Issue date: 9/10/08 Section: Sports

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Taylor Collis/Dallas Cowboys

There are so many teams to choose from in the NFL that it's hard to choose just one that will go far this season. But, if I had to choose I would say that the Dallas Cowboys, my second favorite team, have the potential to go to the Super Bowl. As long as this team stays healthy and keeps their heads in the game, they can get through the playoffs.

The Cowboys starting quarterback Tony Romo is still young and has the potential to be the next Brett Favre. As long as he is not distracted by any girlfriends in the crowd, he'll do great.

Romo has great receivers to catch his talent, like Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton, and he seems to have a strong bond with all of them (and it really showed when Owens cried for Romo last postseason during a press conference).

He also has a great running back, Marion Barber to back him up. He is a bulldozer when it comes to knocking down players to get to the end zone. Barber is exciting to watch and since he starts this season, he'll do even more damage clearing his path than he did last year.

The newest addition to the team is Adam Jones (who used to go by "Pacman" but dropped the nickname since joining the Cowboys), if he can get re-instated. His attitude seems to be in check and the team is welcoming him with open arms. Also, since the teams pass defense was a little shaky last season, Jones will be an improvement in that area.

All of these players, including Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware, are the key to the Cowboys' success. This team has had 13 pro bowlers last season and all are returning to the team this year, so watch for the Cowboys' great talent on the field.



Matt Rascher/Cleveland Browns

Let me start this by saying that I am a 49ers fan. I have always been one, and will always be one. Saying that, I do not think they will win the next Super Bowl. They may make the playoffs, which unfortunately isn't too likely either, but they will not win it all. And the thing the 49ers have in common with 31 of the other 32 teams in the league is that neither will they. That's what it's really all about in the end anyway, winning the big one. So whenever we look forward to that day next February when two teams are battling for NFL supremacy, chances are our team won't be there.

So that leaves the question of who will be there, which two teams will find the winning combination of skill, veteran leadership, scheduling, and plain luck to make it to Tampa Bay, the site of next year's Super Bowl in the end? I could go with the obvious choice of the New England Patriots, who nearly ran the table last year but couldn't quite wrap things up. Maybe the Indianapolis Colts, Peyton is injured right now but trust me, he'll be ready when it matters. What about his brother Eli over in New York, can he guide the now Super Bowl champion Giants to another postseason run? Or will there be another surprise team that puts it all together at the perfect time? We'll know for sure in another five months or so, but until then all we can do is guess, in an educated manner of course.

So my pick for the 2008-2009 Super Bowl champion are the Cleveland Browns. That's right, the Browns. I know what you're thinking, how does a team that didn't make the playoffs last year win it all this year? Stranger things have happened, like the Giants beating the previously undefeated Patriots. They have a quarterback in Derek Anderson, who last year threw for nearly 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns. A back-up quarterback in Brady Quinn that a lot of teams would have as their starter. Jamal Lewis who at one time in his career ran for over 2,000 yards and until last year held the single game rushing record (which was only beaten by two yards) and a receiving duo of Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards who will give defenses lots of problems in the passing game. Sure they don't have the best defense in the league, but off-season additions of Shaun Rogers and Corey Williams will help to bolster a defense in search of itself.

So that's it, the Browns will go all the way and you can say you read it here first.



Jordan Guinn/Dynasty Over

I hate everything about the New England Patriots. I despise them so much that it completely skews my ability to objectively look at them as a football team. However, there is absolutely no way the Patriots make it to the Super Bowl in 2009.

The defense is older, Brady is brittle, now injured, and the head coach cannot cheat anymore.

Don't care if you New England fans think it is a low blow, your boy got caught.

The Pats also won't shatter any records this season, offensively or defensively. They won't be paddling opponents and running up the score like last season. Randy Moss and Tom Brady are not Jerry Rice and Joe Montana.

About the Pats defense, don't make me laugh. They did draft linebacker Jerod Mayo to get some youth with Junior Seau and Mike Vrabel. But the core of their defense is creaky and another year older.

The offense is still powerful, but it is not without its flaws. The offensive line is penetrable, as the Kansas City Chiefs showed earlier this week. It's a mix of guys that are too young and too old.

But that has been Belichick's specialty. Making small name guys win big. But the rules and way of doing business has changed for football's Dick Cheney. He can't spy and he can't take his ball and go home, like he did in the Super Bowl, when his team comes down to Earth.

The only bright spot for me with the Pats is that Sacramento State product Lonie Paxton plays for New England, but that doesn't make me like the team. I am happy that he's in the pros and making money, but that's where it ends. Do a smash-and-grab on Robert Kraft's wallet, Lonie.

I predict that the New England's run of dominance and dynasty* finished. The window is closed. Had Belichick gone for the field goal on fourth-and-13, the Pats would be shining the Lombardy Trophy right now and have the rest of the NFL cowering like one of Michael Vick's pets. But their arrogance and smugness cost them. The Pats are dead. Let a new era of football begin.

The State Hornet Sports Department can be reached at sports@statehornet.com

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