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DE: Tamba Hali, 3rd yr, Kansas City Chiefs
Excellent run-defender who now gets a shot at more sacks playing on the right side.

DT: Amobi Okoye, 2nd yr, Houston Texans
Amazing natural power; could one day reach the level of a Warren Sapp.

NFC East

1. Dallas Cowboys

2. Philadelphia Eagles*

3. New York Giants

4. Washington Redskins

NFC North

1. Minnesota Vikings

2. Green Bay Packers

3. Chicago Bears

4. Detroit Lions

NFC South

1. Carolina Panthers

2. New Orleans Saints*

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

4. Atlanta Falcons

NFC West

1. Seattle Seahawks

2. Arizona Cardinals

3. St. Louis Rams

4. San Francisco 49ers

NFC Championship

Dallas Cowboys over Minnesota Vikings

It’s hard to trust Dallas in the postseason, but it’s even harder to trust Tarvaris Jackson. Plus, the NFC is unusually feeble at the top this year.

AFC East

1. New England Patriots

2. New York Jets

3. Buffalo Bills

4. Miami Dolphins

AFC North

1. Pittsburgh Steelers

2.…

Down the road. Oh, down the road. Hard to fathom how great they’ll both be. But you know what? We don’t need to discuss down the road; they’re actually ready now. Both of them.

One of them you’re familiar with. He’s the one out west who burst onto the scene on Monday Night in Week 1 last season before going on to claim NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. The other you’ve heard of but may not have yet encountered. He’s the one back east who terrorized opponents last year after the leaves turned.

They’re both ready, which means we need to be ready. The debate is in place. Preemptive as…

1.) Jared Allen                  DE     TRADE         6-6          270       4    Chiefs         Vikings

Contract:  6 yrs, $78 million with incentives ($31 million guaranteed)

Traded with a 6^th round pick in ’08 for a 1^st round pick, two 3^rd round picks and a 6^th round pick

The Hope: The high-motor Allen builds on his league-leading 15.5-sack performance from a year ago.

The Caveat: The Chiefs labeled Allen an “at risk” player, thanks to is two DUI’s while in Kansas City.

The Reality: Without approving drinking and driving, the fact of the matter is Allen already served a two-game suspension and has been a model citizen over the past year and a half. His legal woes are behind him. On the field, he may very well…

The owners blew it earlier this year when they opted to maintain the current playoff format.

Anyone who watched some of the Week 17 action in the NFL came away with a small dose of that feeling of lethargy one has after watching an entire preseason game. It’s that “what the hell did I just do?” feeling you get upon first realizing how much time has slipped away. You watched football for three hours in the middle of the day, which prevented you from taking on any major projects or running errands too far from home. And when all was said and done all you gained was a greater familiarity…

For those of you who don’t already know, I generally watch football alone. For years, I was anal about watching alone. I don’t know why — I guess I just had a routine and an expectation that every game had to be perfect, which meant that I had to watch with utter focus. Lately, I have relaxed on this issue dramatically.

In past years, watching football on Thanksgiving was like walking through a landmine field for me. My family hosts Thanksgiving, which means the room is always full of grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles, and cousins and cousins’ spouses. Watching the NFL with family this year was a breeze,…

NFL.com recently published a list of all the rookie free agent signings for 2008 (view it here).

Few fans realize how many good players in the league today were once rookie free agents. Just take a look at this All Undrafted Team. It’s stunning.

(starters in bold)

QB: Tony Romo, Dal   Jake Delhomme, Car   Jeff Garcia, TB

RB: Willie Parker, Pit   Dominic Rhodes, Ind   Marcel Shipp, Ari  

FB: Tony Richardson, NYJ

WR: Drew Bennett, Stl   Mike Furrey, Det   Hank Baskett, Phi

WR: Wes Welker, NE   Eric Parker, SD  

TE: Antonio Gates, SD   Mark Campbell, NO

OT: Jason Peters, Buf   Tom Ashworth, FA

  G: Brian Waters, KC   Ryan Lilja, Ind   Jason Whittle, Buf

  C: Jeff Saturday, Ind   Casey…

I’m going to do everyone a favor by posting the cliff notes for all the NFL news coming from the organized team activities during May. Read these bullet points here and you are guaranteed to be updated on all 32 teams.

**(Insert name of player) is in (insert name of warm weather state) working out on his own. (Insert name of player) is reportedly unhappy with his contract situation. Not to worry, though, because while (insert name of player) is threatening to sit out the season, it should be noted that absolutely no player in this era has ever actually sat out a season.

**Coaches said that (insert name of…

I’m not usually one to gripe about our politicians (most of their work can’t be judged until history plays itself out) but in the case of Arlen Specter and his role in Spygate, I can’t help but ask “What the hell?”

Specter has made it clear that in his mind’s eye, the Spygate controversy surrounding the NFL and New England Patriots is not over. But here’s the deal: first, what does any of it have to do with Arlen Specter? And second, Roger Goodell is the commissioner of the NFL. He said its over, which means, its over. Goodell was criticized for destroying the first batch of tapes, so, learning from…

For those of you who did not see the HBO reality show Hard Knocks last summer, be assured that the behind-the-scenes look at the Kansas City Chiefs training camp was indeed every bit as good as people say. It was insightful, authentic, and entertaining.

What stuck with me was the behavior and mindset of Chiefs defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham. To say the 26-year coach – who has had stints with five different teams, including a previous one with Kansas City in which he was the head coach from ‘99-’00 – is a hardnosed throwback would be an understatement. Cunningham’s nose grades somewhere between Corundum and Diamond on the Mohs scale.…