AFC
East - Patriots
North - Ravens
South - Texans
West - Chargers
Wild Cards - Steelers, Chiefs
- The big variable in the AFC is the health of Peyton Manning, if he comes back early and is effective, they will be right in the mix of this list, if not the south is the Texans division to lose.
- The north is going to be a battle too, but I went with Flacco having two legitimate weapons to throw to in Anquan Boldin and Lee Evans as the newcomer.
- The Chiefs are going to be a pretty decent team this season, not quite running with the Chargers, but good enough to squeak into the playoffs.
- The Jets are another team that could easily find their way into the playoffs. I have faith in their defense, but their offense seems to have too many holes going into the season, keeping them on the outside looking in.
NFC
East -Eagles
North - Packers
South - Falcons
West - Cardinals
Wild Cards - Rams, Lions
- I must be going crazy, the west is up for grabs in my eyes, and the Rams could easily beat the Cardinals, especially if Kevin Kolb doesn't pan out. My gamble is that he does, otherwise the Cardinals are out of this all together.
- The Lions are not as big of a surprise as I thought based on early polls I have seen, slightly edging the Bears in the polling,. They are not near the talent of the Packers, but good enough to make the playoffs… I think.
- I may have had the Giants in there before all of their injuries, but that defense is really hurting now, plus the loss of Steve Smith gives Eli one less target to throw at, which makes his INT total for this season record setting, and that is just too much to overcome.
- The Cowboys will also be right in the mix of this, but Romo, comes up small whenever it counts, and I wouldn't count on anything different happening.
- The Saints are another team that could easily be in this mix, but I am going on a limb with the youth of the Falcons to take them out in the division, and the youth of the Lions to get the wild card over the Saints aging offense, and suspect defense.
Playoffs
I’m going to take the Texans over the Ravens as my upset AFC Championship game, both teams a bit surprising, as is the thought of a Texans team going to the Superbowl. I have a lot of faith in Matt Schaub to get this done. The biggest reason I question myself here is that I have a lot of reservations about Arian Foster duplicating his rookie numbers, he seemed to struggle down the stretch last year, plus he is injured to start this season. If he is ineffective, that could really blow the chances for this Texans team.
Over in the NFC, the Eagles and Packers look like the class of the conference going into the season, and I am not going to bet against these two unless something big changes. The homer in me thinks the Eagles will knock the Pack out to return to the Superbowl. Their defensive line is solid, and they probably have the best assortment of corners in the NFL, with the surprising reacquisition of Joselio Hanson after they cut him. They have a fourth corner that would be a starter on most NFL teams. The offense was impressive last season, and I think they got even better with the addition of Steve Smith at WR, and Ronnie Brown at RB. The only question on offense is the O-Line, originally looking at starting two rookies, they added a guard who will now be starting over one of them after a shaky preseason.
That leaves a Superbowl of the Eagles and the Texans, and this time the Eagles will be the ones to win their first Bowl over the upstart Texans.
Good work by "The Rob" but...I'm really going to disagree with both of his representatives for the Super Bowl. Texans aren't good enough and the "iggles" will choke as usual. But again, good work!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I see how it is. I am clearly wrong on one count so far. I can clearly see after two weeks that the Chiefs are certainly not a playoff contender. An ineffective offense, coupled with an ineffective defense, makes for a team that doesn't look like the could compete for a BCS Championship, much less a playoff spot.
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