The kickoff game is only one week away. Let's see where everybody is expecting their teams and others to end up at the end of the year. AFC North Pittsburgh Cleveland Cincinnati Baltimore Pittsburgh, I believe is the consensus. Many people are picking Cleveland as a sleeper and I think they'll be good, just not great. Cincy is/was suffering through turmoil, injury and trade talks. Baltimore isn't sure who they're starting QB is and Willis is hurt, not to mention the D just got a year older. AFC South Jacksonville Indianapolis Houston Tennessee One of the tougher conferences to pick. Jacksonville looks like the best and safest pick to win the division although they lost some key players to free agency. I think injury and age of key players on Indianapolis could make them sink to the bottom of the division...seriously. Houston is one of those teams that could surprise. Tennessee didn't really get anybody to help Young out and I think that's going to hurt them in play. AFC East New England New York Buffalo Miami Another one of the tougher conferences. I think New England could surprise many and fall from leading this division and conference after several years of doing so. New York could get a big boost by Favre's presence and talent level. Buffalo could see a rise, but not likely. The Dolphins are cellar dwellers once again. AFC West San Diego Oakland Denver Kansas City San Diego is another consensus but with Merriman playing with a career threatening injury expect some nervous fans, teammates, and Chargers staff. Oakland has some great, young talent and could develop as a surprise team in their own right. Denver should fall and give K.C. one or two more seasons. NFC North Minnesota Green Bay Detroit Chicago This is one of the few divisions where any team could win it. Minnesota is coming off an up and coming season and have bolstered their defense through trades and the draft although their receiving corp and QB are unreliable. Everybody knows Rodgers is replacing a legend but I think the Pack will be OK. Detroit focusing more on the running game could be key and it could boost them to a playoff spot, if not a division title. Chicago is in the hunt but with the uncertainty on almost every position on offense it's going to be tough. NFC South New Orleans Carolina Tampa Bay Atlanta This is the tricky division because there seems to be no stability as to who will win it the next year. New Orleans stepped up with trades and the draft to upgrade both sides of the ball. Carolina is another one of those teams that could sneak up on folks. Tampa should be good enough to finish in the playoff hunt, or just out of it. Atlanta, nothing really needs to be said. NFC East Dallas Philadelphia Washington New York Dallas is the consensus in this division as well as many people's pick to win it all. Philadelphia and Washington should be in a battle for the 2-3 spots. New York's defense was decimated this off-season, look for them at the bottom after finishing at the top. NFC West Arizona Seattle St. Louis San Francisco Arizona will probably come out on top of the division...FINALLY! Seattle is slowly fading from the comfortable top spot. St. Louis is getting older but not better. San Francisco should see the bottom of the deck again. I'll post my playoff and award opinions later on. Please share your own opinions as well.
AFC East - New England Patriots AFC North - Pittsburgh Steelers AFC South - Indianapolis Colts AFC West - San Diego Chargers Wildcard teams: New York Jets & Tennessee Titans NFC East - Dallas Cowboys NFC North - Detroit Lions NFC South - Carolina Panthers NFC West - Arizona Cardinals Wildcard teams: New York Giants & New Orleans Saints Super Bowl: Dallas Cowboys over New England Patriots The Texans will finish last or next to last in the AFC south.
AFC East: Patriots North: Steelers South: Colts West: Chargers Wild Card: Jaguars, Jets NFC East: Cowboys North: Packers South: Saints West: Cardinals Wild Card: Eagles, Vikings AFC title game: Patriots over Steelers NFC title game: Cowboys over Packers Super Bowl: Cowboys over Patriots (man, I hope I'm wrong on this)
AFC North Pittsburgh AFC South Indianapolis AFC East New England AFC West San Diego NFC North Green Bay NFC South New Orleans NFC East Dallas NFC West Seattle Dallas over Indy in the Superbowl.
