The New Orleans Saints were the feel good story of the 2007 season. After having been the losers of the NFL for many years, the team suddenly found itself in the heat of a Super Bowl race in 2007, thanks in large part to Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, and Deuce McAllister.

Hopes were high for this New Orleans team in 2008. Drew Brees was with the team for yet another season, Marques Colston was in his second year, more polished and stronger, and the acquisition of tight end Jeremy Shockey made this team even more dangerous.

Somehow, the Saints lost any and all momentum they had established during the previous season. The team stumbled to an 8-8 finish, and missed the playoffs by a long shot. They did have some injuries to key players.

Will they be just a good regular season team? Will they use all their offense weapons in January when the pressure is on also? Offenses this good don’t come along this often so the Saints must make the most of the great players they do have now.

The NFC South isn’t as good as it was in years past. The Saints should win the division – if everyone, especially Drew Brees, stay healthy for the entire season. The Saints should have many easy games on their schedule to rack up wins and get a high seed for the playoffs, it not the number one seed.

Their week 2 match-up was somewhat tougher. Facing the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that had destroyed the Carolina Panthers in week 1, the team would be forced to play its best football if it wanted a chance of winning.

The New Orleans Saints are one of the 1 in 5 teams never to appear in a Super Bowl — the others being the Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns, and Detroit Lions.

The Saints had a disappointing loss to the Bears in the 06′ NFC Championship game in freezing weather. Let’s hope for the Saints sake they receive home field advantage all through out.

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To beat the Rams at home by a score of 9-7 isn’t exactly impressive, but they’ll take it however they can get it. At least the defense seemed to be effective. Then again, it all happened against the Rams, a team that struggled to score throughout 2008 and seems to have the same problem in 2009.

This loss might not have been the worst loss in franchise history, but it’s definitely right up there. There is no excuse in losing to the Lions really, the Washington Redskins have by far the more talented team — the most talented teams don’t always win — sometimes the team more prepared wins.

Anymore defeats by inadequate teams and the Redskins fans, front office, and head coach Jim Zorn will see their Redskins be in last place in the NFC East.

The Washington Redskins have a very tough schedule when you consider they must play the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles twice a season.

The defensive unit for Washington seemed solid on paper, but hasn’t been showing up (I don’t count the Rams game). The defenses in New York, Philadelphia, and Dallas are all stronger than that in Washington.

The Redskins have to create offense and do it quickly before they fall too far back in the NFC East division race. The Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, and Philadelphia eagles are all better teams at the moment.

In 08′, Campbell did compete 62% of his pass attempts which shows he can be accurate enough, but his leadership qualities are questioned. Jim Zorn should do a better job at helping him develop.

Head Coach Jim Zorn is on the hot seat if he can’t create some spark with his offense. The Redskins are a proud franchise with a rich history, if Zorn can’t produce for the Redskins fans and ownership by motivating his players he won’t last the season. The players must come ready to play and not play the blame game either as well. .

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From 2003 to 2008, the Oakland Raiders have a record of 24-72, and they have perfected the art of the 4-12 season. The Raiders have been going nowhere fast and the 09′ season doesn’t seem to be any different.

The Raiders offense is one of the worst in the league and former number 1 pick JaMarcus Russell completion percentage is around 40%. In Russell’s defense, the Raiders don’t have Larry Fitzgerald or Reggie Wayne either – even so, that doesn’t excuse the very low completion percentage.

The Raiders need a variety of help at nearly ever position on their team. Sign’s of improving happened in week 1 when they took the San Diego Chargers to limit but failed to capitalize on critical moments in the game which could have sealed the victory.

Despite the loss, many were fairly impressed with the overall performance in the Raiders in the opening week.

While Russell hasn’t been as good as they’d like him to be, he’s undoubtedly better this year than last, and he’s making less mistakes than he did in 2008.

The Raiders somehow almost beat the Chargers during the first game of the season. In front of the entire nation on Monday night football, they carried a lead into the 4th quarter and would have won if not for the heroics of Philip Rivers on the final drive. In week 2 though, the Oakland Raiders beat the Chiefs.

It’s no secret that the Chiefs aren’t seen as one of the better teams in the NFL, but they were still favored to defeat the Raiders in this game. The Raiders, however, played some efficient football (especially defensively against new Kansas City quarterback Matt Cassel), and ended up with a–10 win.

We’ll see where things end up at the end of the season, but for now, the Raiders have a sense of hope that they haven’t had in years. Raiders nation will gladly take that.

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The ‘08 season for the Seattle Seahawks was a lost season if you will – no one could stay healthy and the season was over before it began.

The 09′ season for the Seahawks should be well improved — the Seahawks might not be Super Bowl contenders but should compete in every game they are in.

