The 2011 NFL Season so Far: A Fan's Take

The 2011 Football season so far has been a joyous ride for this football fan. The usual pre-season acquisition talk was primarily talk about the strike. As the old saying goes, "you never no how much you miss something until its gone". That expression really took its toll during the off season when it appeared we might have a shorten season or heavens forbid no season at all. But when the dust settled, we ended up with a season, and what a season it's been so far.

So far we've seen the legend of Tim Tebow grow. I know I will always look back at this time and remember exactly what I was doing when Tim Tebow came down from the football heavens and delivered football fans, tons of football discussions, debates, and downright arguments. It's almost impossible to not have an opinion on Tim Tebow, whether you hate him or love him. Whether you think he is a part of the evolution or de-evolution of the game, it's hard as a fan of the sport, to not have an opinion either way. As a life long football fan, I love it. His emergence represents the true nature of sports. In so far as, "the debate", for fans of any sport the debate is a way of life.

The Philadelphia Eagles started the pre-season debate with their selection of free agents that led to talk of a super team. In the vain of the Miami Heat another such ballyhooed team. To put that talk into perspective, the Miami Heat made it to the NBA finals. And, at this point in the season, it appears as though the Eagles will not make the playoffs. As a life long Dallas Cowboy fan, I can't pretend to feel sorry for the Eagles; I would love to see them lose all of their remaining games. Hopefully this will teach a lesson to future GM's letting them see that buying a championship with old NFL free agents will not work. You have to do it the Jimmy Johnson way, and trade your major free agent for 10 draft picks.

Looking at the standing now, I love the parity in the NFL; look at the teams vying for the playoffs now in the NFC for example. You have the Green Bay Packers at the top of the heap. I really don't think that they will make it to the super bowl again this season, because I'm not sold on their defensive play. They cannot expect to go into the playoffs and score over 35 pts a game to beat teams. Aaron Rodgers is having the season of all seasons for a QB, but I think as the weather turns, and defenses start to step up he will have a hard time scoring enough to compensate for the defense. That leaves the San Francisco Forty Niners at the top of the NFC Bracket. I think this Frisco team is the team to beat in the NFC. Despite losing the civil war on Thanksgiving Day.

The Dallas Cowboys are my absolute favorite to win it all because I am a biased life-long Cowboy fan and as such, I have a few things that I wanted to point out about my team. I'm scared going down this stretch, I know I shouldn't say this out loud, but I've been down this road before. We have everything laid out before us, with a relatively easy schedule and a one game lead on the New York Giants. But, the reason for my fear lies in the memory of recent playoff runs that were similar. Where the Cowboys controlled their own destiny and decided to flush that destiny down the toilet. Here's hoping that with the emergence of Demarco Murray and a running game we will be able to overcome the desire to leave the game solely in Tony Romo's hands.

As far as the remaining teams in the NFC and the AFC that are still in the hunt for the playoffs I will have to address those teams at a different time. Again keep in mind this is just one fans observations and opinions.

DeShawn Meriwether