I'll give you two examples: Last year, who would have thought the New York Giants would have won it all? Tom Coughlin was on the hot seat and his players didn't respond to him. Eli Manning couldn't win a big game and their best offensive player, Tiki Barber, retired. 

The Oakland Raiders ... OK, bad example.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, rather, had gotten to a point where they were tired of inconsistency after their Super Bowl XXXVII honeymoon. Jon Gruden was no longer the savior, their offensive line was old and their defense resembled the -- "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" reference alert! -- Shady Acres Mental Institution where bridge club and bingo are the most exciting events of the week. Tampa Bay was a 4-12 team that had a five-game turnaround and won its division. 

I'm going to take a look at two teams who in 2007 finished in last place in their division and try to provide some positive light for their fan bases. 

Exhibit A: The St. Louis Rams. They were 3-13 in '07 and finished BELOW the 49ers in the NFC West. They were decimated by injuries all season long and just couldn't catch a break. This year, even though they lost veteran receiver Isaac Bruce, they've got some key parts in place and should have a decent front four on the defensive side of the ball. 

Orlando Pace may be on his last leg, but when he plays, he can be effective, and he can do a great deal for Steven Jackson and Marc Bulger. The addition of offensive coordinator Al Saunders also doesn't hurt, and they've brought in Trent Green to back up Bulger and put a little pressure on him to get the job done. Torry Holt's knee is an issue this year, but it was an issue last year when he caught 93 passes and came 11 yards shy of 1,200. Drew Bennett is a very capable of being a nice complement to Holt and should have the opportunity to show that now that Bruce is gone.

On defense, they've got Leonard Little, La'Roi Glover, Adam Carriker and of course Chris Long, the No. 2 overall selection in April's draft. There is a nice combination up front of youth and experience, and Will Witherspoon is coming off back-to-back seasons with 100-plus tackles and Pisa Tinoisamoa will be healthy again after only playing in nine games last year because of an injury. 

Though it still appears to be Seattle's division to lose, there are a lot of other questions surrounding the other two teams, which means a second-place finish in this division is not out of the question.

Exhibit B: The Baltimore Ravens. (I'll admit here that I originally put the Falcons in this spot, then did some research and realized that it's going to be a long year for them.) The Ravens went 5-11 last year, finishing behind the suddenly resurgent Cleveland Browns and the Bengals, who couldn't stop a 5-year-old from running down their throats. 

Two things stand out to me: First, they are going with a West Coast Offense, which will make Willis McGahee a much better player. His receiving skills are very underrated and he will have plenty of opportunities to make plays in Cam Cameron's system.

Speaking of which, Cameron was the coordinator in San Diego when Antonio Gates burst on the scene, meaning Todd Heap should get tons of touches in this offense. Call me crazy, but I think this actually helps Kyle Boller: The longer Boller has the ball, the worse it gets for the Ravens. In the West Coast offense, he'll have to get rid of it faster, which I think will help him fight off Joe Flacco and Troy Smith. 

Secondly: On defense, Baltimore is still extremely talented and kept Rex Ryan on board, which will be huge as far as continuity is concerned. The Ravens may make the switch to a 4-3 from the 3-4 that they ran for many years, and that's not a bad thing because they've got the personnel to do that: Trevor Pryce, Kelly Gregg, Haloti Ngata, Justin Bannon and Dwan Edwards up front and includes Ray Lewis, Bart Scott, Terrell Suggs and a capable backup in Jarrett Johnson at linebacker. Safety Ed Reed and Lewis battled injuries all year long and should be back healthy for big years. 

Over the last four years, even-numbered years have been good to the Ravens and odd-numbered years have been bad. In 2007 they were 5-11, and finished 13-3 in 2006, 6-10 in 2005 and 9-7 in 2004. If that pattern continues, the Ravens are in line for a winning season in 2008.

Call me crazy, call me an idiot, call me what you will. Whatever you call me, I'm calling for an increase in victories and winning seasons for the Ravens and the Rams in '08.