Arlington: No team has ever played a Super Bowl on its home field. The Cowboys attempt to become the first in 2011 when the Super Bowl comes to Arlington. Now the bad news – 37 of the 44 Super Bowls have been played in NFL stadiums. Only five times has the home team even qualified for the playoffs in seasons its building hosted the game – and not one ever made it as far as the conference title game. In fact, no host city has qualified for the playoffs in the last nine years. The last team from a Super Bowl city to qualify for the playoffs was Tampa Bay in 2000 as a wild card. Those Bucs lost in the opening round. Bryant: Pencil in Dez Bryant as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Bryant would have been the first wide receiver taken in the NFL draft had he come out in 2009 but elected to stay in school. He wound up playing just three games for Oklahoma State before being suspended by the NCAA. So Bryant slid to the Cowboys at the 24th pick of the 2010 draft because of character issues. In the three games he played last fall, he caught two touchdown passes apiece against Georgia and Rice and returned a punt for a score against Houston. He becomes a big play waiting to happen for Tony Romo. He caught 29 TD passes in his two-plus seasons in Stillwater and also returned six punts for scores. Carroll: Pete Carroll reached the heights as a college coach, winning two national titles at Southern California last decade after washing out as an NFL coach with New England in the 1990s. Now Carroll hopes to take care of some unfinished business, returning to the NFL in 2010 as coach of the Seattle Seahawks. But he left behind a mess at USC – a program on four years of NCAA probation that has been stripped of 30 scholarships. He inherits another mess in Seattle, a team with an aging quarterback and no rushing attack that has won only nine of its last 35 games. December: The Cincinnati Bengals drew the toughest December schedule. The defending AFC North champions open the month with back-to-back games against the last two Super Bowl champions, New Orleans (2009) and Pittsburgh (2008), then close the month against AFC West champion San Diego and 2009 wild card Baltimore. Fortunately for the Bengals, they play the Saints and Chargers at home. East Rutherford: The Giants and Jets move into the new Meadowlands – the 21st stadium built for an NFL team since 1992. The new Meadowlands has the largest price tag of any NFL facility ($ 1.6 billion) and the second -largest seating capacity (82,000). The NFL has already awarded the 2014 Super Bowl to the stadium. The two New York teams were a combined 8-8 at the old Meadowlands last season. Obviously, the Giants and Jets welcome the new venue with open arms. Free agency: In 2009, the Washington Redskins gave free-agent DT Albert Haynesworth a $ 100 million contract with $ 41 million of it guaranteed. He responded with four sacks on a team that went 4-12. Coach Jim Zorn was fired at the end of the year. This off-season, the Chicago Bears gave free-agent DE Julius Peppers a $ 91 million contract with $ 42 million of it guaranteed. But money doesn’t guarantee success. The clock is now ticking on Bears coach Lovie Smith. Green Bay Packers: The NFC team on the rise. The Packers were one of four teams to rank in the top 10 in offense and defense last season, joining the Cowboys, Vikings and Steelers. Green Bay finished sixth in offense, second in defense and no one took better care of the football. The Packers finished with a plus-24 turnover ratio, the NFL’s best mark of the decade. Aaron Rodgers is emerging as a franchise quarterback. Houston Texans: The AFC team on the rise. The Texans have been around since 2002 but have never qualified for the playoffs. Back-to-back 8-8 seasons in 2007-08 and a 9-7 mark in 2009 with the NFL’s top-ranked passing attack has unleashed unbridled optimism in Houston for 2010. The Texans have star power in QB Matt Schaub, WR Andre Johnson, DE Mario Williams and MLB Demeco Ryans. Indianapolis Colts: Look for the Colts to stage a fast start. That’s been their history with Peyton Manning. The Colts started 14-0 in 2009, 7-0 in 2007, 9-0 in 2006 and 13-0 in 2005. Indianapolis was 27-6 in September in the 2000s decade. J-E-T-S: The New York Jets finished 30 minutes short of a Super Bowl last January, blowing a 17-13 halftime lead to the Colts in the AFC title game. In an attempt to close the deal in 2010, the Jets added two all-decade performers (HB LaDainian Tomlinson and DE Jason Taylor) a former Super Bowl MVP (WR Santonio Holmes) and a veteran Pro Bowl cornerback (Antonio Cromartie). No excuses in 2010. Kolb: The Eagles were the NFC’s winningest team in the 2000 decade with Donovan McNabb at quarterback the entire way. The Eagles won 103 games, five division titles and qualified for the playoffs eight times. But as the page turns on the decade, Eagles coach Andy Reid has turned the page at quarterback, trading McNabb to Washington and promoting Kevin Kolb, who has thrown just 130 passes in three seasons. But Kolb became the first quarterback in history to pass for 300 yards in each of his first two NFL starts last September. How soon will his experience level catch up with his skill level? Lombardi Trophy: Now that the New Orleans Saints are in the house with a Lombardi Trophy, just 14 of the NFL’s 32 franchises do not own one: Arizona, Atlanta, Buffalo, Carolina, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Minnesota, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle and Tennessee. All have played in a Super Bowl except for Cleveland, Detroit, Houston and Jacksonville. Martz: Jay Cutler is broken, and the Chicago Bears hired quarterback guru Mike Martz to fix him. As the play-caller of the 1999 Super Bowl champion Rams, Martz put Kurt Warner on the map and also coaxed career seasons out of Marc Bulger and Jon Kitna after leaving St. Louis. Martz took the Rams from 22nd in the NFL in passing to first in his first season. He took Detroit from 26th to seventh in passing in his first season with Kitna and the Lions, and he took San Francisco from 28th to 13th in passing in his only season with the 49ers in 2008. The Bears crashed at 7-9 in 2009 under a blizzard of Cutler turnovers – a league-high 26 interceptions and five fumbles. He also was sacked 35 times. But