AS recently as this time last year the NFL’s much-trumpeted ‘Any Given Sunday’ principle was a handy marketing phrase instead of an actual reality.
For all the wild anticipation at a long-odds contender getting up, the stacked NFL powerhouses still held the whip hand.
Only 12 months ago ageless Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady was coming off his sixth Super Bowl victory with no signs of slowing down with Patrick Mahomes and his all-star cast of Kansas City receivers surely on the way to establishing its own dynasty.
So far, so damned predictable.
As the NFL roars back into the public consciousness all your favourite mega-stars are still ready for your Monday morning fix – Tom and Patrick and Aaron and Davante and TJ.
And yet the events of the most recent season mean all bets truly are off.
The LA Rams stormed to Super Bowl victory with a former Detroit quarterback (Matt Stafford) and a breakout wide receiver (Cooper Kupp) but opponent Cincinnati shook the football world with their wild ride to the deciding game.
They won their first playoff game since 1990 against Las Vegas, shocked top-seed Tennessee with a game-winning field goal then rolled Mahomes’ Chiefs before a 23-20 Super Bowl loss.
This off-season normal service hasn’t been even close to resuming in a trend that makes the season even more wildly unpredictable for our viewing and fantasy football-loving pleasure.
Tom Brady has lost his tight end safety blanket in Rob Gronkowski and his offensive line is currently ravaged by injuries.
Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson has fled to Denver for a massive pay packet and an exciting young receiving corps.
Aaron Rodgers stayed at Green Bay and his off-field antics get stranger by the month and lost star wide receiver Davante Adams to Las Vegas.
Mahomes lost the NFL’s most watchable wide receiver Tyreek Hill to Miami where quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will begin his third season with a bevy of passing options and most critics believing he doesn’t have the accuracy to service them.
Cleveland traded away the enigmatic Baker Mayfield and all integrity by securing Houston QB DeShaun Watson despite sexual misconduct accusations that eventually saw him hit with an 11-game ban.
And despite all that title talk the Dallas Cowboys let Amari Cooper go to Cleveland and have pretty much lost faith in running back Ezekiel Elliott despite handing him a six-year US $90 million deal.
All of this volatility means glorious chaos and a new cast of contenders in a betting market that has Buffalo $7 and Tampa Bay $8 for the Super Bowl crown but then 11 teams between $11 and $21.
The team you should be rooting for if you are just dipping your toe into the waters as a fantasy newbie or NFL greenhorn?
Buffalo, a spectacularly entertaining outfit attempting to buck the history of four consecutive Super Bowl losses (1990-1993) which basically did nothing wrong last year.
Quarterback Josh Allen mixed powerful and judicious rushing attempts with his rocket arm and led Buffalo all the way to a 47-17 wildcard playoff thumping of New England.
In an epic divisional round playoff contest against Kansas City, Allen put Buffalo 36-33 up with 13 seconds left… then never saw the ball again.
Mahomes set up the game-tying field goal, Kansas won the coin flip to start overtime and Mahomes marched down the field for the Travis Kelce touchdown that turfed Buffalo from the playoffs.
This year Buffalo has added future Hall of Fame pass rusher Von Miller, fresh from Super Bowl triumph, while Georgia running back James Cook was drafted to add pass catching from the back field.
The Las Vegas Raiders are all of a sudden must-watch.
New head coach Josh McDaniels, most recently the New England offensive coordinator, gets his second chance after a disastrous stint with Denver a dozen years back.
Davante Adams put up 1553 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns in the regular season given his connection with Packers QB Rogers, and now has to build a similar synergy with Derek Carr.
Tight end Darren Waller and slot receiver Hunter Renfrow round out a dynamic trio of Raiders offensive stars and four time Pro Bowl pass rusher Chandler Jones arrives from Arizona.
This season’s Super Bowl will be held in Phoenix in February 2023 but the Raiders know they are building for a shot at their own home Super Bowl in February 2024 at their new Allegiant Stadium home.
Rodgers, so keen to be traded many times in the recent past, seems remarkably sanguine about Adams leaving and the Packers adding a pair of first-round defenders instead of a wide receiving threat at the first available chance.
Rodgers is fresh off two 13-win seasons with the most recent one where he deceived the public about his vaccine status but he and the coaching staff must replace Adams franchise-record 123 passes.
His offensive options are Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, new addition Sammy Watkins and second-round pick Christian Watson, so if the Packers will again be highly watchable no one is predicting they will break a 12-year Super Bowl drought.
And the NFL’s greatest name in Tom Brady?
Yes we want craziness and insanity and volcanic momentum shifts, and Brady has already provided some after retiring getting Miami in hot water with a tampering fines after making contact, and then coming back for one more year (at least).
The number two offence in the game still has deep threats Mike Evans, Chris Godwin (coming off an ACL tear) and former Falcon Russell Gage with University of Washington tight end Cade Otton replacing ‘Gronk’.
The defence was ranked sixth last year but if the offensive line remains banged up can you imagine Brady dancing and prancing around in the pocket to avoid sacks and bruising hits?
But the one truism in the NFL above all else is that Brady gets it done more than any other player.
The latest wrinkle? Rumours his supermodel wife Giselle Bundchen is upset that he unretired himself, which could account for his 11-day absence from training camp.
Since Michael Jordan no one has done chip-on-the-shoulder better than Brady, so would it surprise you if he retired from the game in December fresh from ring number seven just to prove everyone (including his wife) wrong?
Yes, it is that kind of league which is why on any given Sunday (or Monday) the wild and preposterous can happen on a weekly basis.