Training Camp Decides The Super Bowl

Although I picked the Oakland Raiders to win the AFC West yesterday there's really no way to predict who will win anything until after training camp is over. Too many critical injuries happen to key players before the season even gets started. In fact a team coming out of training camp healthy is the #1 indicator of whether they have a legitimate chance to win the Super Bowl or not. With that logic we can already take Denver and Baltimore out of the equation. As cruel as that may sound football is a very unforgiving sport and luck (or bad luck) is a key component to a teams success or failure. Training camp is a necessary evil however. Recently I've heard talk that training camp should be shortened or eliminated all together. Nothing could be further from the truth. You have to have some way of assessing talent and getting players into game shape. If you go out on the field fearing injury then you're better off not going at all. Injuries are part of football and the absence of training camp won't change that. Training camp is the only time coaches get to evaluate players running their schemes and competing for jobs. I wish there was a better method but there's not. Just cross your fingers and pray that your favorite team comes out of training camp unscathed.