this may not be the best fit. Martz’s quarterbacks have been sacked at least 50 times each of the last three seasons and in four of the last five. Martz also runs a high-risk offense – his quarterbacks threw just 23 more touchdown passes (169) than interceptions (146) last decade. November: The Indianapolis Colts drew the toughest November schedule. Their five opponents that month include the three reigning AFC division champions (Cincinnati, New England and San Diego), plus NFC wild card Philadelphia and AFC South rival Houston. All posted winning records last season in combining for a 53-27 mark. Then the Colts open December against the defending NFC East champion Cowboys. October: The Minnesota Vikings play the toughest October schedule. The Vikings open the month with a bye, then face the Jets, Cowboys, Packers and Patriots. All were in the playoffs last season. The Cowboys and Patriots won division titles, and the Jets played for the AFC title. Only the Dallas game will be played in Minneapolis. Parity: There is only one constant to the NFL postseason – the Colts will be there. Indianapolis has reached the playoffs eight consecutive seasons and a league-high nine times in the 2000s decade. Other than Indy, it’s anyone’s guess who will win the division titles and capture the playoff spots. Just don’t bet the incumbents. Of the 76 division champions from the 2000s, only 31 repeated the following season. Of the 120 playoff teams from 2000-09, only 57 returned the following season. Quarterback: The selection of former Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford by the St. Louis Rams with the first pick of the 2010 draft was a no-brainer. So was Detroit’s selection of Matthew Stafford with the first pick of the 2009 draft. If you don’t have a quarterback, you don’t have a chance in the NFL. Of the 44 Super Bowls, 23 have been won by Hall of Fame quarterbacks. That number will increase by at least five with the future enshrinements of Brett Favre, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Roethlisberger: Pittsburgh is pursuing its third Super Bowl crown in six years, but the charge will be slowed by the absence of QB Ben Roethlisberger for the first quarter of the season. The NFL suspended him for four games for conduct detrimental to the league. He can’t seem to stay out of trouble off the field. The former Super Bowl MVP will miss key home starts against AFC North rival Baltimore plus NFC playoff hopeful Atlanta. Shanahan: Mike Shanahan wears three Super Bowl rings as an offensive play-caller. Each came courtesy of a 30-something quarterback. Shanahan called the plays as offensive coordinator for Steve Young (32) at San Francisco in 1994, then as head coach for John Elway (37, 38) at Denver in 1998-99. Shanahan has moved across the country in 2010 to Washington where he hopes to compete for his fourth Super Bowl ring with another aging quarterback, 33-year-old Donovan McNabb. Three-game road trips: Five teams will be asked to make them this season. That’s the most in an NFL schedule since 2006. The Steelers begin one in October, the Rams in November and the Falcons, Browns and Broncos all hit the road for three consecutive games in December. Of the 32 teams that took three-game trips in the 2000 decade, only 10 qualified for the playoffs. The two teams (Giants, Seahawks) that made three-game road trips in 2009 missed out on the playoffs. It’s difficult to win on the road in the NFL, especially when you’re asked to do it on three successive weekends. Uncapped year: The NFL owners opted out of the collective bargaining agreement with the players association in 2010, which means no salary cap this season. There no longer is a spending ceiling ($ 128 million) for teams. Nor is there a floor, either. Teams were required to spend a minimum of $ 108 million in 2009. Now teams can spend whatever they want to field a team. If a CBA extension cannot be negotiated this fall, the owners are expected to lock out the players next March. That could mean no football in 2011 in the final year of the current CBA. It would be the league’s first work stoppage since 1987. Vanden Bosch: Despite no salary cap, there was less money and less movement in free agency in the off-season as owners conserved for a possible lockout. DE Kyle Vanden Bosch did jump from Tennessee to Detroit. He was one of three incumbent Pro Bowlers to switch teams in free agency. He was joined by Carolina DE Julius Peppers (to Chicago) and San Diego special teamer Kassim Osgood (to Jacksonville). Warner: Two-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner retired after the 2009 season. Also walking away were his old Rams batterymate Isaac Bruce, the NFL’s fifth all-time leading receiver; two-time NFC receiving champion Mushin Muhammad (Carolina); and punter Jeff Feagles (Giants), who played in an NFL record 351 consecutive games. Former Pro Bowlers DE Bert Berry (Arizona), P Craig Hentrich (Tennessee), MLB Antonio Pierce (Giants), CB Samari Rolle (Ravens) and OT Chris Samuels (Washington) also said good-bye to the NFL. XLV: That’s the Roman numeral designation of the first Super Bowl in North Texas. It won’t be the last – not after Jerry Jones writes the check for that Super Bowl record 110,000 attendance the game figures to draw on Feb. 6, 2011. Young: Passing is not a strength of Vince Young. He has thrown for fewer than 100 yards in seven of his 39 career starts and fewer than 200 yards in 20 more. He also isn’t running as much as he gets older, and he still turns the ball over too much with his 39 career interceptions and 18 fumbles. But Young does one thing that gives the Tennessee Titans hope in 2010 – he wins. Young has a 26-13 record as a starting NFL quarterback. For all of his flaws, he knows how to deliver when the game is on the line. Zero: There is zero chance the Pittsburgh Steelers finish in last place of the AFC North. It’s been 22 years since the Steelers finished at the bottom of a division – the longest such streak in the NFL. Pittsburgh finished 5-11 in 1988 but has suffered only four losing seasons since then. Only five NFL franchises avoided last-place finishes in the 2000 decade (Denver, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Seattle), much less the entire 1990 decade.
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