Top 10 Storylines Heading into the NFL Season -- Part I

We are almost to the halfway point in the NFL pre-season schedule, and from what I can tell, we don’t really know that much more than we did two weeks ago. The pre-season – which just about everyone (including coaches and players) agrees is pretty worthless other than conditioning – really only gives us football-starved fans a glimpse into the season. The results mean nothing. And we should remember that as we watch games and look ahead longingly to the real deal. The Redskins beat the Colts on Thursday night, for example. Zero significance.

As we endure the rest of the pre-season, I wanted to offer up some thoughts on the Top 10 storylines for the upcoming season. These are the big-ticket items of interest we’ll be talking about for weeks.

10. The Pack: Can anybody beat the champs? – Scores of prognosticators picked Green Bay to be in the Super Bowl last year, but many of them lost faith when a number of key players went down with injuries during the season. Despite the setbacks, the team finished 10-6, claimed a wildcard playoff spot and rolled on the road to the championship. Can they do it again? The chances are good.

9. Peyton’s Pain: Will his pain in the neck end the consecutive starts streak? – Peyton Manning has started 227 consecutive regular season games for the Colts. But, for the second time in as many years, he has undergone neck surgery; this time it was a minor procedure to fix a disc-related issue. Last year it was to relieve pain from a pinched nerve. Colts Owner Jim Irsay tweeted Saturday that the Colts are preparing to start the season without him. I seriously doubt that. Until we see it, I won’t believe it.

8. NFC South: Which team wins it this year? – This division, more than any other, seems to have a knack for having one of its worst teams rise up and win it the next year. In 2003 the Panthers went from 7-9 to the Super Bowl; in ’05 the Bucs went from 5-11 to 11-5; and in ’09 the Saints went from 8-8 to 13-3 and won the whole thing. Last year, the surprising young Buccaneers went 10-6 and barely missed the playoffs. This year … Carolina maybe? All the other teams appear to be loaded.

7. Jet Stream: Can the team’s play finally match Rex’s talk? – Ever since the flamboyant Rex Ryan was named as Jets head coach in January 2009, he has constantly run his yapper. Last year he signed the ESPN NFL Training Camp tour bus with “Next Super Bowl Champs.” How did that work out? I’m all for being confident, but the dude just never shuts up. And the team has to try and cash the checks his mouth writes. They are a good team, going to the last two AFC Championship games … just not that good.

6. Flying Philly: Are the Eagles really a dream team? – Michael Vick, LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Nnamdi Asomugha, Asante Samuel, Ronnie Brown, Dominique Rogers-Cromartie … this is just the beginning of the list for the so-called “Dream Team” Eagles assembled by Head Coach Andy Reid in Philly this year. The Miami Heat proved that you need more than the best players. We’ll see if the chemistry is there. I say they win the NFC East.

I originally intended for this whole thing to be posted at once, but after drafting the first half and seeing how long it was getting, I decided to break it into two pieces. Part II will post tomorrow.

To Be Continued …