NFL Handicapping

Preseason Recap

The lame entity that is the NFL preseason has finally ended, which means we can finally get to the real, meaningful football games. Before throwing your money down on the Week 1 games, take a quick glimpse over the preseason newsmakers to make sure you know the whole score before making your picks.

No team went undefeated during the preseason, but there were two teams that went winless. They were Kansas City and Arizona, which both finished the preseason 0-4. However, the Cardinals didn't totally play like a 0-4 team, while the Chiefs played worse than any other team in the league. Arizona lost two of their games by four points or less and made a lot of progress throughout the preseason as new head coach Ken Whisenhunt begins imprinting his stamp on the team.

Kansas City was a mess throughout the preseason and it wasn't all due to Larry Johnson's holdout. The Chiefs sported the worst offense in the league during the preseason and scored only 32 points in four games. Both possible starting quarterbacks, Damon Huard and Brodie Croyle, looked awful but Huard ended up with the starting job by default since he has more experience. If Huard plays as poorly during the regular season as he did in the preseason, he won't be starting for long.

One of the biggest surprises from the preseason came right at the end when Jacksonville waived former starting QB Byron Leftwich. Once labeled as the future of the franchise, Leftwich had fallen out of favor with head coach Jack Del Rio due to his inconsistent play and numerous stints on IR. Backup QB David Garrard takes over as the starter although he has plenty of experience leading the Jaguars' offense, having filled in for Leftwich many times.

While Leftwich was handed his walking papers in Jacksonville, a similar fate may await either Charlie Frye or Derek Anderson in Cleveland. Once he finally ended his holdout, Brady Quinn looked really good in preseason action and he could be the starter in Cleveland before the season's over. Once Quinn moves into the starting role either Frye or Anderson will likely need to find a new home.

Another rookie who played like a veteran in the preseason was Vikings' running back Adrian Peterson. Peterson ripped off 146 yards on 30 carries during the preseason and will likely steal Chester Taylor's starting job soon.