Your team may have lost, now calm down. Half of all the NFL teams lost.

Listening to talk radio and seeing newspaper headlines from all parts of the country, I can tell the virus that began in the Bronx with one rich man who makes swift irrational decisions, has spread over the country to countless unsuspecting football fans: Fear Steinbrennerization. The irreverent rants of fans are mind numbing.

The only person with the credentials or ability to coherently speak his peace after week one is Bill Simmons. And well, he is a Patriots and Red Sox fan so I hope he keeps his mouth shut. And then there's me.

Let me address some of the euphoria and insanity that is running rampant about campus right now. Yes, the Bengals did beat the Browns and 'Who Dey' and their fans can claim bragging rights for the next three months. But do realize it is only one game.

Cincinnati puts a formidable team on the field but what will eventually work against the Bengals the most is their schedule.

The youthful offense which showed their exuberance in the closing games of last season as well as last Sunday will be tested in brute strength, but the bigger challenge will be mental in the latter half of this season.

Offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski will struggle to formulate a strategy that will keep Carson Palmer on his feet when the offensive line has battled the rugged Ravens defense two out of the last three weeks come December.

Being put on the field for a six-week period facing playoff experienced AFC rivals, with the exception of Green Bay, is not the Bengals fault but will undoubtedly be the undoing of the 2005 Bengals. The mean AFC north division is as physically imposing as any in the play-for-pay league.

The Browns were doomed from the start. The 'new mistake on the lake' has had a difficult experience losing that moniker to this point in their reincarnation with a slight aberration in 2002.

Tim Couch, Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren spearheaded a forgettable era for the Browns but that all changed this past season.

The names of Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel should bring a smile to the face of any Browns fan. These two will shape the team in their likeness of a 3-4 smash mouth defense. The new look defense has already shown similarities to the defenses of New England and Baltimore, the teams which the two minds last collected checks from.

The Browns face the same challenge as the Bengals in the AFC North, with the exception of two not so cupcake games against Oakland and Miami. The 'dawg pound' will not have much to cheer about this year, but the future looks bright for Cleveland.

My best advice for the Browns this year, tank it. If Charlie Frye isn't going to be the gunslinger, Leinart to Edwards could be seen in the box score many times throughout the year. Another fight which Browns and Bengals fans could have would be who's got the best Trojan?

Other teams who could be written off or sent on their way to Detroit are the Lions and Jets.

The greatest show on turf has moved a few hundred miles northeast.

It may not be as much fun as watching Barry Sanders run yet, but the Lions open, fun n' gun offense is very quickly approaching it. Defensive coordinators will have their Sundays ruined as they attempt to instruct their players to defend Detroit's lethal three wide receiver set featuring, Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and Mike Williams.

If that trio does not handicap defenses, the running game featuring Kevin Jones surely will. The second-year back has the ability to exploit a defense especially one that will have to anticipate the pass. As strange as it sounds, the Lions key to winning will be outscoring the opponents.

Their defense will not win them games, so they must rely on the offense to do that. As one team's young offense is moving in the right direction, another one isn't quite doing the same.

The New York Jets thoroughly unimpressed in their loss to the Chiefs. The solid play of the front seven hid the deficiencies in the secondary through most of last season; the beginning of this season exposed them.

Trent Green picked on David Barrett for most of the game and when the ball was not in the air, the double-headed monster of Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson pounded the ball inside. Chad Pennington should make sure the next time he sits five yards behind center ready to receive a snap out of the shotgun his hands are ready to hold on to the ball, he forgot six times this past Sunday.

Well after one week, I've got all these nuggets to chew on; I can't wait for the next sixteen weeks.