AFC East:
|
Rank |
Team |
W |
L |
|
1 |
New England |
13 |
3 |
|
2 |
NY Jets |
8 |
8 |
|
3 |
Buffalo |
6 |
10 |
|
4 |
Miami |
5 |
11 |
New England – I fully expect New England to be back on the “running it up” tour and to carry around the “us against the world” mantra. Brady will be tentative and the defense will be suspect, but they still have the best talent in the league and the schedule is easy, again!
NY Jets – I love that Rex Ryan had the job all of 42 seconds and he started the smack-talk about the Pats. Good move Rex! Starting Mark Sanchez is a reach, but why not – if you’re going to break in a new quarterback, you might as well do it in the first year of a contract.
Buffalo – 2.5 – the Over/Under on games it will take until Terrell Owens to go off on Edwards, the coaches and the front office. I honestly do not understand the signing of TO, unless it is strictly a PR move and an attempt to fill the Rogers Centre when the Bills travel north to Toronto. Best bet for a prediction – The Bills will play several tough games and seemingly be a very good team, but at the end of the year they will have six wins.
Miami – This Dolphin is going nowhere near the playoffs. Realistically, they shouldn’t have been in the playoffs last year – they were a product of three things – 1. The schedule which was not only soft but they seemingly caught every team on the right week; 2. The gimmick offense (the Wildcat), that teams now will adjust to playing against; 3. A head coach, new to coaching which translates to no tendencies the first year and major tendencies the second year, that teams can now game plan against.
AFC North:
|
Rank |
Team |
W |
L |
|
1 |
Baltimore |
11 |
5 |
|
2 |
Cincinnati |
9 |
7 |
|
3 |
Pittsburgh |
8 |
8 |
|
4 |
Cleveland |
4 |
12 |
Cincinnati – Quick, look at those standings, what jumps out at you? Right, the Browns only winning four games despite having the Mangenius coaching them. Ok, that’s not it – it’s the Bengals headed to the playoffs!
The Bengals appearing on HBO Hard Knocks is what really sucked me in – I mean found myself openly rooting for Marvin Lewis and who didn’t love every scene with Jim Lippincott (aka “the TURK”)? Lippincott’s main task is to tell players they have been put on waivers. But instead of calling players into an office and formally giving them the bad news, Lippincott stalks them! He nailed one guy on his way back from training table and there was never a stray word in his delivery, – “Marlon, we’re putting you on waivers. Where are you going to be flying into?” Just like that a player’s dream is over and Jimbo delivers in a way that would make John Kramer look sensitive to human emotions. This guy is the Jigsaw!
On the field the Bengals have a nice young aggressive defense and the offense is setup nicely with Carson Palmer and Ochocinco are allegedly all the way back.
Baltimore – If Joe Flacco is half as good as the pre-season hype he is receiving the Ravens will easily win this division. The Ravens could very well fall into the “head coach flopping in his second year” theory, but they will be immune because the offense is too young and talented and the defense is still the strength of the team.
Pittsburgh – I have to be honest, I liked it much better when the Steelers were blowing home AFC championship games. “Steeler Nation” is insufferable right now and has there ever, in the history of any sport, been a team that has had more good fortune in big games? Ever? The immaculate reception, the blown calls in Super Bowl 40 and the Harrison return last year. Turn those plays and the Steelers have no titles since 1979 and a mere three.
What we need to do is pull a “Freaky Friday” type of switch between the Steelers and the Bills .
Cleveland – It’s going to be a long year in Cleveland. Wow, if I had a nickel for every time that phrase was used to describe a Cleveland sports team, I would be wealthier than the combined wealth of the top 10 wealthiest people in the world.
AFC South:
|
Rank |
Team |
W |
L |
|
1 |
Indianapolis |
11 |
5 |
|
2 |
Tennessee |
10 |
6 |
|
3 |
Jacksonville |
8 |
8 |
|
4 |
Houston |
6 |
10 |
The South is has been the toughest division in the AFC the past few years, however, I see this division taking a step back this year as each team has huge questions.
