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Going Camping With the AFC

By IRA MILLER,

AOL

Posted: 2007-07-26 10:52:04

Filed Under: NFL

For those of you weary of police blotter reports and player suspensions, of plenty of talk but no football action, we finally have something for you. An entire column without dog fighting, raining money or night club punch-outs.

Photo Gallery: Five Burning AFC Questions

Michael Fabus, Pittsburgh Steelers/WireImage.com

The Mike Tomlin era begins in Pittsburgh this season as the former Vikings defensive coordinator takes over for Bill Cowher, who coached the Steelers for 15 years.

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Training camps are getting under way and that means we can speculate on football instead of wondering who will get busted next, or what weird story will top the last one. Pacman Jones and Michael Vick will take a back seat, at least in preparation for the coming season, to Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

This season will mark an anniversary of sorts, 10 years since the power shifted in the NFL. You will recall that, going into the 1997 season, NFC teams had won 13 consecutive Super Bowls, and people were speculating about when the league might re-align to make the title game competitive.

How strange that seems, now that AFC teams have won 8 of the last 10 championships, and the league’s three best teams – Indianapolis, New England and San Diego – are all in the AFC.

With that in mind, we’ll start with the AFC this week (NFC next week), and here are the five burning questions about the stronger conference going into training camp:

5. How will Mike Tomlin’s tough approach be greeted in Pittsburgh?

Tomlin is in an enviable spot, because he has a strong organization and tradition behind him and a team only 18 months removed from winning the Super Bowl. But Tomlin, just the third Steelers’ coach in nearly four decades – and the third youngish one in a row the Rooneys have hired -- now has to establish himself.

It’s worth noting that Tomlin is in the same relative position, regarding his career, that Bill Cowher was in and Chuck Noll before him. The difference, of course, is that the team he takes over was so recently a champion. Nonetheless, Tomlin seems determined to put his imprint on the Steelers as quickly as possible, and a change from the 3-4 to the 4-3 defense seems inevitable.

4. Forget the questions about Tarik Glenn for a moment. The real issue with the Colts is this one: Which is their real defense? The one that was so easy to run against during the season or the one that turned into the Steel Curtain in the playoffs?

Indy has been working to improve its defense for a couple of years. The Colts prefer to draft their players, but they reached out for a pair of veteran defensive tackles, and Anthony McFarland helped them in the post-season. But this is still a team that allowed the most rushing yards in the league last season, and the most yards per carry, and that’s a burden it must overcome.

The Colts overcame it in the playoffs. Their defense overall was great and the run defense was stifling. What changed between December and January? And has anything changed between February and July? Perhaps the Colts can keep that playoff defense going this year, but it’s far from a certainty.

3. Can Vince Young will the Tennessee Titans into playoff contention?

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It’s not out of the question. Young is the most exciting young player in the league, and those who saw him in college were not shocked by how well he played as a rookie. The Titans are in a tough division but Jeff Fisher, their coach, is one of the best in the NFL at working with young players, and the makeover of the roster is just about complete.

With a year’s experience, Young should be even better. And you can bet there are a lot of people around the league hoping he is, because Young’s game is not unlike Michael Vick’s; the difference is that Young has shown he could be a better passer, and he is in position to become the new face of the league. Given Vick’s problems, the league can use a new face.

2. Can the Patriots manage to bring Randy Moss into their all-for-one team concept, or will Moss’ indifference infect the team?

New England has protected itself by bringing in several receivers in addition to Moss, who represents everything the Patriots are not. So the team is in position to make a move if Moss reverts to his old form. And I don’t mean his old form of streaking down the field and catching long touchdown passes. The problem with Moss is his refusal to play all-out all the time, his refusal to go over the middle, to block, to run pass routes when he’s not the primary receiver.

The Patriots have great leadership, both on and off the field. But how much effort and energy can they afford to devote to Moss, and they probably will need plenty of both to become a contributing player. History says they did it with Corey Dillon, another guy who arrived with baggage, but Dillon’s baggage was little more than a fanny pack compared with the steamer trunks Moss is carrying.

