Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles made it almost all the way up to “the top of the mountain” … and then they fell back down to earth. Under McNabb, the Eagles have been one of the best teams in the rugged NFC East Division … and in the entire NFL.

They made it to a Super Bowl and came very close to winning, but lost to the Patriots. Over the last decade, they’ve won much more than they’ve lost … yet they’ve never won enough to please their fans. People in the city of Brotherly Love are known for their passion … and for their ability to turn on their teams and star players.

McNabb has never been able to escape their wrath. When good, he’s been supported by Philadelphia football fans more than any other professional athlete in that city. But, when he’s been bad - sparks have flown. McNabb has heard the anger and frustration that people in this eastern city seem to feel all the time.

He’s a winner - in every sense of the word - but, in Philadelphia, he is sometimes a “loser.” Is it fair that Donovan, one of the best pure athletes in the league has to be the subject of so much anger from frustrated fans? No … especially he is not the one who has put the team together and almost always left it short on the offensive side of the ball.

However, McNabb is the face of this franchise - the team’s “poster boy” - playing the most important and visible position, quarterback. And that, more than anything else, makes him a convenient target when things go bad.

Over the past two or three years, things have definitely not gone well. Injuries, first to McNabb himself, and then to other prominent players, have robbed the team of a chance to compete for a playoff spot and a long run in the playoffs.

Things have gotten so bad, at times, that Donovan was even benched, causing sensational headlines in newspaper sports pages and interesting speculation about his future on TV sports talk shows. His benching was short-lived because McNabb is the team’s on-field leader and one of its best players. But it was a clear indication that all has not been well in “Eagle-land.”

With the Eagles strong defense, but not enough offense, can wonder if they’ve addressed their needs effectively. Will this be the season that McNabb has the receivers he needs to complement the running game … and keep the defense off the field? Or, will it be “same old-same old” … another year of frustration for a team that can stop opponents from scoring, but never scores enough itself?
Fans and experts alike will be wondering what is in store when the season begins in September. And, for those who like to bet on games, the needs for answers to some tough questions will be greatest of all.

The Oakland Raiders, once a proud and successful team, an AFC titan throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, and a team that was coached by the great John Madden, are now team turmoil. This once mighty team has fallen on hard times. And there doesnt seem to be a light at the end of their long, dark tunnel.

The problem may be with their owner, Al Davis. He has been the boss for many, many years and has always been a kind of maverick, bucking the NFL establishment. Brilliant and calculating when he was younger, Davis is, today, about 80 years old and not nearly as sharp and astute as he was years ago.

In fact, many look at the aging Davis and wonder if hes remained in charge a little too long. He has done some very strange things , like picking a public fight with his Head Coach in 2007-2008. The coach was newly-hired and Al Davis, within a few weeks of the hiring, attacked his credibility, intelligence and honesty. And then he fired him.

In the distant past, Davis picked his fights with tougher opponents, the NFL hierarchy over his right to relocate the Raiders and, of course, for many other reasons, some big and some small.

On the recently-completed college draft, Davis selection of a wide receiver in the first round who was projected to be picked in a later round raised eyebrows and had legions of NFL experts and pundits questioning his judgment.

The Oakland Raiders have been one of the great NFL franchises, achieving great success even since Al Davis has owned the team. But those days of winning seem like a distant memory , a fading memory for the fans in northern California. The question is this: can the Raiders rebound and recapture their long-lost glory while Al Davis remains owner and in control? The answer: nobody knows. However, many are willing to venture a guess.

Tune in to a TV football talk show and when the subject of the Raiders comes up, the TV talking heads seem to be unanimous. Oakland and Al Davis are no longer a winning combination. Read the sports pages of newspapers or sports magazines , and you get the same conclusion for the writers. Davis is done as an effective owner , finished.

For Oaklands long-suffering football fans there seems to be no end in sight. The team, even in good years doesnt project to be very good , no better than an 8-8, maybe 9-7 team. In bad years , well, it can get very ugly for the boys in black and grey.

So, how do you bet on a team like the Oakland Raiders? If youre smart, you probably dont bet on them. But, if youre a fan and you cant help yourself, figure that the Raiders will always be a bad favorite and, at best, a so-so underdog. Then, bet accordingly.

