The most puzzling time of year in the National Football League has arrived. Right here, right now, is the precise spot on the football calendar where everything is up in the air, when we think we know certain things but also know that thinking and knowing are two different things. Did you follow that? If not, don’t worry, it’s the waning days of August and there’s still two weeks before things get going properly, so there’s some time to get it all figured out. Confusion reigns because it’s preseason and it’s supposed to reign, heavily. Let’s face it, there wouldn’t be a whole lot of fun involved if the show before the real show gave us any kind of accurate indication as to what the next four months held in store. But wait, sometimes it does. Preseason is a big old muddle and a devilish tease, designed to tug and gnaw at the weakest points of a fan’s psyche, capable of filling even the calmest supporter with needless doubt or, far worse, offering cruel snippets of hope where there realistically is none. Take last Saturday’s Buffalo Bills victory over the Chicago Bears as an example. The Bills, quarterbacked by Mitchell Trubisky in the absence of the rested Josh Allen, were sensational, scoring touchdowns on each of their first four drives and surging to an overwhelming 41-15 win at Soldier Field. Now, the Bills are certainly not a team without hope, far from it, having reached the AFC Championship game last season and witnessing Allen improve with each passing campaign. Yet the fact that they were so strong without Allen under center in Chicago sparked a flurry of excitement among the Bills Mafia and a created a general burst of positive feeling toward the team. Per FOX Bet, Buffalo is third favorite to win the Super Bowl, at +1200. “Yes, this was the preseason,” wrote Buffalo News beat writer Jay Skurski. “Nevertheless, it was hard not to … come away with the conclusion that this is a team ready to make some noise when the real games begin.” But preseason wins are nonsense, most football sages will tell you. The Baltimore Ravens have now won 19 straight in the preseason, yet managed only one playoff victory since that streak began in 2016. The 2017 Cleveland Browns went 4-0 in the preamble – and 0-16 when it mattered. When the Miami Dolphins completed a perfect season in 1972, they actually lost three times – in the preseason. But hang on, what about the Seattle Seahawks in 2013, compiling a 4-0 record before going on to win the Super Bowl? Or the fact that only one team in more than a decade – the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019 – have had a losing preseason record and gone on to win it all? Or when the Browns, in 2016, had a foreshadowing 0-4 mark before limping to 1-15? The uncertainty as to what we are actually seeing is all part of the eternal weirdness of these few weeks, when we’re all so anxious for football to begin in earnest that none of us can truly think straight anyway. Even those typically adamant that preseason doesn’t provide an accurate barometer for what follows will find exceptions and excuses as to why, this time, it actually might. If nothing else, getting the NFL preseason back – remember, there wasn’t one last year – has added some intrigue to certain positional battles. There’s Cam Newton and Mac Jones in New England and Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance in San Francisco. Trevor Lawrence was in a tight QB battle with veteran Gardner Minshew, with Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer anointing Lawrence the starter Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, Dak Prescott’s absence from the preseason slate so far has generated growing concern in Dallas. The differing philosophies in regard to preseason are discussion fodder, and everyone is an expert. Bill Belichick and Andy Reid probably have a pretty good idea how to do this coaching thing by now, with 12 Super Bowl appearances between them and 47 years of collective NFL head coaching experience, yet both Belichick and Reid have attracted some criticism for using their starters too heavily in recent games. Imagine that, getting ready for a season of football by playing serious football games to prepare for it? There was none of this preseason bewilderment 12 months ago, when COVID-19 ensured the struggles for starting spots had to play out mostly behind closed doors. In truth, preseason wasn’t missed or lamented particularly deeply by anyone, except perhaps some of the undrafted free agents who would have loved some game time to enhance their odds of making the roster. Coaches might disagree. “Each one of those games serves a function,” FOX Sports NFL analyst Eric Mangini said on FS1’s “The Herd” last year. “Especially with the offseason we’ve had, if you put a new head coach and new coordinators into a situation where they are expected to make good decisions with shortened experiences and limited exposure, it is hard. They are already behind the eight ball.” Whatever your take, we have the games before the real games back again and there are a couple more weeks of it, some extra snippets of information to gaze at and wonder about. Beware though, because the info comes laden with head fakes and guesswork. You don’t want to obsess over it too much, but ooh, you don’t want to sleep on it entirely either. Thank me for that astoundingly unhelpful bit of advice later, or don’t, because it will all be forgotten soon enough once Week 1 is here. Preseason has us all messed up, because it feels like football has returned when it really hasn’t, not fully. When a win is a win, except for when it’s not, not quite. And when it sort of seems like the things happening right now matter, when of course, they really don’t. Or do they? Here’s what others have said … Colin Cowherd, The Herd: “I don’t think it matters. Mac Jones or Cam could both win 10 or 11 games.” Shannon Sharpe, Undisputed: “I don’t think he’s quite ready yet. Jimmy G gives them the best opportunity because the Niners are a team that think they can contend. I’ll say after 2-3 games, you’ll see Lance under center.” LaVar Arrington, FOX Sports: “Cam is the undisputed leader of this team & the rookie was just getting his reps. Five series means Mac Jones isn’t competing for the starting job.” |
