NFL

Were heading into the grind, the half way point of the season. Were starting to see who the contenders are and who the pretenders are. Injuries are starting to pile up for teams and there depth will be tested. The trading deadline is over, the rosters are set and it is time to make a run for the playoffs. There are some major questions surrounding big market teams and questions will need to be answered in the next few weeks about the rest of the season. Lets get ready to find out which teams are ready to make there runs and prove they are Super Bowl contenders.

Dallas Cowboys - What is going on in Big D, injuries, trades and suspensions have dominated the headlines this week. First off “Pacman” Jones has been suspended indefinitely by the league, and is anyone surprised. Jones knew when he got reinstated prior to this season that any screw up know matter how small would get him suspended again. He got into a fight and know he may not play for the rest of the year. If this guy wants to play football ever again, he needs to figure this stuff out and stop it. Losing “Pacman” is a big loss, but nothing compared to the injury status of QB Tony Romo. Romo has a broken pinky and will be out as the starter for up to 4 weeks.  We have already heard rumblings from there all pro wide out Terrell Owens about not getting the ball enough and now 40 year old Brad Johnson will be the starter in Dallas. As if all this wasn’t weird enough the Cowboys went out and traded for highly talented, yet under achieving wide receiver Roy Williams. I makes no sense to me you have Owens complaining because he isn’t getting the ball, so you go out and get another wide receiver who will want the ball as well. Not to mention the fact that the Cowboys best chance to win might be by running the ball with Barber. I don’t know how this is all going to play out, we all remember what Owens can do when he isn’t happy with an organization. Maybe this will work out perfect, maybe Owens is happy to lose catches to Williams, maybe Johnston plays like he’s 28 again and maybe even “Pacman” gets back on the field. All I know is there is going to be a lot of question marks that need answering in Dallas over the next few weeks, it should be entertaining to watch.

AFC East - This division has been owned by the New England Patriots for a long time, but we might be seeing a changing of the guard. The Buffalo Bills have gotten off to a 4 -1 start and the Dolphins and Jets are playing better then a lot expected. All these teams have soft schedules and may have better records then they should. In week 7 a big game between the Chargers and Bills to see whether or not the Bills are for real and can take charge of this division. On Sunday it looks like Bills QB Trent Edwards will play, giving them a much better chance of competing with the Chargers. I think this might be the best division to watch coming down the stretch this year, no one is out of it and if they all play well they all might have a chance at the division crown.

Shaun Alexander signs a one year deal with the Washington Redskins
Willie Parker (Pit), Joseph Addai (Ind), Felix Jones (Dal) are all injured running backs
Carson Palmer (Cin), Matt Hasselbeck (Sea) are both out as QB’s this week

Most Valuable Player - It’s a little early, but lets take a look at who have been the best players and front runners for the MVP this year. Lets start a QB and take a look at Drew Brees. Brees leads the league in throwing yards, with 12 TD passes so far this year. Drew has a QB rating of 105 and is probably the front runner so far, if the award was given out today he would win. Other QB’s Jay Cutler and Kurt Warner are also off to great starts and if they keep it up will be in the MVP discussion at seasons end. If you want to look at running backs, you need to start with the Redskins Clinton Portis. Portis is averaging almost 5 yards a carry and has amassed 640 yards and 6 TD’s so far this year. If you had to pick an MVP right now it would be between Portis and Brees, both guys have led there teams thus far. If you want to look at wide outs Greg Jennings (GB), Roddy White (Atl) and Larry Fitzgerald (Arz) are leading the league at this point.

Playoff Predictions - There are still a lot of question marks, but lets make some early season playoff predictions. In the AFC I think Pittsburgh and Tennessee will win there divisions pretty easily. The other two divisions aren’t that easy, but I like the Bills to hang on in the East and the Chargers to start playing better and win the West. The two wild card spots will be grabbed up by the Colts and Patriots. The NFC division winners will be the Packers, Panthers, Cardinals and Giants. There is going to be some very disappointed teams here, but I think the wildcard teams will be the Cowboys and Saints. Potential Super Bowl match up Pittsburgh Steelers vs New Orleans Saints ??

Predictions are what they are, fun to examine, but ultimately only time will tell. I think we should see a lot of great battles over the next few weeks and after that I will take a look and re-evaluate my MVP and playoff predictions. The biggest story over th next couple of weeks will be the Cowboys, they have a lot of talent and if they some how can manage to use all of it they will be great.