I will go ahead and post my AFC predictions. AFC East New England 13-3 New York 8-8 Buffalo 6-10 Miami 3-13 The Patriots won't have any challengers in this division and might not for a while. I don't think the Patsies will be quite as good this year, as teams will blitz them constantly and try to make them at least establish the run. Look for Brady to throw close to 40 touchdowns, but this offense won't run nearly as smoothly as it did last season, especially if Wes Welker can't keep himself healthy. The Dolphins are bringing in an entire new system, a new GM, a new coach, a new starting QB (Chad Pennington until Chad Henne takes over), have no viable weapons at WR outside of glorified punt returner Ted Ginn Jr, and Ricky Williams has bumped an injured Ronnie Brown from the starting RB position. Parcells will make them better, but this will be a gradual process. The Jets' offense will get a boost this season and I expect Favre to have a decent year, but nothing near the numbers he put up last year in Green Bay. Jerricho Cotchery will have a great season and Thomas Jones will rebound from a low touchdown year. Vernon Gholston will have a sub-par rookie season and the Jets will rue the day they didn't trade up for Darren McFadden. Buffalo is far from a mired mess, but they still don't have a legit QB... Marshawn Lynch proved he can carry the load, but can he have somebody else carry his car keys? Too many question marks on a talented Buffalo team for them to make a playoff push, but look out for rookie James Hardy to make a positive impact on the passing game. AFC North Pittsburgh 12-4 Cleveland 9-7 Cincinnati 8-8 Baltimore 4-12 Pittsburgh just keeps adding weapons. The fact that they get to add Rashard Mendenhall to their offense makes me sick. He may be the starter by midseason and relegate Willie Parker to the home-run hitter slot. Limas Sweed gives Big Ben another target to go along with the steady Hines Ward and the emerging deep threat Santonio Holmes. Look for the Steelers to continue to wreck defenses this season. Cleveland is always intriguing. They have the potential to really break out as a top tier team, and they also have the potential to go right back into the cellar. It all begins and ends with the QB position. Jamal Lewis is running the ball as well as he ever has. Braylon Edwards is now one of the top 5 WRs in the league. Kellen Winslow proved he could handle an NFL season. Derek Anderson has to continue his Cinderella story, or golden boy Brady Quinn won't be keeping the bench warm much longer. Cincinnati is a mess. Chad Johnson doesn't want to be there, then finally when he does he injures himself. They are so desperate for more Wideout help they brought back Bail Bond Poster Child Chris Henry. Rudi Johnson is no longer a workhorse back, and they are looking to trade him. The Defense was laughable at times last season. Keith Rivers will help shore up the tackling, but Marvin Lewis is on a short leash to get this team back to the playoffs. Baltimore is in rebuild mode. Troy Smith? Really? Troy Smith? THAT Troy Smith? Ok. I really can't see Baltimore doing anything other than playing itself back into a top pick in the draft with a QB shuffle and an offensive line that will immediately feel the absence of Jonathan Ogden. AFC South Indianapolis 11-5 Jacksonville 9-7 Houston 9-7 Tennessee 7-9 The Colts I think will finally not win 12 games in a season, I still love Peyton Manning, but I question the ability of the offense with the sure and steady Marvin Harrison starting to fade into oblivion. Give Anthony Gonzalez another year to develop and the Colts could be right back at the top of the league. As much as Peyton runs the offense to perfection... their season depends on the health of Dwight Freeney and Bob Sanders. Jacksonville is a concern. They still haven't found a WR worth beans. Jerry Porter thinks he's Chad Johnson but he can't stay on the field, and when he does often disappears. Troy Williamson was a bust in Minnesota, and Matt Jones got busted for cutting up coke. On the positive side, David Garrard when healthy is a damn fine QB who makes few mistakes. Fred Taylor has another year left in him, Maurice Jones-Drew is going to assume starting RB duties and should have a tremendous year. The Defense is always a bright spot. I'm pessimistic about them this year just because I think they could be in for trouble. As much as I am pessimistic about the Jaguars, I really am optimistic here for the Texans, this will all depend on the health of Andre Johnson and the emergence of either Steve Slaton or somebody else as a viable RB. They have a killer schedule which will prevent them from really being able to compete for the division seriously, but I think they will break through and establish themselves as a force this season. Of course, if Andre Johnson misses any time they lose what limited opportunity they have. They have to