Ventre: 10 pressing questions for 2012

Jets QBs, Vick's health, troublesome Lions and Texans' title hopes just start of what's hot

Adam Hunger / Reuters

Jets quarterbacks Mark Sanchez, left, and Tim Tebow are a QB platoon just waiting to sink, writes Mike Ventre.

OPINION

By Michael Ventre

NBCSports.com contributor

updated 11:42 p.m. ET Sept. 5, 2012

Michael Ventre

Only one question is irrelevant for the 2012 NFL season: ?Are we happy to have it back?? The answer is so obviously in the affirmative that one would be laughed off the planet for asking it.

But the season presents enough other questions to fill an Ivy League semester. And as we wait for it to get fully underway this weekend, here are 10 of the most pressing:

What will happen to the Mark Sanchez-Tim Tebow experiment?
Let?s answer that question with a question: What happens when you jump up and down on a pogo stick while holding a vial of nitroglycerin?

The good news for fans in both camps is that both quarterbacks are going to be equally ineffective. The Jets will lean on their defense ? not necessarily a good thing right now ? and disintegrate completely when asked to move the ball on offense. Sanchez is an ordinary quarterback with no weapons; Tebow is an extraordinary phenomenon who can?t play the position in the NFL. Together they add up to disaster.

Look for Greg McIlroy to get a serious shot at the job at some point, and look for the Jets to embark on a new quarterbacking direction in 2013.

Can the Lions tame themselves and concentrate on football?
Cornerback Aaron Berry was cut in July after an arrest for simple assault; he had been arrested earlier in the year on a DUI. Running back Mikel Leshoure was also arrested twice this past offseason. Defensive tackle Nick Fairley was arrested twice. Offensive tackle Johnny Culbreath was released after being arrested in January for marijuana possession. Ndamukong Suh, who has had several run-ins with the league office for on-the-field behavior, is facing a $1 million lawsuit over a car crash in December.

This isn?t a football team, it?s a remake of ?The Longest Yard.?

The Lions have a lot of talent and promise, but they run the risk of sabotaging themselves through self-generated distractions. The Lions need leadership to keep their young and unruly members in line. This is probably a make-or-break year for coach Jim Schwartz to see if he can direct the Lions toward making positive headlines on the field instead of notorious ones off it.

Will Michael Vick remain healthy and will he lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl?
No, and no. That was easy.

Michael Vick is like a housefly: He shows some impressive escapability, but eventually he?ll get swatted. And that super-duper flak jacket around his abdomen? Won?t help. He would need to pad himself like the Michelin man to make it through an entire NFL season. Vick will probably make it through the opener at Cleveland. But then he?ll face the Ravens, and they don?t much like houseflies.

Rookie Nick Foles may be quarterbacking this team by Week 3. Vince Young, no longer with the club, called the Eagles a ?Dream Team? before last season, but if and when Vick goes down with an injury, the dream will be like the kind experienced by a subject in a CIA experiment involving psychedelics.

Which of the five rookie starting quarterbacks will have the least success?
That would be Ryan Tannehill of the Miami Dolphins, and that would be through no fault of his own. He appears to have the makings of a fine NFL quarterback, and in time he?ll be one.

But of the five teams with rookie starters ? Colts (Andrew Luck), Redskins (Robert Griffin III), Browns (Brandon Weeden), Seahawks (Russell Wilson) and Dolphins (Tannehill), the Colts and Dolphins are the teams with new head coaches installing new systems and are the deepest in rebuilding mode. And in this comparison, Luck has the nod over Tannehill because Luck is a quarterbacking prodigy who is a little more mobile and better able to escape trouble. Tannehill does have Mike Sherman, his old Texas A&M coach, as offensive coordinator, so that will help some.

But the Dolphins had the 22^nd-rated offense in the NFL last year, and they traded away Brandon Marshall. Tannehill won?t have an embarrassing year, and will show glimpses of excellence. Yet he?ll struggle more than the other four rooks.

Can the Giants repeat?

Absolutely. Don?t be misled by the opening loss Wednesday to Dallas. It?s one game, and they?re accustomed to scrambling their way through the season before finding postseason bliss. The Giants have all the requisite parts, especially a great defensive line and quarterback Eli Manning.

Also, remember that, when you get right down to it, they weren?t the champions of the 2011 season. They were only the champions of the tail end of it. They barely made the playoffs. They were 7-7 and then prevailed in their final two contests, against the Jets and Cowboys. They did a magnificent job once they got into the postseason, beating the Falcons in the wild card game at home, then knocking off the favored Packers and 49ers on the road before outlasting New England in the Super Bowl.

The point is this: The Giants don?t come into this season as fat cats, but as survivors. They?re not full of themselves after a 15-1 record in 2011 and a cruise through the postseason; rather, they?re still hungry with something to prove. They didn?t lose Wednesday because of overconfidence. They lost because Dallas wanted it more on that day.

And really, even though they?re defending Super Bowl champs, they?re flying under the radar, since NFC teams like the Pack, Niners, Bears, Lions, Saints and Eagles are getting more attention. It?s the ideal scenario for a repeat.

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/48914304/ns/sports-nfl/

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