Indianapolis – They still have Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne. But outside of that there are big questions in Indy – how will they respond to a new coach? How will losing Marvin Harrison affect them? Can Bob Sanders stay healthy?
The answer is – yes and no. Yes, they are good enough to win the division, but no, they won’t advance in the post-season.
Tennessee – The Titans suffered a miserable season ending loss to the Ravens in the Divisional Playoff round last season after a 13-3 record, can they rebound from that heartbreak. History tells us, teams coming off that type of loss tend to fade from the picture quickly. Because the division is down the Titans can still make the playoffs, but again I don’t see them advancing.
Jacksonville – Aren’t the Jags perfectly pegged at 8-8? This is truly a team stuck in “perpetual mediocrity”, the Jags are officially the Atlanta Braves of the NFL.
They never get to the big game, but they’re always good enough that they cannot get a decent draft pick. And how many first round picks have busted out on them over the last decade? Like all 10 that’s how many.
Houston – After picking to Texans to make noise in the South for the last three years, I finally wised up and realized that the Texans exist only to put smiles Fantasy Football owners. Think about it – is there any team in the NFL that has a top 10 QB (Schuab), top 5 WR (A. Johnson), top 20 WR (K. Walter), top 10 TE (O.Daniels) and a top 10 RB (Slaton)? The only team that comes close is the Atlanta Falcons but Roddy White is not a top 5 guy and they have no second WR as good as Kevin Walter.
|
AFC West |
|||
|
Rank |
Team |
W |
L |
|
1 |
San Diego |
12 |
4 |
|
2 |
Oakland |
7 |
9 |
|
3 |
Denver |
6 |
10 |
|
4 |
Kansas City |
4 |
12 |
San Diego – Ho hum, the Chargers win by far the worst division in football, in fact the USC Trojans could replace the Chargers and win this division. Problem is, San Diego has Super Bowl championship talent, but they are coached by one of the worst head coaches ever.
In fact this division is full of terrible head coaches. . .
Oakland – Tom Cable gets the interim tag removed and is destined the next in a long line of successful Raiders head coaches. Yep, when you think about greatness roaming the sidelines you think of Bugel, Turner, Callahan, Kiffen and Cable. That sounds like a law firm, plumbing company.
Is this the year JaMarcus Russell finally gets it together and lives up to the hype? If not, maybe the Raiders should consider implementing the first ever “hail mary” offense. They put JaMarcus in punt formation and split four receivers out to one side, then let them all run streaks and let JaMarcus throw the 80 yard pass. They could even have variations of the play where one receiver acts as a “setter” (volleyball term) and another runs to the back of the pack. If they could complete one out of every 15 passes, they could average 21 points just on those plays. It works in Madden!
Denver – Checklist of to-do items for a new head coach:
- Piss off Franchise quarterback by going after a career backup – Check
- Trade said franchise quarterback for a Kyle Orton-type quarterback, wait they traded for the actual Kyle Orton – Check
- Sign 18 different running backs in the off-season, then use your first round pick to draft a running back – Check
- Piss off the best remaining offensive player (B. Marshall) – Check
- Act like a sarcastic, smarmy little punk – Check
It is going to be a long season in the Rockies.
Kansas City – And the winner of the Matt Cassel sweepstakes is …. The Chiefs!! And to show Cassel how excited they were to get him the Chiefs went out and traded their best offensive weapon (Gonzalez). Four wins might be a stretch for this team.
AFC Playoffs
|
1.New England |
|||
|
4. Baltimore |
6.Cincinnati |
||
|
5. Tennessee |
1.New England |
||
|
4.Baltimore |
New England |
||
|
2.San Diego |
|||
|
3. Indianapolis |
4.Baltimore |
||
|
6. Cincinnati |