have somebody to carry the football this year, I cannot stress that enough. Cardboard cut-outs of Ahman Green and Chris Brown will not cut it. Tennessee is another team that worries me. I think a lot of people are starting to fall out of love with Vince Young the way people started to with Mike Vick as his novelty wore off. Vince simply has not developed into a pocket passer yet, and the Titans lack of a playmaker at Wideout is holding them back. On the other hand, much like Jacksonville, they will have close to the league's best ground attack with Young, Lendale White and the rookie Chris Johnson who is quicker than any other RB in the league. AFC West San Diego 11-5 Denver 8-8 Oakland 5-11 Kansas City 4-12 The Chargers have LaDanian Tomlinson. You don't need much more to carry your team into the playoffs when you have a back like that. Shawne Merriman's knee is a big concern, and there are questions about the health of both Phillip Rivers and Antonio Gates, but the bottom line is this the Chargers are still the team to beat in the suddenly tame AFC West. Denver is still looking for an identity. They play well one week and get trounced the next. Selvin Young isn't Earl Campbell. Jay Cutler isn't John Elway. Brandon Marshall may however, be Ike Turner. I haven't seen any consistency from the Broncos and see no reason to see any changes in that pattern in 2008. Oakland is starting to see the light of the end of the tunnel, but it will not happen this year. They went out and dropped a few dimes and the 3 headed monster of Justin Fargas, Darren McFadden, and Michael Bush is very impressive to go along with the highly run-oriented, reshaped offensive line. The passing game however, is a nightmare. Jamarcus Russell will make a living David Carr style, as they will do anything to not get him sacked 6 times a Sunday. Jerry Porter is gone, Javon Walker was brought in for mega-bucks, promptly popped a bottle of Cris and got his eye socket beaten in Vegas, and then offered Al Davis his signing bonus back if he could retire. Ronald Curry has been the only consistent receiver on the team, but he's had injury troubles in almost all of his seasons. Johnnie Lee Higgins was supposed to be the 3rd guy who would step up and make plays, but he has made so many mistakes running routes and fumbling that some wondered if he might have been cut if DeAngelo Hall was available to return punts. Tight End Zach Miller might be the team's best weapon in the passing game at this point. The Defense should again be a bright spot, Gibril Wilson at SS allows Michael Huff to move back to FS where he will be able to make plays again, along with Nnamdi Asomugha and DeAngelo Hall they combine to form what on paper what looks like a top flight secondary. The real question will be if Tommy Kelly will live up to his contract and help plug the middle and stop the run, something they could not do at all last season. The Chiefs just suck. Brodie Croyle? Seriously? Who else you got? Larry Johnson doesn't look so amazing after the Chiefs all-pro line started to disintegrate. Dwayne Bowe finally gives them a playmaking WR, 1 year too late as Trent Green was the only QB who had a chance of getting him the ball. They did have a great draft, and Glenn Dorsey will help shore up the defense, but I don't expect them to do anything worth while this season. Playoffs #1 Seed - New England #2 Seed - Pittsburgh #3 Seed - Indy #4 Seed - San Diego Wild card - Jacksonville Wild card - Cleveland WC Weekend Colts over Browns Chargers over Jaguars Divisionals Patriots over Chargers Steelers over Colts AFC Championship Steelers 31 Patriots 19. NFC East Dallas 13-3 Philadelphia 10-6 New York 9-7 Washington 8-8 Dallas looks really good this year. As much as I hate to admit it, they are the top team in the NFC and clearly the favorite to advance to the Super Bowl. Can Romo finally win a playoff game? I think so. Marion Barber can handle the load, and Zach Thomas is out to prove he's still got something left in the tank. Philly is on the way back, and it all begins with DeSean Jackson, who could be the next Steve Smith, he doesn't have the size... but boy can he make plays once he gets the ball in his hands. Look for McNabb to bounce back and for Philly to get back into the swing of things. If D-Mac can't keep healthy, its KEVIN KOLD 4 HIZEMAN time and the Eagles are in deep ****. Its really hard for me to pick the Giants to make the playoffs now that they've lost Gibril Wilson to Free Agency, Michael Strahan to Retirement, and Osi Umienyora for the year due to injury. Unless Eli can capture some playoff magic in the regular season, I think they will be lucky to finish .500 in the 2nd toughest division in football. Washington is always such a question mark. Todd Collins was the one who got them in the playoffs, not Jason Campbell. They spend all the money every year and have all the skill position players... but