New head coach Jim Mora should have his team ready week in and week out and the embarrassment of the 08′ season will be forgotten. He’s the type of no non-sense coach and going to make some quick improvements this season.

Matt Hasselback proved when he is healthy he is one of the most efficient QB’s in the NFL — the problem is he hasn’t been able to stay healthy the last couple seasons.

Since their Super Bowl appearance in 05′ – between 06′-08′ – the Seattle Seahawks have a record of 23-25 in the regular season and 2-2 in the playoffs. The Seahawks need to improve a great deal on offense if they hope to contend for the NFC West title – the Seahawks are in the bottom third in offense in the NFL.

QB Seneca Wallace has stepped in for Hasselback and has done fairly well — completing around 61% of his pass attempts. The acquisition of T.J. Houshmandzadeh gives the QB’s of the Seahawks a number one option. WR Nate Burleson has had a good season averaging over 10 yards per catch. Burleson only played one game in the 08′ season.

Week 2 wasn’t as kind to them, as the team lost in San Francisco to the 49ers, a fellow NFC West team. Not only did they lose the game, but Hasselbeck took a serious shot.

If the Seahawks can stay healthy for the majority of the season they are an easy 8 win team — which is double the wins from last season. The Seahawks have their coveted “12th man” with the home crowd which makes it difficult for opponents to play them on their own turf.

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The Jacksonville Jaguars made a few moves during the off season that led many to wonder whether they may once again contend for the playoffs in 2009.

Since that stunning win the Jaguars have become just another team. A disappointing season followed in 08′ with an embarrassing record of 5-11.

The 09′ season seems to be an extension of the 08′ season, not much has changed. Not all is lost for the Jaguars, they do have one of the premier running backs in the NFL in Maurice Jones-Drew – who at only 5′7′ is a threat every time he carries the ball. MJD might be good for fantasy players but he can’t win games by himself.

The Jaguars pass defense in one of the worst in the league – in the same division as the Colts, QB Peyton Manning will carve them up. Matt Schaub shouldn’t have a problem either.

While the Jags almost won this game, they fell just short, losing a—12 squeaker in the fourth quarter. This was a frustrating loss for the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the team simply didn’t have enough in the tank to overcome the Colts.

Week 2 was somewhat disappointing after the solid week 1 effort. The Cardinals, who had fallen to the 49ers in week 1, visited Jacksonville and ripped apart the Jaguars defense at the seams, winning by a 31-17 margin. Kurt Warner was 24 of 26 at quarterback, and such a high completion rate raises some serious questions about the defense in Jacksonville.

Can this team turn things around? Week 3 at Houston will be another tough test, so the Jaguars may find themselves in an unpleasant hole from here. The offense in Houston is a very tough group and will be a handful.

If they don’t get things right, they’re going to end up worse than their 5-11 record last year.

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No one really knew what to make of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2009 NFL season. Would they continue to improve on their winning season or would they head in the opposite direction?

The Bucs rank among the worst in defense and offense and the future looks bleak. The Bucs had potentially a few Hall of Fame players on their team 7 years ago, now they are just looking to avoid a 3 win season.

Former head coach Jon Gruden is now broadcasting for Monday Night Football – he doesn’t have to deal with the Bucs team anymore. He’s probably pretty happy about this though.

As the starting QB Leftwich is completing less then 56% on his passes with a QB rating in the low 70’s. the receivers for the Bucs won’t put up big numbers in defense of Leftwich.

RB Cadillac Williams was a rising star in the NFL a few seasons ago. In 05′ Williams ran for over 1,100 yards in– games but injuries have put his progression as a RB on hold. 07′ – 08′ Williams only played in 10 games, scored 7 touchdowns and rushed for 441 yards.

Things didn’t exactly work out this way for the Bucs. The Cowboys jumped out to an early lead and never really looked back, taking the game by a score of 34-21.

QB Josh Johnson has been named the started of the Bucs – while it’s too early to say what he is made of – if the Bucs were confident in his abilities he would have been named the starter over Leftwich to begin with.

The Bucs are headed for a painful season if they can’t get the ball in the endzone and let opposing offenses score at will.

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We have seven weeks of football behind us, and things are slowly beginning to take shape in each conference. While there’s no clear favorite in the AFC and the NFC, there are teams who’ve asserted themselves as forces to be reckoned with and definite contenders.

It’s time to review the season thus far by proclaiming the best teams in each conference. When all is said and done, I’ll then go ahead in making a Super Bowl prediction.

In the AFC, it would appear that there are a few clear contenders. First of all, the Pittsburgh Steelers have bounced back from a disappointing start, winners of 4 straight and now 5-2. They have Troy Polamalu back and the fact that they beat the Vikings shows that this team is strong.

