2008 Woodie Awards
This year's NFL season as unpredictable as ever
Jacob Richard
Issue date: 10/6/04 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 2 next >
It would take a psychic to predict what kind of start this year's National Football League season would have. With almost a quarter of the season behind most teams, Las Vegas bookies and odds makers may be turning to advice from Ms. Cleo to help handicap the rest of the season.
Perhaps the biggest surprise this season is the resurrection of Kurt Warner's career. After two miserable seasons at the end of his stint with the St. Louis Rams, the two-time league most valuable player is currently at the helm of the 3-1 New York Giants. With a solid running game and Head Coach Tom Coughlin committed to keeping him upright, Warner is making good decisions and leading the Giants to victory.
Although Warner is not putting up as many touchdowns as in Mike Martz's offense, (Warner only has three total this year.), he has not thrown any interceptions this season, and his quarterback rating is back to being over 90 for the first time since the 2001 season. Whether Warner can lead his new team to the playoffs this year remains to be seen, but he appears to be the current leader in the running for Comeback Player of the Year.
Another big surprise this year is Coughlin's former team, the Jacksonville Jaguars. With a stingy defense and an offense that tries to make as few mistakes as possible, the 3-1 Jaguars appear to be this year's Carolina Panthers. Although the running game is not quite as dominant for the Jaguars, they have a playmaker in Fred Taylor who is a threat to score from anywhere on the field.
One thing that the Jaguars have over last year's Panthers is a blossoming passing game this early in the season. Quarterback Byron Leftwich is coming off the best performance of his young career, completing 29 of 41 passes for 318 yards, a touchdown and a remarkable efficiency rating of 101.5. With emerging weapons in rookie wide outs Ernest Wilford and Reggie Williams and veteran receiver Jimmy Smith in Leftwich's arsenal, the Jaguars are poised to make a splash this season.
Perhaps the biggest surprise this season is the resurrection of Kurt Warner's career. After two miserable seasons at the end of his stint with the St. Louis Rams, the two-time league most valuable player is currently at the helm of the 3-1 New York Giants. With a solid running game and Head Coach Tom Coughlin committed to keeping him upright, Warner is making good decisions and leading the Giants to victory.
Although Warner is not putting up as many touchdowns as in Mike Martz's offense, (Warner only has three total this year.), he has not thrown any interceptions this season, and his quarterback rating is back to being over 90 for the first time since the 2001 season. Whether Warner can lead his new team to the playoffs this year remains to be seen, but he appears to be the current leader in the running for Comeback Player of the Year.
Another big surprise this year is Coughlin's former team, the Jacksonville Jaguars. With a stingy defense and an offense that tries to make as few mistakes as possible, the 3-1 Jaguars appear to be this year's Carolina Panthers. Although the running game is not quite as dominant for the Jaguars, they have a playmaker in Fred Taylor who is a threat to score from anywhere on the field.
One thing that the Jaguars have over last year's Panthers is a blossoming passing game this early in the season. Quarterback Byron Leftwich is coming off the best performance of his young career, completing 29 of 41 passes for 318 yards, a touchdown and a remarkable efficiency rating of 101.5. With emerging weapons in rookie wide outs Ernest Wilford and Reggie Williams and veteran receiver Jimmy Smith in Leftwich's arsenal, the Jaguars are poised to make a splash this season.