When the Tennessee Titans drafted Vince Young to become their franchise quarterback a couple of seasons ago, it was generally believed that they had struck gold, that Young, who had been sensational in college, would lead them straight to a Super Bowl appearance.

But, for some athletes, its a quantum leap from college to the professional ranks. The athletic feats that came easily against other collegians become much more difficult to achieve against professional players , for good reason.

The professional ranks are, of course, filled with the very top players from college, the elite performers. College teams, even the best ones, are loaded with players who will only get into a professional football game if they buy a ticket.

So, when Vince Young put on the cleats and took his first snaps from under center in his first professional game, he and the Titans were in for a surprise. He was not nearly as effective as he had been as a starting college quarterback. Young found himself going against huge, behemoth-like defensive linemen and fleet-footed defensive backs that he could not beat.

It was probably a shock to him because success had come so easily in college. In fact, in 2008-2009, Young actually regressed and did not start most of the games played by Tennessee. The cant miss college superstar had become just another player and, to the complete shock of the Tennessee front office that drafted him , a possible draft-day bust.

But, Vince Young is still little more than a rookie with limited experience, even though he has been in the league for two seasons. He has room to learn and to grow as a player, a chance to let his skills take over. And the Titans are more than likely willing to give him the additional time needed to step up.

Will 2009-2010 be the year that Vince Young graduates to the stardom that was predicted for him? Its much too early to say or predict right now. But Young, as much as any other player in the league, has the talent to be great.

The same can be said for the team he plays on, the Tennessee Titans. Representing the AFC South Division, along with the Jaguars, Texans and Colts, the team from the south has all the ingredients needed to be a winner, including a highly-regarded Head Coach, Jeff Fisher. In recent seasons, they have played well and consistently, but have had the misfortune of being in the same division as the mighty Indianapolis Colts. That hurts , its hard to breeze by a team that has Peyton Manning as its quarterback.

However, the Titans are a good franchise that is always looking to improve. They are a team that can be very good in 2009-2010, maybe even good enough to get by Indianapolis.

Two things are certain: this team will entertain its fans by playing hard, focused football. And it will please those who bet because there will not be any quit in the Titans.

There was a time when the Washington Redskins were a perennial league powerhouse. To fans of the team, it must seem like the team’s greatness and glory years are little more than a distant memory. In all likelihood, many current, younger fans never saw Washington play great football. But, it happened. In the 1970s and 1980s, the team was a dominant force, relying yearly on veteran players. Under the leadership for some of those glory years of the late, great Hall of Fame Head Coach George Allen, the Redskins regularly traded draft picks for solid, generally in-their-prime players … a formula that had them in the playoffs just about every season.

In some years, the Redskins made it all the way to the Super Bowl. Along with the Cowboys, Raiders and Steelers, Washington’s Redskins were a team that demanded - and received - respect from every opponent … a team whose fans knew would win lots more games than it lost. The formula employed by Coach Allen of trading draft picks for players worked spectacularly well - in the short term. Long term … it had to fail. And eventually it did. Washington’s players finally aged and saw their skills diminish … but there was no help coming because there were no high draft picks available to the team.

The result was, inevitably, a fall from superiority to mediocrity. Many years have passed since the George Allen era and the Redskins have never been able to recapture the glory. Under the ownership of Daniel Snyder, the team continues to look for a way that will enable it to be great once again. In recent years, the Redskins have relied more heavily on free agent signings instead of draft picks … and it hasn’t worked. They’ve remained significantly weaker than their divisional opponents - the Giants, Cowboys and Eagles.

During this current off-season, the “Skins,” for the first time in memory avoided big free agent signings so it’s possible that they’ve finally committed to rebuilding through the draft. Clearly, fans of the team hope that is the case.
They will need more than one very good draft in order to catch up with the intra-divisional opponents and be competitive with them. It’s not going to be easy, of course, because the Giants, Cowboys and Eagles are all loaded. But good drafts have a way of equalizing things more quickly than expected. Meantime, Washington figures to be “the divisional weak link” in the upcoming season and a betting underdog. The question is: will they be a live underdog? And the answer: wait and see. Fans of the Washington Redskins can look forward to a team that may finally have a plan that it’s willing to follow … a commitment to young players. Those who bet may want to take a long, hard look at the Redskins before investing any money on them. The safer wager may be one in which money is bet on the opponent.

