Doesn't the NFL need the "previously on" synopsis that precedes most television shows? Especially after this offseason? The NFL is a better soap opera than Desperate Housewives and more complicated than Fringe. Picture the deep announcer voice from Lost discussing highlights from this offseason:

Previously on The NFL: The Steelers celebrated their record 6th Super Bowl title...Tom Brady prepared for his return from injury...Terrell Owens moved from Dallas to Buffalo...Brett Favre retired (again)...Matt Cassel, the out-of-the-blue star, got traded to Kansas City and received a huge payday...Jay Cutler forced a trade to Chicago after the Broncos flirted with trading for Cassel...Michael Vick ended his prison sentence and joined the Philadelphia Eagles...and Brett Favre unretired (again) and joined one of the Packers' heated rivals: the Minnesota Vikings...

And so one of the most anticipated seasons in recent memory is just 10 days away. Here are the most compelling storylines heading into the 2009 NFL season:

Brett Favre as a Viking

Forget the sideshow that was the Brett Favre (un)retirement tour for a moment. And let's set aside the debate about Favre's current football skills. His return is a good thing. For everyone. Vikings fans? Ecstatic. Packers' fans? Apoplectic. NFL fans? Interested in the quarterback for the Vikings for a change. This is all a good thing. Think about it--you're a casual fan, and the Vikings game is coming on, and Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels is the quarterback. You're switching the channel every time the Vikings have the ball on offense, right? Now? With Brett Favre on the field, you've got the potential for a big play--either positive or negative--happening at any moment.

Whether you like or dislike Brett Favre, don't forget that we're talking about a first ballot Hall of Famer who owns the consecutive games played streak for quarterbacks at an astounding 269. Second on the list is Peyton Manning at 176, and only five quarterbacks in the history of the NFL got to 100 (Ron Jaworski (116), Tom Brady (111), and Joe Ferguson (107) round out the list). So we're talking about someone good enough to crack the starting lineup for 17 straight years and durable enough to play the position of quarterback 9 years in a row longer than all but one other quarterback in the history of the NFL. And he's doing it for one of the Packers' rivals. It's akin to Cal Ripken deciding to retire in 1996 or 1997 but then going to play shortstop for the Red Sox or Yankees instead.

Tom Brady's return

50 touchdown passes. His first regular season MVP award. A 16-0 record....And then the Patriots lost the Super Bowl. Worse, they lost Brady in last season's opening game. Brady's return to the field is one of the most anticipated returns from an injury in the history of sports. I don't think that's an overstatement. When's the last time a player set records while his team set records then was injured for the entire next season? The closest parallel to this story is Michael Jordan's return to the NBA after his baseball tryout.

On paper this Patriots team looks better on offense and defense than the 2007 edition. They might not be headed for 19 wins, but whether or not they make it to the one game they most want to win--Super Bowl XLIV--is completely dependant on Brady's return to health and skill level. Brady looked good in the Patriots' last preseason game--until 350-pound defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth landed on top of him. The two-week wait for New England's first regular season game will be that much longer for Patriots' fans.

The Matt Cassel-Jay Cutler-Josh McDaniels-Kyle Orton soap opera

Matt Cassel couldn't stay with the Patriots because a healthy Tom Brady was coming back. New England eventually traded Cassel to Kansas City. But not before Denver tried to make a deal. A deal that Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler found out about. And pouted about. This led to Denver swapping quarterbacks with Chicago (receiving Kyle Orton in return) and the juiciest offseason subplot rolled along. Now fans across the country can play the "what if?" game if things go badly with their new quarterback. Bears fans will keep an eye on Orton and the Broncos. Broncos fans will keep an eye on Cutler and the Bears and Cassel and the Chiefs. And if Tom Brady gets hurt again, Patriots fans will keep an eye on Cassel and the Chiefs. Chiefs fans will just be praying Cassel wasn't a one-hit wonder (and that the knee he injured in Saturday night's game is not as severe as some are saying).

The streak

17. That's how many games in a row the Detroit Lions have lost after going 0-16 last year. And it would have been 24 in a row if not for their 25-20 win over Kansas City on December 23, 2007, which ended a 6-game losing streak (but preceded their current 17-game losing streak). When will this streak end? Week 1 at New Orleans? Week 2 against Favre and the Vikings? Or will it drag on for weeks? Or months? Or years? With 9 straight losses to open this season, the Lions would tie the 1976-77 Buccaneers for the longest losing streak in NFL history. With an 0-10 start they would break the record. If only Detroit had Tampa Bay on the schedule this year so that the modern edition of the Buccaneers could try and help their predecessors shed this inglorious record.

