Are You Ready For Some Football?

Ah, finally. The NFL season is about to begin, and I can leaven my political commentary with some lighter fare over the next few months.

The season kicks off with a bang tomorrow night. The Oakland Raiders venture over to Foxboro Stadium to take on the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. These teams don't play each other very often, but the infamous "Tuck Rule" game in 2001 set a rivalry in motion.

The Raiders have a lot to prove. Since their Super Bowl 37 debacle at the hands of former coach Jon Gruden, they have won a total of only nine regular season games, in two full seasons. However, last year's 5-11 record may have been the calmest such season in the history of the league, as the entire team stepped up and took responsibility for poor play and execution, thus saving the job of coach Norv Turner.

The team may turn out to be one of the most improved in the entire league, especially on offense. As much as I pooh-poohed the Randy Moss trade at the time, I have to admit that the Raiders got him for a song, and by all accounts, he has been a model citizen since his arrival. With his height and his blazing speed, Moss practically demands double coverage on every play.

Bookending Moss is budding superstar Jerry Porter. If Porter can stay healthy, he can put up numbers to rival most any other receiver in the game. Quarterback Kerry Collins, while slow and immobile, still has an excellent arm, and should keep Porter, Moss, and a solid crew of receivers busy.

The most important acquisition was that of Jets backup RB Lamont Jordan, who performed very well in the pre-season "vanilla" offenses. Jordan looks to be an every-down back who can catch passes as well as he bulls up the middle, and will vastly improve the Raiders' 32nd-ranked rushing game from last season.

The only downside to this team is the defense, which was horrible last year, and didn't improve much on paper in the off-season. The secondary is largely an unknown quantity, and the front seven don't look much better. The line should at least play better in the switch to a 4-3 defense; last year's experiment with the 3-4 simply didn't suit the personnel they had. Linebacker Danny Clark turned out to be a spectacular free agent acquistion for the Raiders last season, and looks to be one season even better now. He has asserted himself well in a leadership role, and may very well lead what could turn out to be a fine "no-name" defense.

Now the Pats. They've undergone quite a few changes in their off-season as well, most of them negative. Losing offensive and defensive coordinators Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel may not be too traumatic, but at the very least it's a net loss. Linebacker Tedy Bruschi's retirement after a mild stroke bodes poorly for the defensive mindset; Bruschi was a solid player and an undisputed emotional leader. Cornerback Ty Law's defection to division rival NY Jets will have them looking over their shoulder for those two games this year.

The Pats' offense should be pretty intact, however. Perennial malcontent RB Corey Dillon had a career year last season, and made the difference in the Super Bowl. The only receiver of note the Pats lost was David Patten. The core of the offense, specifically QB Tom Brady, is still there and seems as hungry as ever.

On paper, this looks to be a walk for the Patriots, and they're picked to win by 7½ points. They have the Super Bowl rings, the home-field advantage, the undisputed coaching genius of Bill Belichick.

But they also have a questionable secondary, and a lot of unknowns in terms of new defensive personnel and play-calling. They can be had, and an opportunistic offense with firepower at all ends, like the Raiders, could turn this into a shootout, or even an upset.

Final score: Raiders 34, Patriots 27.