his best assortment of receivers since the ’96
season.
Rookie DT Richard Seymour, the No. 6 pick overall in the ’01 draft, should help
solidify the run defense. DT Henry Thomas and LB Chris Slade weren’t brought back,
and the loss of DT Chad Eaton (Seattle) hurts, but there is some talent on this side of
the ball. Two new faces that should help are DEs Mike Vrabel and Anthony Pleasant.
SS Lawyer Milloy anchors an otherwise shaky secondary, the biggest concern for the
club. Published reports say the club is aiming to iron out a contract with free-agent CB
Terrell Buckley. If that proves to be true, it’s a coup for the Patriots, considering
the other talent defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel has to work with.
OK, so there are some definite holes, and the team needs a lot of its talent to play
above their heads. But the pieces could be in place for the Patriots to begin a march
toward the playoffs.
The team more likely to be playing in January is the Seattle Seahawks. Again, a team
with questions (new and unproven QB), little experience at wide receiver in a West Coast
offense and a defense that could star several Grumpy Old Men.
But Mike Holmgren finally has the proper semblance of talent necessary to make his
first playoff appearance since departing Green Bay.
Holmgren’s QB projects have lacked success since he acquired Brett Favre from
Atlanta and turned him from a hyper-armed QB to a two-time MVP. Now he gets a chance to do
it again with Matt Hasselbeck, a third-year pro who learned the Seahawks’ system
behind Favre with the Packers.
Holmgren is confident the training-camp all-star is an upgrade from Jon Kitna and Brock
Huard. Seahawks fans are confident it can’t get much worse.
In forming the best offensive line he’s ever coached, Holmgren added OG Steve
Hutchinson in the draft shortly after taking speedy WR Koren Robinson. While Hutchinson,
Walter Jones and Chris McIntosh help make the Hawks’ O-line a strength, Robinson will
go a long way in deciding where Seattle’s receivers rank.
Sean Dawkins was the team’s top pass catcher a year ago, but he and Derrick Mayes
were let go. Now Robinson and second-year man Darrell Jackson are the starters, leaving
relatively inexperienced wideouts to run routes for an unproven quarterback. But it’s
not unreasonable to think Jackson and Robinson are an athletic and talented enough tandem
to adjust on the fly. That would leave the ball in Hasselbeck’s court.
The second option would be to ride the multitalented backfield of Ricky Watters and
Shaun Alexander. Holmgren has made it clear the bulk of the duty belongs to Watters, who
hasn’t missed a game in five seasons, because Alexander’s inconsistencies are
too great to dismiss.
The defensive unit should be stronger than it was when it finished worst in the AFC
West last season — once they get past the introductions. A new set of starters at
defensive tackle gives the entire team a new personality. John Randle still has some motor
left, and Chad Eaton loves to stuff the run. Pair these two with DEs Shaun King and
Michael Sinclair, and the front four is drastically improved.
If MLB Levon Kirkland can hold off weight and age, his addition bolsters the front
seven. Teaming with former teammate and Seahawks leading tackler Chad Brown and LB Anthony
Simmons, expectations are rising with the talent level.
With all of this talent and depth, what is working against the Seahawks? It would
appear the biggest hurdle to a playoff appearance is out of the club’s control. Not
only a brutal out-of-division schedule (includes Philadelphia, Washington, N.Y. Giants),
but the Seahawks have to survive the AFC West.
Denver is considered a Super Bowl candidate after adding depth and more depth. Kansas
City should be, well, Kansas City on creatine if QB Trent Green and Dick Vermeil can
re-tool the offense the likes of the ’99 Rams. The Raiders, even if they tread water,
were 12-4 and went to the AFC title game. All they did was add RB Charlie Garner and WR
Jerry Rice. Then there’s San Diego. The Chargers won’t even look like the
Chargers unless the offensive line is as bad as I think it is. Even so, who can score
against that defense?
That said, an 8-8 record could be considered a success for Holmgren’s charges.
They’ll need the ball to bounce in their direction if the playoffs are to be a
reality. |