There is a growing storm in the NFLs NFC South Division, the Atlanta Falcons. Rising from the ashes of a disastrous 2007-2008 Season when their star Quarterback Michael Vick was convicted of a felony, illegal dog fighting, and sent off to prison, the Falcons found their way in the 2008-2009 Season thanks to the efforts of high 1^st round draft pick, Matt Ryan.

Its the truth. Ryan, a highly-touted rookie Quarterback, lived up to all the pre-season hype and was, in fact, better than advertised. In a league where rookie quarterbacks are eaten for lunch and often play like Pop Warner peewee footballers, Ryan excelled and exhibited all the poise and skill of a veteran quarterback.

But Ryan didnt just play like any ordinary veteran quarterback. His play was stellar and tagged him as a Superstar-in-the-making , a cant miss, sure-fire QB that is certain to be every bit as good as Tom Brady , John Elway , Joe Montana, you get the idea.

The Falcons, as a team, rebounded behind Ryans play and exceeded all pre-season expectations. They were good , and dangerous. And, even as the season progressed from the warm, summer-like days of September to the cold, wintry days of November and December, there was no fade in Ryan or in his teammates.

He played great right to the end of the season. And his mates, on offense and defense, remained effective and competitive, as well. The result of all that great play was that there was a dramatic turnaround in performance, and won-loss record, from the 2007-2008 Season to the 2008-2009 Season.

Theres a team in the AFC West Division with a longstanding winning tradition , a team that, in recent years, has fallen on hard times. That team is the Kansas City Chiefs.

Once a stalwart of the old American Football League, the Chiefs played the Packers in the first two Super Bowls , and lost both times. Following the merger between the two leagues, Kansas City, under the leadership of their late, great coach Hank Stram were consistent winners, often beating up on AFC competition. Together with the Oakland Raiders, the Kansas City franchise was not only one of the top teams in the AFC, they were also one of the better teams in the entire NFL.

But nothing stays the same forever. After another successful run as a top AFC team, the Chiefs in the last few years have grown old and started losing. Clearly, they stayed with their top players, on offense, defense and special teams, a little too long. Perhaps, they should have started unloading their veterans a year early instead of a year late.

No matter. They kept those older players, and their diminishing skills, and started losing , a lot. Head Coach Herm Edwards a former Head Coach of The New York Jets became the scapegoat for the losing and was fired.

An entirely new regime was brought in, including a new, young Head Coach, and the first thing they did after last season ended was pull off a trade with the New England Patriots. For the very modest cost of a second round draft pick, the Patriots traded quarterback Matt Cassell to Kansas City and he will lead them on the field in 2009-2010. That was a steal for the Chiefs.

There was more good news for fans of Kansas City. By all accounts, and according to TV pundits and other experts, the Chiefs had one of the best drafts of college players recently and addressed many needs including offensive line , defense , skill positions , and more.

Will these changes make Kansas City a better team in 2009-2010? The answer is: probably yes. Will they be a safer bet for fans who like to risk a little money on games? The answer to that question: who knows?

One thing is virtually certain. The Chiefs will be younger , hungrier , and in all likelihood ready to go toe-to-toe with every opponent they face in the upcoming season. They can start by bringing their gamer attitude to the intra-divisional games they will play against the Broncos , the Raiders , and the always-dangerous Chargers. These teams have been beating up Kansas City lately, but its fair to expect that the worm will turn in 2009-2010.

Its probably also reasonable to believe that the Chiefs will be underdogs in most of their games in the new season, live underdogs. So if you enjoy betting, Kansas City may be the team to wager on among others, of course.

Money spent betting on the Chiefs may very well be money well spent.

Football fans all across America, and especially those in northern Florida, were asking the same question last season: “what’s wrong with the Jacksonville Jaguars?” In the 2008-2009 Season, the AFC South Division Jaguars never performed up to their usually lofty standards. When the season ended, badly for Jacksonville, of course, TV sports commentators publicly speculated on the possible onset of a down period for the boys from Florida. The problem with accepting that is the fact that Jacksonville still has lots of good players up and down its roster.