you never see the chemistry that translates into real production. Look for another mediocre year from the Redskins. NFC North Minnesota 11-5 Detroit 8-8 Green Bay 7-9 Chicago 3-13 The Vikings? Believe it. Tavaris Jackson may be the NFC's version of David Garrard and Adrian Peterson just might be LT's National League counterpart. Jared Allen is the best pass rusher in the league with Mario Williams creeping up behind him. Bernard Berrian gives them a deep threat option. The Lions? Its true.. Jon Kitna may always be talking out of his ass, but this time he might just get it right. A weaker division means the Lions will surprise some people with a .500 year. Green Bay is in la-la land if they think Aaron Rodgers is going to lead this offense back into the NFC Title game. Brett Favre may have left Lambeau field, but his ghost will be right there with ol' #12 all season long. The Bears still don't have a QB that you'd even want to see enter a QB Skills contest. Kyle Orton and Sexy Rexy continue to hold down a franchise that is still looking for an above average skill position player on the other side of the ball to pair up with a superb defense. NFC South New Orleans 11-5 Carolina 10-6 Tampa Bay 6-10 Atlanta 4-12 The Saints will be better this year because Drew Brees will go back to what made him succeed back in 2006, throwing the damn football. Marques Colston is a stud, and Reggie Bush is also a pretty decent receiver out of the backfield. The key to the Saints success however will be the improvement of the Defense along with Pierre Thomas assuming Deuce McAllister's role as the bruising back who will pound the hole when Reggie gets tired of dancing around it. Carolina is always good as long as Steve Smith and Jake Delhomme are healthy, and well as long as Steve Smith isn't seriously injuring other team members. The key to the Panthers emergence however will be a return to the combo rushing attack of DeAngelo Williams and rookie Jonathan Stewart... which will be reminiscent of the Stephen Davis / DeShaun Foster 1-2 punch that got them to the Super Bowl not too long ago. Tampa Bay is too old on offense with Jeff Garcia and Joey Galloway entering their twilight years. Can Earnest Graham carry the load now that defenses know he's coming? Too many question marks for Chucky's bunch this year I'm afraid. Atlanta is in rebuild mode, but I like the way they are going. Matt Ryan will need a while to develop, but he's going to have some pretty good weapons in Roddy White and Michael "The Burner" Turner. Give them another season or two. NFC West Seattle 9-7 Arizona 7-9 St Louis 6-10 San Francisco 3-13 Seattle is the least suckiest of the bunch again I suppose? Matt Leinart looks like crap, the Rams need Steven Jackson to be considered decent and the 49ers are the worst team in the league. That is all that needs to be said about this crappy division. #1 Seed - Dallas #2 Seed - New Orleans #3 Seed - Minnesota #4 Seed - Seattle Wild Card - Carolina Wild Card - Philly WC Week Carolina over Seattle Minnesota over Philly Divsionals Dallas over Carolina Minnesota over New Orleans NFC Championship Dallas 34 Minnesota 24 Super Bowl Pittsburgh 31 Dallas 28 NFL MVP - LaDainian Tomlinson O-Rookie of the Year - Desean Jackson D-Rookie of the Year - Glenn Dorsey Coach of the Year - Brad Childress
Continuation of my previous post: AFC Playoff Seedings 1 San Diego 2 New England 3 Jacksonville 4 Pittsburgh Wild Card - Indianapolis Wild Card - New York Jets Wild Card Matchups Jacksonville over New York Pittsburgh over Indianapolis Divisional Matchups San Diego over Pittsburgh Jacksonville over New England AFC Championship San Diego over Jacksonville NFC Playoff Seedings 1 Dallas 2 New Orleans 3 Minnesota 4 Arizona Wild Card - Philadelphia Wild Card - Carolina Wild Card Matchups Minnesota over Carolina Philadelphia over Arizona Divisional Matchups Dallas over Philadelphia Minnesota over New Orleans NFC Championship Dallas over Minnesota Super Bowl San Diego over Dallas Coach of the Year - NFL MVP - LaDainian Tomlinson Offensive Player of the Year - Adrian Peterson Defensive Player of the Year - DeMarcus Ware Offensive Rookie of the Year - Darren McFadden Defensive Rookie of the Year - Jerod Mayo Coach of the Year - Brad Childress (Vikings)
this sucks. as a life long Chiefs fan, I hate being cellar dwellars. You know who the luckiest guy in the entire NFL is? Carl Peterson. He came to KC 20 years ago and he is still working on his 5 year plan. He's done great things for the Chiefs org. but he needs to be relieved of his duties as GM. He'd be a GREAT VP. But he's failed as a GM. Herman Edwards......mehhh. I never liked the guy, and I wanted his head on a silver platter last season. But he disposed of RRPP offensive coordinator, so I'm willin to give him another season to make strides. I also picked Oakland as a semi-sleeper team, thats painful to say. I hope I'm wrong.