Next on the list would be the New England Patriots. Tom Brady has shaken off some rust and is beginning to look like his old self, making the sky the limit in New England. Additionally, the Broncos can’t be forgotten about with just one loss thus far.

However, it looks like the Colts are right there in the thick of it all, still undefeated and playing great football. I’d call them the favorites for now at least, though New England or Pittsburgh could easily emerge.

The NFC may be a bit easier to dissect, but by no means is it a sure thing. The New Orleans Saints look like the strongest team in the NFC thus far.

Drew Brees may very well win the league MVP if his second half looks anything like his first seven games, and the defense has been effective enough to provide the team with enough of a cushion to win each of its first seven games.

Contenders to the Saints would be the Eagles, playing some great football themselves, and the Arizona Cardinals, coming off a big win in New York and winners of three straight games. The Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants are also obvious contenders as well, though their recent losses make the Saints the clear favorite thus far.

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Who would have expected the Tennessee Titans to open up the season with an 0-2 record? After a successful 2008 season, it’s shocking.

The Titans dominated their competition during the 2008 regular season. If my memory serves me right, I think they won their first 10 games before losing one in November. This is the kind of Tennessee Titans football that I’m used to seeing, and I’m stunned to see that they’ve dropped their first two to open the season.

Many thought this was a Super Bowl team last season. I think I thought so myself. They made a few changes during the off-season that seemed positive.

The acquisition of Nate Washington at wide receiver and a few other players made it seem like this team would be just fine, despite the fact that they lost their best defender in Albert Haynseworth.

So maybe their week 1 result was to be expected. After all, just about any team visiting the defending super bowl champions (especially when it’s an away game to open the season) would probably be expected to lose. So it was a tough game that they had to play at some point, and they got it out of the way. They even played pretty well, so one could call it a respectable loss.

With the loss of DT Albert Haynesworth, the Titans defense may not be as strong as it once was but they still have defensive skill players such as Cortland Finnegan, Chris Hope, Keith Bulluck, and Nick Harper.

It is hard to believe that a team coached by Jeff Fisher will continue to play this way for an entire NFL season.

After two weeks of the NFL season, the Titans find themselves in the cellar of the AFC South. Quite the change from last year.

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Wow, what a turnaround it’s been in New York! Not only does the team have a new coach, a new rookie QB, some new role players, and more, but the entire team looks completely revitalized in a way like I’ve never seen it before.

As a fan of the team, I have to say that I’m absolutely thrilled. I think this team finally has potential after many years of hoping.

After winning a strong season opener in week 1 against the Texans in Houston, the Jets came back home as the underdogs against the Patriots, armed with a healthy Tom Brady. This was a huge test for NY and they came ready.

The New York Jets were prepared to show New England that a new team was in the building. The defense absolutely shut down the Pats’ offense. Tom Brady had his first game without throwing a TD in almost four years, and lost his first game during the regular season since the end of the 2006 season.

Rex Ryan knew what needed to be done. Pressure Tom Brady! This is exactly what they did and he was completely shut down.

The Jets defense looked as strong as I can ever remember it looking, and new coach Rex Ryan deserves a lot of credit for reshaping a defense that struggled through much of last season.

He’s bringing the Ravens mentality to New York and the Ravens have a championship because of the success in defense they’ve had.

For the first time in a few seasons, I’m really excited to be a Jets fan. This is one of those seasons that could bring us a solid run in the playoffs. If Matt Sanchez can continue playing like a veteran and their defense keeps improving, this will be a big year in NY.

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Donovan McNabb is still the franchise player for the Philadelphia Eagles. He has been a member of the Eagles franchise for 10 years now and still the Super Bowl win has eluded him – not all his fault. Many years McNabb would have to create all by himself and throw to average receivers at best.

In 09′, the Eagles are a team with one significant part, Michael Vick – whether Vick will be factor is yet to be determined. Sitting out a few years can really slow him down.

The Panthers nearly made the Super Bowl last season, and had one of the strongest finishes in the league. This was by all means an impressive victory, and the offense and defense alike both played their parts.

The Eagles still do not have an overwhelming wide receiving unit – the Eagles offense is “death by a thousand papercuts.” However, there’s definitely some potential out wide.

The Eagles have a good running game with Brain Westbrook and LeSean McCoy with average receivers. The Eagles never had a really number one receiver since Terrell Owens, that didn’t end well as we all know.

New Orleans won easily by a score of 48-22. The Eagles are now 1-1 in a very competitive division, where every win will matter.

Unfortunately, it seems as if the team must be prepared to play without McNabb in week 3, as it’s been stated in early reports that McNabb will not suit up for the team’s week 3 game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Eagles are in a very strong division, it will be a battle all season long for NFC East supremacy surely. Will it be the Eagles?

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