So, was 2008-2009 just an off year, something that happens all the time to professional sports teams? Or was it the beginning of the end for the current core group of players that have performed so well for so many years?
The truth is that no one knows for sure, regardless of what you hear on TV from “NFL experts” or what you read online or in your favorite magazine or newspaper. Jacksonville can rebound in 2009-2010 and once again play dominant football … or the Jaguars can begin a stretch where they become a bottom-feeder … a losing team that finishes near the bottom of their division for the next couple of years.

Jacksonville’s usually rabid fans are going to be holding their collective breaths when the 2009-2010 Season kicks off in September because they, like everybody else, will be “in the dark” and not know what kind of team they’ll have in the Jaguars. If Jacksonville soars and rebounds from their off-year, all will be right with the world in northern Florida.
If the team starts off the new season the way it “played out the string” in the previous season - with lackluster performances - than Jacksonville will experience a rarity - a cold autumn and winter. That’s because losing makes everything, including the weather, seem worse.

The early season games in 2009-2010 should be interesting for the odds makers in Las Vegas. Although the betting odds they publish each week are based on hard facts and specific beliefs, the Jaguars should open the season as a puzzle. The guys at the casinos who are setting up “the point spread” could easily take a financial hit with a team like Jacksonville; the same is true for fans who bet, of course.

And yet, if you follow football, it’s easy to imagine that the Jacksonville Jaguars will have a strong and successful bounce-back season. Winning football games has been a big part of their recent history. If you approach the new season with that kind of mindset about Jacksonville, your gambling decisions should be easy. Whether they open up each week as the favorite or the underdog, you’ll be able to justify your faith in them plunking down a bet on them. And if you’ve followed this team for the last several years, that will not be a leap of faith.In 2009-2010, the Jacksonville Jaguars can be very good … or they can be shockingly bad. It will be interesting to see which team shows up.

Welcome to Indianapolis, home of the Colts … and the league’s superstar quarterback, a guy named Peyton Manning. When he’s not busy starring in commercials for a boatload of sponsors, Manning is on the gridiron - being great.

Yes, he’s arguably the best quarterback of his generation, sorry Tom Brady! and, perhaps, one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. For Peyton Manning, it all begins with preparation. He works hard … studies hard … prepares hard. And, on Sunday afternoon, or Sunday night, or Monday night or even Thursday night, Peyton and his Colts are ready for whatever the opposition can throw against them.

After a decade as the Colts’ starting quarterback, there is little that Manning has not seen. He knows how to read - and beat - the stingiest defenses. Of course, it wasn’t always that way. In Manning’s early years, while successful in the regular season, Manning had trouble winning the Big Games - the playoff encounters with other very good teams .Of course, the old saying, “try, try, try again” applied to Peyton and his Colts and after a few years of disappointing failures, Manning started to win in postseason, when the games really counted.

The Colts, under Manning, have always had an incredible offense, a terrific overland passing game, thanks, in large part, to super wide receiver Marvin Harrison. But, age catches up with everyone. Last year, an aging Harrison was jettisoned by the Colts, robbing Peyton Manning of the best receiver he’s ever hit with a pass.
Additionally, Manning had off-season health problems compounded by surgery and got off to a surprisingly slow start in 2008-2009. True, he recovered several games into the season and, like the Peyton of old, started putting up lots of points on the scoreboard. But, the alarm has gone off.

Manning is in his 30s now … not yet over-the-hill, but no longer the young stud QB who demolished defenses from the day he arrived in Indianapolis. The Colts, as a team, may be in transition. Some of their core players have been with them a long time and are getting older. At the same time, Indianapolis is trying to gradually remake the team with a continuous infusion of new blood. Young players on offense and defense are gradually “pushing” the older guys out.
The question is this: will the Colts be a “good bet” in 2009-2010 … or will they be a bad favorite? The question has no answer - yet. But, as every odds maker in Las Vegas knows … and every TV pundit will tell you … as every hardcore fan instinctively recognizes - it won’t take too long to figure out the Colts once the 2009-2010 Season begins.

That’s a fact, After a game or two - or three- in September the real Colts will show themselves to be either a legitimate favorite worthy of a win bet … or a rank underdog masquerading as a “can’t beat” elite team. And once you know that, Peyton’s Colts can become your own personal “money tree.”