The Pro Bowl

The casual football fan is going to be very surprised when he or she wakes up the morning of January 31, 2010--one week before the Super Bowl--and finds out that the Pro Bowl is being played that day. I'm of two minds about this idea. First, having this game played at the Super Bowl site (Miami) during the height of interest in the NFL season seems like a brilliant idea. When's the last time anyone cared about the Pro Bowl? Playing the game prior to the Super Bowl might spur interest. But then you've got players from a minimum of four teams who won't play in the game (anyone on either Super Bowl team as well as many players who lost in the AFC or NFC Championship Game the week prior). So what exactly will we end up with that day? I guess time will tell--but it's just one more reason to be interested in this upcoming season.

Michael Vick

First of all, let's get this out of the way right at the top: Michael Vick was convicted and has served his sentence. Can everyone that wants him banned from the NFL for an extended amount of time please come down off their high horse? I won't even get into the "there are people involved in the murders of people still in the league" argument. Instead let's pose a hypothetical: suppose that another high profile player--one that transcends the sport and is an all around good guy--is convicted of a crime. Someone on the caliber of Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or Adrian Peterson. Will the commissioner hand down a harsh ban to someone of this caliber if the precedent is set with the Vick case? In the real world a conviction prohibits your choice of employment on a case-by-case basis. In the NFL, the commissioner wants to make the decision for his owners. This will come back to haunt the NFL, I guarantee it.

Regardless of all of that...I can't wait to see how Michael Vick is going to play, how he impacts the Eagles, and if he brings the singular excitement that he had several years ago back to the NFL.

The most interesting division in sports

And the winner is...the AFC East. Top to bottom, is there a more interesting collection of teams in one division? You've got the Patriots getting back Tom Brady and the high expectations that surround the team; Terrell Owens bringing his carnival sideshow to Buffalo; Bill Parcells' new toy, the Miami Dolphins, who are coming off an extraordinary turnaround season; and the Jets with new coach Rex "You never know what I'm going to say next" Ryan and rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez. Sure, by Week 11 the Pats could be 10-0 and the rest of the division could be 3-7, but for right now, these four teams comprise the most interesting division around. (NFL Runner up: The NFC North, with Favre joining the Vikings, Cutler joining the Bears, year 2 of Rodgers and the Pack, and the streaking Lions.)

The wildcat formation

The NFL is a copycat league. That was never on display more last season, when the Miami Dolphins introduced (reintroduced?) the wildcat formation in Week 3. By the end of the season more than half the teams in the league had run at least one similar-style play, and every defense in the league was preparing for it. What can we expect this season? More variations of the formation? A team running the wildcat for an entire series (perhaps the Eagles)? Or will someone come up with another new/old wrinkle? Perhaps someone will bring back the A formation or the flexbone formation.

The out-of-nowhere team

In the last 12 NFL seasons, 16 teams have gone from last place to first place in consecutive seasons. In the last 6 years, 2 different teams have turned the trick in the same season 4 times, and at least 1 team has done it each year. Which begs the question-which team (or teams) will it be this year? Our 8 contestants are: New Orleans, Washington, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Detroit. New Orleans and Washington each went 8-8 last year, so they seem like good bets. Jacksonville was ravaged with injuries and is another team to take a close look at. But here's a potential story that would top them all: how about the 0-16 Detroit Lions rebounding to win the NFC North this season? Impossible you say? That's what everyone would have said at this time last year if you told them that the 1-15 Miami Dolphins would become the AFC East champs at the expense of the Patriots--who went 16-0 the previous season.

The battle for Team of the Decade

As I wrote in January 2008, every decade since the 1960s has produced a clear-cut Team of the Decade. By all rights this battle should already be over. Even after losing the Super Bowl two years ago, no other team can stack up against the Patriots' accomplishments. But there's one team that could attempt to lay claim to the title: The Pittsburgh Steelers. This is the tale of the tape between the two franchises heading into this season:

With another Super Bowl title, the Steelers would have three this decade, just like the Patriots. Let's not forget, though, that the Patriots beat the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game on their way to two of their Super Bowl titles, while someone else knocked off the Patriots during Pittsburgh's first run and New England did not make the playoffs last season as the Steelers won it all. Not only do the Steelers need to win the Super Bowl, they need to go through the Patriots in order to be in the discussion.

What better way, then, for this season to end than for the Steelers and Patriots to battle in the AFC Championship with the Team of the Decade title hanging in the balance? The season premiere of the best show on TV is just 10 days away.