1. Will the third time be the charm for Norv Turner, the new San Diego coach?

No matter who was coaching, the Chargers would find it hard to reprise or improve on last season’s 14-2 record. Turner is a nice guy, low-key, with a great reputation for working with young quarterbacks, and could be just what Philip Rivers needs to fully develop. But what about the rest of the roster, which already is fully developed and, aside from the QB, is probably the strongest roster, top to bottom, in the entire league?

That’s the rub. You can make the case, and I have, that what happened in Washington and Oakland was hardly all Turner’s fault, because those are both impossible situations and neither the guy who preceded him nor the guy who followed him did even as well as Norv did. But history doesn’t provide much comfort for a two-time loser trying his third team, even when the team is as strong and the organization as solid as the Chargers are.

I happen to believe Turner will beat the odds. But they are long odds, despite the talent on the team.

Ira Miller is an award-winning sportswriter who has covered the National Football league for three decades and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee. He is the national columnist for The Sports Xchange and his blog can be viewed at www.mysportspage.com.

2007-07-25 14:09:36

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53 comments

genghisjon 12:17:44 PM Aug 08 2007

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Ok, just stop with the "The New England Pats are going to win" crap everyone.
Nobody try to hand me how Tom Brady beat Peyton Manning in the Championships many times either. The Colts and the Pats played in a dome during the playoffs and Manning's team won, which proves one thing. Brady and the Pats never beat Manning and the Colts at Foxboro. Old Man Winter did it.
The Colts are the team to beat. They proved they could fine tune their D, which was their only weak spot, and they still have all their 1st class offensive weapons.So who cares if you can run on their D. If Manning and his corp of superstar recievers hook up for TDs as often as they tend to do, then opposing teams will be so far behind on points they'll have to give up on the run game in hopes of scoring a lot of points in a short time with the passing game to catch up. That takes pressure off the D to defend the run. Its a tactic that's worked before and can work again.

chiguy61 06:23:57 PM Aug 07 2007

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The Kansas City Chiefs will be the sleeper team in the AFC..........!st rate running game.....rebuilt defense............who really needs a QB when you have a guy the gets 400 touches a year and rushes for well over1,000 yards?
Rremember, you got it here first............from me!

freakin7thtime 09:07:00 PM Aug 06 2007

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what is doudt? lol

lisastrother7 08:52:00 PM Aug 06 2007

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new england will no doudt win their divion because they are team player

lisastrother7 08:52:00 PM Aug 06 2007

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new england will no doudt win their divion because they are team player

lisastrother7 08:52:00 PM Aug 06 2007

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new england will no doudt win their divion because they are team player

bullfrogca 06:14:09 PM Aug 06 2007

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bills suck

RONMELISSAT 08:15:47 AM Aug 06 2007

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The Bills? You mean the things you get in the mail, and you have to pay each month? Or the team that lost all the Super Bowl's it ever played in, and embarrased the AFC East, okay, that one! That particular team had it's only chance last year..., now it'll be "LUCKY" if it wins 4 games!!! Now, don't take this wrong Bills Fans, the Jets are the real Joke of that conference! Let's see, who's left? Ummm...the Pat's and the Dolphin's. Everyone know's the Pat's will be difficult to conquer, and the only team that can live up to the challenge is Miami!
This is just my opinion, so if your ready to go off on me, i'm just a regular guy, stating what i believe, here's how the AFC East will fair:
Miami-11-5
N.E.- 10-6
Buff.- 8-8
N.Y.J.-7-9

Everyone has their own opinions, and your welcome to state your's,...but please don't cut mine down! Thank You, and God Bless.

ralphdubo 09:04:43 PM Aug 05 2007

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Randy Moss. Was better than everyone else in high school, so didn't have to work at it. . . Same at the college level. . . And same at the NFL when he first arrived. Problem is he never learned a work ethic. Now that his speed is gone and his hands are going, and his courage to go over the middle never was. . . he is just a name. Why get him? Why waste the money? Why waste the time.