Ring Ring….”Hello, Reality?”

Ring…..ring……..ring…..

As football fans, the offseason is the most boring part of the year for many of us.  We can no longer compare matchups, look forward to football after church (or sleeping in) late in Sundays, or talk trash to our friends about how much better our team is doing than theirs.  The NFL, knowing this, teases all of us with four preseason games.

Due to our football deficiency over the past months we get very excited.  We analyze player versus player matchups, we over analyze the successes and deficiencies of some players, and we can finally enjoy watching football (even if many of the players we long to see more of aren’t on the field all that long).  But despite getting excited once again for the sport and enthralled by the feats of athleticism put on by the players, in the back of our minds we know that this is all nothing more than a tease.

The coaches are still playing their hands close to their vest, the players aren’t always putting in 100% (unless they need a roster spot), the scores generally don’t tell much, and even if you go 4-0 in the preseason you could very well go 0-4 to open the season.  And so, as the preseason comes to an end this week, we look forward to reality.

Yes, the young players for the Jaguars have looked very very good.  But many of them have looked good against their peers (2nd/3rd string players or players struggling to make the roster).  Yes, Luke McCown has looked very sharp during most of his playing time.  But he has never shown such poise in an actual game and has many seasons of journeyman-backup type work to support that claim.  Yes, MJD has appeared weak when touching the ball.  But we all know that he is still arguably the most explosive offensive threat in the league.  It’s all false.

No matter what the preseason gives us, we know it’s not always true.  But each year, we get sucked in and excited about everything football.  And having passed week 3 (in which the starters get the most playing time), I can now calmly watch week four with no concerns and look forward to week 1 against the Broncos.

Ring…..ring……..ring…..

“Hello?  Reality?  See you in a few weeks.”