What a great NFL season it has been, with compelling action both on and off the field. I may or may not blog about the playoffs at some point, but here are the All Purpose Monkey’s final thoughts on the 2008 NFL regular season.
Amazing Turnarounds
Atlanta Falcons – It may be easy in light of the Falcons disappointing first round loss to lose sight of what an amazing success their season really was, but that would truly be a shame. All the Falcons organization did was take a team in absolute shambles, stick a rookie coach at the helm, a rookie quarterback under center, tap a career backup as their starting running back, and hope people would forget – or at least move past – the Michael Vick fiasco. How’d that work out for them? Coach of the Year honors for Mike Smith, Rookie of the Year Honors for Matt Ryan, a 1,700 yard / 17 TD season (both 2nd in the NFL) for Michael Turner, and a +7 game turnaround from 4-12 to 11-5 and a trip to the playoffs… pretty damn good I’d say! Kudos to Arthur Blank and the entire Falcons organization!
Miami Dolphins – It would seem difficult to top the turnaround made by the Falcons, but what the Dolphins did was nothing short of miraculous. True, they didn’t have the off the field baggage the Falcons did, but they did come into the 2008 season having only won 1 game in 2007. With NFL legend Bill Parcells in place as “Executive Vice President of Football Operations” the Dolphins replaced over 50% of their roster (including the pickup of 2008 NFL Comeback Player of the Year Chad Pennington at QB), replaced their head coach, and turned the “wildcat” offense loose on the NFL. The result? The biggest turnaround in NFL history (finishing +10 games at 11-5), an AFC East title and a trip to the playoffs.
Baltimore Ravens – The Ravens also pulled a pretty drastic u-turn, reversing a 5-11 record to 11-5 and, as of this writing, having gotten to at least the second round of the playoffs. And like the Falcons, the Ravens also managed this with both a rookie coach and quarterback. Between the Falcons, Dolphins and Ravens the pressure will be more enormous than ever for rookie players (especially QBs) and coaches to deliver, quickly, and with no “excuses” about learning curves.
Disasters & Disappointments
Dallas Cowboys – Wow. Is train wreck too strong a term to use here? Meltdown? Implosion? How about disaster? Suffice it to say the wheels most definitely fell off the wagon that was the Cowboys’ 2008 season (and I’m just talking about on the field). Despite starting 2008 as one of the NFC favorites following their 13-3 season in 2007, the Cowboys never really got things consistently on track in 2008. Romo was sidelined with a finger injury for 3 weeks mid-season, rookie running back Felix Jones went down for the season in Week 6, and both TE Jason Witten and RB Marion Barber spent the second half of 2008 perpetually nicked up. The result for the Cowboys was a 9-7 finish, including losing 3 of their last 4 games (2 of which were “win and you’re in” games), and a final, humiliating 6-44 thumping at the hands of the Eagles in Week 17. Jerry Jones has already sacrificed special teams coach Bruce Read at the alter of no-playoffs disappointment, and don’t be surprised if Wade Phillips follows no matter what Jerry Jones is currently saying.
Jacksonville Jaguars – The team that many “experts” picked to at least make it to the AFC title game, if not actually be the AFC representative in the Super Bowl, finished 5-11 and in last place in the AFC South. And they didn’t have any excuses. Sure they had some injuries here and there throughout the season, every team does, but the Jags were still able to play QB David Garrard and running back Maurice Jones-Drew in every game, running back Fred Taylor played in all but 3, and leading receiver Matt Jones played in the team’s first 12 games before his 4 game drug suspension kicked in (by which time the season was already lost). Disappointing. There’s simply no other way to describe the Jaguars’ season.
Head Coach House Cleaning
It’s as sure a thing as death and taxes… before the corpse of the NFL regular season even has a chance to get cold head coaches start getting shown the door. In fact, this year some teams didn’t even wait until the season was dead: the Raiders (Lane Kiffin), 49ers (Mike Nolan) and Rams (Scott Linehan) all kicked their coaches to the curb while the season was still on life-support. And though not a firing, it was known going in that this was Mike Holmgren’s last year in Seattle (former Falcons coach Jim Mora was already tapped as his replacement).
Since the end of the season the Browns have let Romeo Crennel go, the Jets fired Eric Mangini (who is rumored to be the leading candidate for the Browns job), the Lions justifiably canned Rod Marinelli once the final nail was in their 0-16 season coffin, and, in what most considered a relatively unexpected move, the Broncos parted ways with Mike Shanahan after 14 seasons. Crennel and Marinelli probably have a more realistic shot at coordinator positions somewhere than they do another head coaching gig, at least in the immediate future, but Shanahan will be a hot prospect for any of the open positions… well, except Oakland. 
