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By Ken "Vikeman" Knight
When you take a closer look at the 2008 NFL season,
it is clear to see this is the season which can be described
with one word - parity. I don't feel that is necessarily
a bad thing for unlike many people, I felt just about
every NFL team had a chance coming into this season.
I love that. Of course, there were just a couple of
exceptions.
With the manner in which the New England
Patriots lost Super Bowl XLII after completing a perfect
16-0 regular season, I believed there was a definite
possibility of a let down coming into 2008. I had no
idea Tom Brady would be lost for the season, but there
has to be a reason why six of the previous seven Super
Bowl losers did not qualify for the playoffs the following
season. Now it is seven of the last eight.
Parity was clearly defined in many division
races, and this was the polar opposite of last season
with the Detroit Lions posting the very first 0-16 NFL
record. Look at it this way Lions fans, it can never
possibly get worse for you. I truly feel for you all.
The AFC East Posted a Collective 38-26
Record
Of course the odds on favorites to win
this division coming into the 2008 NFL season were the
Patriots. Their season began on an ominous note with
not only the injury to their star quarterback on the
second offensive series , many forget that they fumbled
the ball away on that play as well as on the first offensive
series in the home opener versus the Chiefs. First two
offensive series of the 2008 season - two turnovers.
The Chiefs had a legitimate shot at pulling
this game out. A hustling play by recent acquisition
Deltha O'Neal when he chased down a rookie receiver
inside the five-yard line following a sixty-five yard
catch-and-run saved the day.
I had felt if any team would contend with
them this year it would be the Buffalo Bills. They finished
second in this division last year with a 7-9 record.
This just wasn't in the cards.
Nobody saw the Miami Dolphins turning
the 1-15 worst record in the NFL in 2007 into an 11-5
division championship in just one season. It is amazing
what great leadership at the top and key free agent
signings can do for a team in this era of the NFL.
The Pats finished with an identical 11-5
record, and both teams posted identical 4-2 division
records. The Dolphins were crowned champions due to
the next tie-breaker which is conference records. They
went 8-4 in the conference while the Pats fell just
short at 7-5.
The AFC North Posted
a Collective 31-32-1 Record
The outcome of this division was a little
more cut-and-dried. The Steelers number one ranked defense
played a key role in propelling the team to a 12-4 record
to win the division. The Ravens were a close second
as they posted an 11-5 record.
Upon further review the Steelers surely
earned this championship by defeating the Ravens twice
during the regular season. I don't mean to take anything
away from the Ravens, as both games were close. The
Steelers benefited from a very controversial call late
in the second meeting.
The thing that impressed me the most was
the Steelers beating the Ravens for a third time this
season in the AFC championship game. Very difficult
to do. Impressive.
The AFC South Posted a Collective 38-26
Record
The Tennessee Titans emerged as the class
of the NFL during the 2008 regular season by jumping
out to a 10-0 record. Their first loss would be to the
New York Jets by the surprising score of 34-13. The
Titans were totally dominated by the Jets in this game.
At the time, many felt the Jets were stepping
forward as an AFC favorite only to suffer a late-season
collapse. This included a shocking loss at Seattle in
a game which the Jets could only score three points.
The Titans would go on to lose twice more in their last
five games. Tennessee's 13-3 record proved to be the
best in the NFL.
The Indianapolis Colts, who were the second
place finisher in this division sat at a very mediocre
4-4 after the first eight games of the season. A very
impressive eight-game win streak to close out the season
had them fall just short at 12-4. Wins over the eventual
AFC champion Steelers, the Chargers and Titans highlighted
this run.
In the divisional round of the playoffs,
the Baltimore Ravens would go into Tennessee and knock
out the number one seed in the AFC. I've said this many,
many times and this would also apply to the 2007 16-0
New England Patriots, as well as the 2008 Titans and
Giants. During the free agency era in the NFL, the time
to be peaking is not September or October. The time
for that is clearly late November, December and January.
The AFC West Posted a collective 23-41
Record
This is the division which was the prime
example of parity during the 2008 NFL season. While
these teams did not post the worst collective record
in the NFL, the division was won by an 8-8 Chargers
team.
Credit must be given for it could have
been easy for this team to fold like lawn chairs when
they sat at 4-8. They also went on a tear to win their
last eight games. Everything was on the line in the
season finale versus the Denver Broncos. The Chargers
prevailed to be crowned division champions.
Much ado was stirred as the playoff format
forced the 11-5 Colts to travel to the 8-8 Chargers
for a playoff game. The Chargers would prevail 23-17
in overtime.
Ironically prior to the 2008 NFL season,
the NFL owners voted down a format change which would
have allowed the lower seed with the better record to
trump the division champion with the lesser record.
This would have meant Indy would have hosted that playoff
game. Ifs and buts and candy and nuts. Such is life.
The NFC East Posted a Collective 38-25-1
Record
The defending Super Bowl champion New
York Giants began the season with a 4-0 record. A somewhat
shocking 35-14 loss at Cleveland served as a wake up
call. They would win the next six-in-a-row.
The division rival Philadelphia Eagles
would snap that streak in the Meadowlands. The Giants
would stumble and lose two of the next three games to
close out the season.
