Everything That Glitters Is Not Gold, Or Even Copper For That Matter!

As the 2009 NFL Season is approaching at break neck speed, one must consider that everything you see is not what it appears to be. It is like the beautiful girl in high school who you thought would be the dream girlfriend. Then you found out all of the inside information about her, saw her without makeup, had to pay for her over expensive taste, met her family, met her psychotic ex-boyfriend, or experienced how bad her breath really was. Yes, just like the far away beautiful girl in high school, some players and teams in the NFL look good only from far away.

Let's start with the defending NFC champion Arizona Cardinals. Several people are loving their high powered offense. Kurt Warner slinging the ball all over the yard to Fitzgerald and Boldin, while adding rookie Beanie Wells to mix in a better run game. Our memories tend to be short. We only remember the Cardinals almost beating the Steelers in the Super Bowl. We don't remember the Cardinals going 9-7 and getting blown out by the Jets and Patriots. In addition, remember how fragile Warner is. He can get hurt sneezing. How attractive are the Cardinals without Warner running the show or giving up 55 to the Jets last year?

The Houston Texans seem to be a hot ticket. People talking about them winning the AFC South. Huh? The Texans have never shown that they can beat the Colts, Titans, or Jaguars on a consistent basis. As with most teams, their hopes rest on the health of quarterback Matt Schaub. He hasn't been able to play a full season without getting a significant injury of some sort. He just came up lame with a leg injury Monday night against the Vikings. In addition, the Texans don't have Sage Rosenfels to back up Schaub - not if, but when he gets hurt. The defense appears to be young and almost good, then Monday night Adrian Peterson gashes them for a 75 yard TD run on the first play of the game. Until they prove differently, the Texans are 7-9 or 8-8.

The Seattle Seahawks were in the Super Bowl a few years ago. They play in the weak NFC West. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is healthy again and they acquired T.J. Houshmanzadeh. Looks good, right. Look again. Future Hall Of Fame Tackle Walter Jones has had problems with knee surgery. No idea what they will get from him or the offensive line. Julius Jones and Edgerrin James are not a great running game. Jim Mora is the new head coach. If they were a chick, the Seahawks could be attractive, but then again you might find out she wears hip hugger "granny" underwear.

The New England Patriots or as I like to call them the Triots (tree-ots). New England is high power with Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Fred Taylor, etc. Without a doubt, the Triots will score and score often. Right? I don't know about that. The offensive line is suspect. Brady is being hurried and hit more than he was in the past. After last year, we all know the Triots are not a Super Bowl contender without Brady. In addition, they cannot run the ball well anymore providing more evidence that the o-line is suspect. Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi, and Mike Vrabel are all gone off the defense and they represented a large portion of the heart and soul of the Championship Patriot teams. Sure, New England looks good as always from here, but you never know up close this chick could be wearing a wig and stuffing with toilet tissue.

Last but not least, Sergeant Football always preaches you must win because of your quarterback and not in spite of your quarterback. Teams that have the questionable quarterback are the blind date. Someone can talk them up. Make you believe how attractive the chick is. Then you actually see and meet them and it is nothing like you imagined. The teams that are the blind date include the Jets, the Chiefs, the Broncos, the Bills, the Buccaneers, and the 49ers. The Raiders, Browns, Rams, and Lions are just plain ugly. Medusa ugly, snakes for hair and if you look at them you might turn to stone.