FanHouse Paul Spicer

It's August, meaning we all think our favorite teams are Super Bowl contenders. Some teams get more championship hype than others, however. In this series, we look at those fawned-over franchises and their potential flaws and advise: Don't Believe the Hype.

Saints fans are no strangers to preseason hype; it seems the only year this decade the team wasn't predicted to be a contender was in 2006, when they of course went 10-6 and made the NFC championship game. This offseason is no different. Jon Gruden thinks they've got a real shot at the big game. And he's not alone.

The team significantly improved its defense via personnel and the hiring of coordinator Gregg Williams, and the offense remains intact (and might actually be improved if Robert Meachem makes the jump to every-down receiver, as has been discussed). If the defense can improve, the team should be dangerous. But alas, there are issues ...

The longest rookie holdout in team history has finally ended, and Derrick Harvey is officially a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars, at least if you believe what John Clayton is reporting at the WWL (via PFT).

A month of stalled negotiations came to an end when Harvey and the Jaguars found creative ways to get around the differences between the seventh pick and the ninth picks in the draft. According to a source, Harvey will receive guarantees of $17,177,500.

His base package will be $23.8 million over the five years. The key tradeoff that ended the holdout was the ability to get $6.2 million of incentives and escalators based on playing time. A source said those escalators and incentives have less of a trigger than the picks above and below him.

Ironic isn't it? Sitting out to get bigger incentives? Or maybe it's not ironic, I can't even really tell anymore. What it is is "too little too late" in terms of Harvey making a timely appearance on the team. He'll still play some, but Paul Spicer is clearly locked and Reggie Hayward has been playing well.

Bear in mind though that Clayton is saying Harvey's contract can get as high as $ 33.4 mil if he makes the Pro Bowl, which means that he should at the very least push the veteran for playing time, assuming he can get caught up. Still, though, missing all of camp and enraging a pretty tranquil fan base just in the name of boosting incentives seems a little ridiculous.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is right around the corner, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: David Garrard threw all of three interceptions last year. Three. Three. Despite his questionable pedigree from the Eastern part of my fair state, his incredibly efficient performance earned him a pimped out $60 million deal. If the Jags new-old wideouts can ever get healthy, Garrard might actually live up to the lofty expectations he'll be staring down this season. Heat Index: 8

Running Back: When will Fred Taylor stop? Ever? And will Maurice Jones-Drew be ready for a full time gig when he does? Why is Greg Jones getting paid so much to be a glorified quasi goalline fullback? Why do I have so many friggin' questions about a team that finished second in the NFL in rushing yards per game last year at 149.4? Heat Index: 10

Receivers: Guh. The Jags went out and got Jerry Porter in the offseason to give Garrard a "legit" first option and he immediately got hurt. They also added Troy Williamson who has shown a penchant for dropping the ball, but like Mittens in Carolina, we probably have to reserve judgment until we find out if his greasy mitts in Minny were a result of Tavaris Jackson cooties. Heat Index: 3

The signing of defensive end Bo Schobel by the Jaguars might pass as inauspicious under normal circumstances, simply being the by product of James Wyche going down for the season in the middle of training camp (Achilles).

However, it's kind of tough to ignore the large pink alligator in the room on this one, meaning that first round draft pick defensive end Derrick Harvey is still holding out of camp.

Now, the Jags aren't completely finished by Wyche's injury in terms of personnel, but as RCR at BCC notes, it was a nice point of leverage in the whole Harvey situation.

James, as you might have heard, was having a fantastic camp. His performance is one of the many factors that makes the Jaguars hold such a strong position over Derrick Harvey as the DE corps was holding its own. Wyche would have probably been the 5th DE on the depth chart behind Spicer, Hayward, Groves, and Harvey, but his performance was starting to turn some heads.

And now the only heads that GMs awkwardly watching him fall past them on the waiver list. Oh, and Harvey's as he shakes it back and forth in jubilant, millionaire glee, given that the Jaguars now have nearly zero leverage to hold over him in contract negotiations.

Give Paul Spicer points for honesty. Here's what the Jags' defensive end said in September, after Jets head coach Eric Mangini ratted out his former team blew the lid off PatriotGate:

"Do like the NCAA and kick them out of the playoffs or something ... Put them on probation; they can't go to no playoff games. Roger Goodell has definitely enforced some new rules. He's been hard on players. Now let's see how hard he's going to be with a team ...

This ain't news. I've heard it in the past. They finally got caught. The Patriots got caught. They're busted..."

I'm pretty sure most people outside of New England wouldn't have any problem with the NFL banning the Patriots from the postseason. Commissar Goodell did hand down a punishment, but depending on who you ask, it was just a slap on the wrist. Whatever, four months later, Spicer, appearing on ESPN2's First Take, hasn't changed his mind:

Like most games in the Northeastern United States today, the Jaguars-Steelers matchup will be played in some pretty bad weather. The conditions have to favor Pittsburgh, who have already been part of two Mud Bowls earlier this season.

The Jaguars (9-4) have not played with a game-time temperature below 62 this year, but a temperature of 34 -- with a wind chill of 18 -- is being predicted for Sunday's 1 p.m. kickoff.

Forecasters are calling for at least several inches of snow to fall beginning Sunday morning and carrying into the afternoon, with the snow possibly changing to rain if the temperature climbs slightly.

Featuring the running game won't be a problem for Jacksonville. In fact, that's probably how they prefer it. The ageless Fred Taylor is coming off three straight 100-yard games, and Maurice Jones-Drew is one of the toughest backs in the league to bring down.

Still, running game or not, the Jags aren't used to cold weather. Bob Holtzman just reported on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown that according to defensive end Paul Spicer, when the team plane landed yesterday, there were several players staring out the window because they'd never seen snow.

Oh, by the way: Taylor will be looking for Steelers defensive backs to run over. Holtzman also reports that Taylor has taken to watching film to identify defenders he can tread. When asked about today's opponents, Taylor offered this: "With the Pittsburgh secondary, they're all candidates." Somebody alert Anthony Smith.

That Paul Spicer is a funny dude. The Jaguars defensive lineman called Peyton Manning a "below average quarterback" with "happy feet" in the days leading up to yesterday's Jacksonville-Indy game. And now, after the Colts eked out a 28-25 win, including a 20 of 29, 288, 4 TDs, 1 INT performance from Manning, Spicer has changed his tune.

Spicer couldn't resist taking a jab or two at Colts president Bill Polian after the Jaguars were penalized eight times for 64 yards in Sunday's 28-25 loss at the RCA Dome.

After alluding to one-sided officiating -- the Colts had two penalties for 15 yards -- Spicer boiled over about a key personal-foul penalty assessed to wide receiver Reggie Williams on the second play of the fourth quarter... "That guy was doing stuff after the whistle and Reggie retaliated by pushing the guy away from him and the referee threw a flag which, nine times out of 10, it don't normally get called ... But we are in Indianapolis and Polian gave (the referees) a little extra in the check."

Ah, yes, sour grapes. Look, I won't defend the officiating because, frankly, it's been inconsistent ... well, forever. But to blame a loss solely on penalties is just taking the easy way out. How about not letting Reggie Wayne torch the secondary for 158 yards, or covering Dallas Clark before he catches two more touchdown passes, or here's an idea: put some pressure on that below-average, happy-footed egghead, Peyton Manning?

And if none of that works, just blame the officials. Either way, the Jags are 8-4, have no shot at winning the AFC South, and will have to battle for a wild-card spot.