Before the season gets underway, I would like to make a few predictions and then can grade myself at the end of the year. I was going to do something for fantasy football fans as well, but due to my wife's draft being tomorrow, she does not want me to give any tips to any possible opponents. Maybe on Wednesday, I will come up with some individual predictions.
As much as I like the Texans, I am not going to follow suit to most people in the media stating that the Colts are done. They still have a fairly easier division with the Jaguars and Titans being in the mix, despite them always playing Indy tough. If Manning does not play, all bets are off. I highly doubt that will be the case though.
If Pittsburgh's line stays healthy and they don't face NE in the playoffs, they are my favorite to make it back to the Super Bowl. The defense is intact and the receivers are going to make a ton of plays this year. Roethlisberger should be very good statistically, which will open up the running lanes for Mendenhall. I don't like them against NE in the playoffs as it never works out well for the Steelers.
The KC Chiefs will take a step back. I think they took advantage of a week schedule as well as a week division, which the Oakland Raiders went 6-0 in. The AFC West will be won by the Chargers, who given a new coach and GM, would be my Super Bowl favorite year in and year out. They have a ton of talent and have added good pieces this year, more importantly they kept Vincent Jackson and Eric Weddle wearing the powder blue and yellow. If they don't start out slow as usual, they should win 12 games at least.
The Lions, Vikings and Browns are my sleeper teams. I have mentioned the Lions in previous posts, but I will just say that if Stafford stays healthy and they can find some continuity in the defensive backfield, Motown may be playing into January and then some. Cleveland will win 7-8 games, which is no small feat in the AFC North. I love Colt McCoy and I would like them to give him some more toys but he finds ways too win. I would not bet against them if they are more than 10 point underdogs as they will be in most games. I would have the Vikings possibly as a wild card team if they had not traded Rice as I do not understand why you would bring in McNabb and take away his best option. Keep an eye out on Kyle Rudolph and Visante Shiancoe as Donovan loves his tight ends. They will be at least .500 and steal a couple of wins from the Bears and Packers. The division is too tough in my opinion and is being underestimated by many.
Julio Jones is my favorite for Rookie of the year as he is a physical freak and is going to be playing opposite Roddy White. Tony Gonzales and Michael Turner are other options for opposing defenses to pay attention to, which is going to open up Julio and the Falcons are going to want to get Mr. Jones involved early and often to show fans why they traded the farm to get him.
I am going to end with that for the time being and maybe add a part deux in the next couple of days.
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