Every year in the NFL, there are up-and-coming teams … young squads that are definitely on-the-rise - teams to watch closely. Consider the Houston Texans, a perennial doormat for much of its time as a member of the NFL the Texans have been building something the last couple of years - a team that can win.
That’s not a joke. Houston has the look of a football team ready to step up - big time. Solid drafts the last two years have helped to give the team a strong - and young - defense. Offensively, Houston has been able to score with anyone as they proved repeatedly during the 2008-2009 Season.

The team has solid special teams play and is also well-coached. Add it all up … the Houston Texans of the upcoming 2009-2010 Season figure to be a winning team … perhaps a BIG winning team. If you’re a fan of Texas’ other team, the new season could - and should - give you lots of thrills, chills, excitement … and happy moments. Who knows … Houston, which plays in the very, very tough AFC South could pull a few surprises on the other teams in its division, teams like the Titans. Jaguars and that team in Indianapolis - the Colts.

Now, divisional games against three difficult opponents will eat up six of the 16-game schedule. That’s pretty close to half the games they get to play all season. So the Texans need to be competitive against their divisional neighbors to have any chance at a successful season … and, perhaps, a trip to the playoffs.
But this team has been improving for awhile and many experts are predicting stellar play from them in 2009-2010. The ingredients are all in place - a good, solid nucleus of talented young players … a growing confidence in their collective ability based on the caliber of their recent play … a knowledge and belief that they “belong” and can play with - and beat - teams like the Titans, jaguars and Colts.

There’s no doubt … they’ll be exciting to watch. But will they provide the same excitement to fans who bet on them? As is always is the case when it comes to wagering on NFL games, there’s no easy answer. Houston’s improved recent play on the gridiron means that they are unlikely to be the kind of huge underdogs in the upcoming season that they have often been in years past.

If they are underdogs, the “point spread” is likely to be small. If they get off to a good start, they could even become favorites, a position that will be somewhat new to them. And if they are favorites in some games, will they know how to beat up an inferior opponent and cover the spread?

Is there a team in the NFL that can go through an entire season - or off-season - without some controversy? The answer is probably no. Consider the case of The Green Bay Packers … For nearly twenty years, a lifetime by NFL standards all-time great quarterback Brett Favre took every snap under center … passed his way to fame, fortune and a sure trip to the NFL Hall of Fame … and made Green Bay football fun and exciting to watch.

Nothing lasts forever, of course, and in Green Bay management started to look past Favre to see what the team’s future looked like. With a young quarterback waiting in the wings to step up and soon as Brett stepped down, team executives wanted Favre to retire. And, after each of the last two seasons ended, Brett Favre did, indeed, announce his retirement. The problem was he didn’t stay retired. He kept changing his mind and coming back for another season … even though Green Bay management wanted him gone.

Finally, at the end of the 2007-2008 Season, the icon forced the hand of management and, when he once again unretired, Green Bay told Favre he was no longer wanted. They were willing to trade him if he wanted to continue playing - outside the NFC North Division. After some soul-searching, Favre agreed to let the Packers trade him if they could find a taker. And, of course they did …

So, in 2008-2009, Brett Favre, Green Bay icon …sure Hall of Famer-to-be … the “gunslinger” - was traded to The New York Jets. And, while Favre did well as a Jet, at least for the first eleven games, his replacement at quarterback in Green Bay also did well - for the first half of the season. The NFL is a league where things change week to week. As the 2008-2009 Season reached December and the weather got colder, both teams, in New York and in Green Bay, faltered - badly.

Interestingly, both Green Bay and New York had solid defenses they relied on when their offenses went bad. But, somehow, for some reason, defense wasn’t enough in the latter stages of the last season. So what can you expect from The Green Bay Packers in 2009-2010? If you’re simply a fan who enjoys exciting football, Green Bay should leave you satisfied throughout the upcoming season. They have a young and very strong defense … a developing offense … and a young QB with a full year as a starter under his belt. He should be better this year … maybe a lot better.
If you like to bet, you can probably expect to “give points” with Green Bay. They are likely to be favored in many of the games they play. And, the guess is they’ll still be a good bet.