Football Jabberings

After three weeks in the National Football League season and a little more for college football, it's time to do a little appraisal of what's going on. My Miami Dolphins are 0-3, although they put up a pretty good fight in the first and third games. I don't know how long they can continue with quarterback Trent Green, who's made many mistakes over the course of the last three weeks. Sometimes it's prudent to just put someone else in there and see how they do! This tactic has worked in the Dolphins' past with quarterbacks David Woodley, Don Strock, and of course, Dan Marino being "promoted" and excelling in mid-season. It looks as if the New England Patriots are either really THAT good without the cheating or they've discovered a new way to cheat! The upshot is that they now look like a cinch to win the AFC East, with the rest of the pack looking to back into the playoffs as wild-cards. The other Florida AFC team, Jacksonville, is struggling a bit, although they did handle Denver last Sunday. The NFC South's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with their much-improved offense featuring stars like Jeff Garcia, "Cadillac" Williams, and Ike Hilliard, are in the driver's seat to win their division. The Dallas Cowboys look like the team to beat in the NFC, as I earlier predicted. The biggest surprises as I see them so far is the unexpected toughness of the Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers. But it's been only three weeks, with thirteen more games to go in the regular season.

With college football, the University of Florida Gators, with superstar-sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow, are 4-0. But they've occasionally had trouble with their defense stopping weaker opponents in the second half. In particular, their pass rush is very deficient this year, and this has given opposing quarterbacks plenty of time to pick apart their secondary (sometimes with long bombs). One team that I've really caught notice of has been Boston College, which seems, at least so far, to be playing like a "Top Five" team. Let's see how far they can go! Of course, I'll be pulling for Florida State and Miami first in their Atlantic Coast Conference. Boston College is playing both teams at home in November. I'm happy to see former Gator coach Ron Zook beginning to succeed with his University of Illinois team. Some of the "big shots" in the Big Ten had better watch their backs! Another team to watch is South Florida in the Big East. They look like the team that has the best chance to knock off impressive West Virginia this year.

I see a scenario this year where more than five teams could finish the pre-bowl season undefeated (they're that much above the rest)! I'd like the Gators to be one of them, but even if they are, this won't necessarily be enough to guarantee them a shot to defend their national championship. I know one thing: this year, if you lose one game, then you might as well lower your sights and just shoot for your conference championship (or even just your conference divisional championship)!