You are wrong wrong wrong! KC wil be 5-11. not 4-12. Brodie has improved quite a bit. Not just my biased opinion, but I actually think he looks better than Jay Cutler thus far. Dwayne Bowe and Tony Gonzales may be the reason for that. LJ has been running like a bad ass again, I think that lingering injury is finally fully healed, but I agree, they suck too much in many other areas. I like your DROY pick, but Dorsey is already hurt, I just hope he stays on the field for 16 games.
Here's how I think the standings will turn out and my quick take on this season. NFC East 1. Dallas 2. NY Giants* 3. Washington 4. Philadelphia NFC North 1. Minnesota 2. Green Bay* 3. Detroit 4. Chicago NFC South 1. New Orleans 2. Carolina 3. Tampa Bay 4. Atlanta NFC West 1. Seattle 2. Arizona 3. St. Louis 4. San Francisco *= Wild Card Berth In the NFC, it's obvious. Love 'em or hate 'em, the NFC is the Cowboys' to lose. They are in a class by themselves in this conference, and if they aren't the best team in the NFL, they are certainly 2 or 3. The offense was almost unstoppable last year, and Romo has a full season under his belt, and 2 new weapons with Felix Jones and Martellus Bennett. They bolstered the defense with Pacman, Mike Jenkins and some veteran leadership with Zach Thomas. Pacman also gives the 'boys an explosive return game. Dallas has no weakness, and there isnt a team that has the pieces to go on an historic NY Giants type run like last year to stop them. Minnesota can be dangerous with that tremendous and running game, but their passing game is awful, and the NFL is a league of quarterbacks and passing as we saw last yr, the 5 best teams in football had 2 Mannings, Favre, Brady and Romo at QB. Tavaris Jackson, pshhh please. I do think New Orleans will be much improved, they played much better late last yr. Brees still had a monster year, Deuce is back, Reggie can step back and do what he did when they went to the NFC Championship. They have improved the defense with Sedrick Ellis, but the secondary is still suspect. Strahan, Umenyiora and that pass rush were the main force behind that historic SB run the Giants went on last yr. They are history and, although NY still has a very good o-line and running game and Eli, they dont have that pass rush to set them apart and beat the likes of Dallas or New England this yr. Green Bay is obviously going to take a step back this year, but not as big as people think. Favre was brilliant last yr and they had so many big passing plays last year. But they discovered a running game with Ryan Grant, they have a good o-line, Driver and Jennings at reciever and a good defense.
It would be nice for my fantasy team if he did. Realistically though if a rookie RB has a good season he will almost always win OROY. I just couldn't really pick from any of them so I went with Jackson.
Oakland has more talent than you but I somehow think you guys will finish ahead of them. I think Herm Edwards is a good coach. The Chiefs just don't have the players to be a good team. Rubber bands and tape only go so far.
I was sooooo off last season. Oh, well. AFC East - Pats AFC South - Jags AFC West - Chargers AFC North - Steelers AFC Wild Cards - Colts and Jets NFC East - Cowboys NFC South - Saints NFC West - St. Louis NFC North - Minnesota NFC Wild Cards - Redskins and Bucs Super Bowl: JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS V. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS SUPER BOWL CHAMP: JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Oops. Hope its not too late cause a game was completed. I like San Diego Denver Kansas City Oakland Pittsburgh Baltimore Cincinnati Cleveland New England New York Buffalo Miami Indy Jacksonville Houston Tennessee AFC rep San Diego St. Louis Seattle San Francisco Arizona Minnesota Detroit Green Bay Chicago Dallas Philadelphia New York Washington Carolina New Orleans Tampa Bay Atlanta NFC rep Minnesota San Diego beats Minnesota
AFC South: Houston AFC North: Houston AFC West: Houston AFC East: Houston NFC SouthWest: Houston NFC Northwest: Houston NFC Eastex: Houston NFC Gulf: Houston NFC Champion: [eff it, us too] Houston over someone from the NFC AFC Champion: Houston over someone Super Bowl Champs: Houston over Ditka I believe I've made my point.
San Diego Denver Oakland Kansas City Pittsburgh Cleveland Cincinnati Baltimore New England New York Buffalo Miami Indy Houston Jacksonville Tennessee AFC rep Houston Seattle St. Louis Arizona San Francisco Minnesota Detroit Green Bay Chicago Dallas Philadelphia New York Washington New Orleans Tampa Bay Carolina Atlanta NFC rep Minnesota Texans come from Wildcard to win Superbowl.