Prior to kickoff of the final game of
the 2008 season, the Eagles were pretty much left for
dead. They needed to beat the Cowboys in their finale,
as well as they needed two other teams to lose that
day.
One of these teams was the Tampa Bay Bucs
who were playing at home facing the Raiders . Anyone
outside of Oakland who says they picked the Raiders
to pull off this upset - well let's just say to put
it nicely - they are full of baloney!
Things were not looking good for the Eagles
as the Bucs jumped out to and early 14-0 lead. The Raiders
dug down deep and miraculously scored seventeen fourth
quarter points to pull out the win 31-24. People in
bars all over Philly must have been ecstatic. This game
to me more than defined the parity that was the 2008
NFL season.
The 9-6-1 Eagles would put a serious hurting
on 'dem Cowboys in the season finale and thanks to much
help, snuck into the playoffs. They would then easily
handle a Viking team on the road which lacked solid
coaching leadership and an NFL experienced quarterback.
Next they would return to the Meadowlands
and dominate the fourth quarter of the divisional round
playoff game versus the Giants. This was highlighted
by three consecutive defensive series which resulted
with the Eagles stuffing the Giants on fourth and short
and an interception. The NFC's number one seed had also
been bounced. The peaking rule applies here, as well.
The NFC North Posted a Collective 25-39
Record
This is another division which also brought
parity to the forefront in 2008. This is the only division
in the history of the NFL which benefited from a team
losing all of their sixteen games. Six automatic wins
for the other three division teams - so you would think.
Not so fast as the Vikings struggled in both wins over
the Lions and the Packers did as well in one of their
two match ups with Detroit. At least they did early
in that game.
As a Viking fan myself, I found no reason
to celebrate this division win. Please don't get me
wrong. I am happy they won it, I just would have liked
them to have closed the deal at home versus Atlanta
who were led to victory that day by a rookie head coach
/ quarterback combination.
The Vikes then closed the deal in the
home finale while facing mostly Giants back-ups the
entire second half. I knew this would be exposed by
the experienced Eagle defense led by Jim Johnson in
the home wild card game.
The Vikings finished with a 10-6 record
and the Bears were 9-7. The rest of the division - the
Pack and Lions - finished with a combined 6-26 record.
Parity, parity and more parity.
The NFC South Posted a Collective 40-24
Record
If you only consider the collective record
of the division, this would be the best in the NFL during
the 2008 season. That does not always tell the entire
story, but thanks to Atlanta Falcons rookie sensation
quarterback Matt Ryan, this was one of the tightest
division races.
The Carolina Panthers managed to pull
it out by posting a 12-4 record. A late season loss
at the Giants in one of the best games of the entire
season which went into overtime cost the Panthers home
field advantage for the playoffs. The Falcons had no
reason to hang their heads as they went a respectable
11-5.
The underdog Arizona Cardinals would see
to it that all three top seeds in the NFC would suffer
the same elimination fate. They really took it to the
Panthers in Carolina in a divisional round blow out
which shocked most people including me.
The NFC West Posted a Collective22-42
Record
When not having a vested interest in a
game, I usually root for the underdog. As much as I
do like parity I just don't like when teams shut it
down for any reason. People pay good money for tickets
and television packages and get ripped-off when teams
pull this kind of thing.
Case in point; the 2008 Arizona Cardinals.
After wrapping up their division championship with an
8-5 record, they celebrated like they had won the Super
Bowl. The very next week the Minnesota Vikings visited
Glendale and put up twenty-eight points in the first
half.
They cruised to a 35-14 victory in a game
where the Cards defense made Tavaris Jackson look Montana-like.
He is in no way shape or form even remotely close.
The very next week the Cardinals went
up to New England to face the Patriots. They should
have sent the best high school team in Arizona. They
would have put forth a better effort. Yes, I had this
game on one of my televisions - until about halftime.
A little cold and snow turned the NFC
Super Bowl representative into a quivering pile of Jello
in a 47-7 pounding. The first word which comes to mind
to describe this performance was cowardice.
Where would they be if they were forced
to play in the cold in the playoffs? This effort was
eerily similar to the Vikings in the 200 NFC championship
game at the Giants, when they were throttled 41-0
I have no problem with a 9-7 team playing
in the Super bowl and I surely have to give credit to
the Cardinals for their stellar playoff performance.
That being said, I am less than thrilled
with teams who lay down at any point during a football
season, especially NFL teams. The players should have
to refund money out of their deep pockets to fans who
wasted their hard earned money.
I can hear it now. If Arizona wins the
Super Bowl people will be spouting off about how the
Patriots pounded the Super Bowl Champions, so they are
actually the best team in the NFL. Nonsense.
Well if that is what transpires and people
do think that, then be prepared to call the 2007 Vikings
the best team in the NFL from last year. In late November
they throttled the Giants in New York and made Eli Manning
look like Tony Eason in the process. Nonsense, as well.
The possibility of cold and snow is doubtful
in Tampa for the Super Bowl so I'll have to settle for
severe winds and driving rain. Got to root for the Steelers.
They hit a few speed bumps along the way, but never
once laid down this past season.
Ken Knight is an aspiring writer and the
author of a book released in Aug. 2008 titled "New
England Bandwagon Nation".
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