And though the dust from the initial flurry of firings has settled, there are still a couple of coaches who aren’t out of the woods yet. No matter what Jerry Jones says now, there’s always the chance that the slow burn of the Cowboys failure to make the playoffs will get the better of him and he’ll still show Wade Phillips the door. Herm Edwards is also in a very precarious position in Kansas City. Even though he is loved by the owner, long time GM Carl Peterson is leaving after 20 years and there is a very real possibility that whoever replaces him will want Edwards out in favor of a coach of their choosing. And despite their division title and first round playoff showing, don’t be surprised if Vikings coach Brad Childress loses his job given the erratic season they had and extremely tepid support he (and the team as lead by him) has received from the Minnesota faithful. Finally, Colts coach Tony Dungy has not decided whether or not he will return, and most observers think he will not.
Of the three interim coaches named after in-season firings, only Mike Singletary with the 49ers has been given a contract and had his interim tag removed. Tom Cable in Oakland and Jim Haslett in St. Louis will apparently have to hang tight through a coaching hunt to see whether their respective teams can dig up anyone they like better. In any event, the start of the 2009 NFL season will see at least 8, and possibly as many as 12, changes at the head coaching position.
Quest For The “Perfect” Season
Well, they did it. The Detroit Lions went a perfect 0-16 and cemented their legacy as (statistically) the worst team ever in NFL history. And now that they actually have… I kinda wish they hadn’t. All goofing on the “Cowardly Lions” aside, this team is much better than their record indicates. They were very competitive in at least half of their games (losing 6 games by 8 points or less), and only really got “blown out” 4 times. With 2 first round draft picks, a high (like first or second pick) second round pick, one of the better receivers (Calvin Johnson) in the league already in place, a strong rookie season from RB Kevin Smith (nearly 1,000 yards / 8 TDs), and anchor.. er, GM Matt Millen finally gone the Lions should be able to take some serious steps toward making the team legitimately competitive in 2009. Hey, it’s not impossible… look what the Dolphins did!
Players To Watch In 2009
Matt Ryan/Roddy White (Falcons) & Matt Shaub/Andre Johnson (Texans) – Not only was the Falcons 2008 season a great success, but we may well look back on 2008 as the dawning of a new Joe Montana/Jerry Rice, Peyton Manning/Marvin Harrison like QB/WR combo in Matt Ryan and Roddy White, who connected for 88 receptions and 7 TDs in ‘08. The same thing may also be happening in Houston (yes, Houston) with Matt Shaub and Andre Johnson, who lead the NFL with 115 receptions and 1,575 yards.
Darren Sproles (Chargers) – He’s not a new face, but Sproles will be interesting to watch in 2009, at least initially to see where he actually ends up playing. Sproles is a free agent this off-season and given his clutch performance in the Chargers first round playoff game (all he did was tally 328 all-purpose yards, 3rd most ever in a post-season game) and ability to change games on special teams it’s likely the Chargers will have to pony up if they want to keep him out of the hands of likely suitors Denver, Cincinnati, Arizona, and Cleveland.
Kevin Smith (Lions) – It’s hard to believe that there was actually a bright spot in the Detroit Lions 0-16 season, but rookie running back Kevin Smith should give the folks in the Motor City at least a glimmer of hope for the Lions ground game in ‘09. In his first season, on a team that was a disaster mind you, Smith ran for 976 yards, notched another 286 receiving, and accounted for 8 TDs… and he only lost 1 fumble all season. If they can get a decent O-Line in place they may just have something there at RB in Detroit.
DeSean Jackson (Eagles) – If he can remember to hold on to the ball until after he crosses the goal line (second only to Dan Orlovsky’s “safety dance” for bonehead play of the year), DeSean Jackson is going to be a force to be reckoned with for many years to come. Not only is Jackson a dangerous receiver, he scored a TD both rushing and on a punt return this year as well. Once he settles down and has full command of his route running defenses will have to seriously think about double-teaming Jackson to keep him in check.
…and all through the league, the Vikings, Broncos, Bucs and Jets wanted a playoff spot, they didn’t care what seed. Unfortunately, they all fell flat on their faces and failed to lock up those coveted playoff spots. 
Bills give to Jets – The Bills are up by 3, there’s barely over 2 minutes to play, it’s only second down, the Jets defense has been pathetically unable to stop RB Marshawn Lynch… all the Bills need to do is give Lynch the rock, run out the clock and the game’s a done deal, right? Wrong. They decide to throw, QB J.P. Losman is sacked and fumbles, and the Jets recover and return it for the game winning TD. Yes, Losman (a truly unfortunate last name) played the part of Santa in this game, single-handedly giving the Jets 4 turnovers: 3 interceptions and a fumble. Have a Holly, Jolly one Jets!
AFC East – Going into the final 2 games of the season the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins (!!!) and New England Patriots remain in a 3-way tie atop the AFC East at 9-5. The hard charging 10-4 Colts and 9-5 Ravens are only getting into the playoffs – if they do at all – by way of the Wild Card. Considering there are only 2 of those spots to hand out, with 4 teams fighting for them, it may well end up that the AFC East is a win or go home division. Having both won this week the Jets and Dolphins still control their destiny: win out and win the division… which makes that week 17 head-to-head between the Jets and Dolphins a monster matchup.
