The NFL season is almost upon us. For the 1st time in a long time, I'm more excited about the NFL season than I am about the College Football Season. I don't think we will see domination in the league like the Patriots did last year, until they got to the Super Bowl. I think it will be more wide open than most experts think. However, I'm going with the glamour pick for the Super Bowl: New England Patriots over Dallas Cowboys
My sleeper picks are the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Green Bay Packers.
Here are my division breakdowns.
NFC South: 1. Carolina 2. New Orleans 3. Tampa Bay 4. Atlanta
I guess you can call this a homer pick for me. Initially, I liked the Saints over the Panthers, but breaking down the preseason and schedules, I went with the Panthers. I've been good with my predictions for the Panthers the past few years. I thought they were over-rated last year and thought they were very under-rated during their Super Bowl run. They won't be a Super Bowl team this year, but they will be good. They made a lot of right moves in the off-season. If Peppers can get some help on the D-Line, their Defense will be one of the tops in the league again. I think they will have the best Linebacker corp in the NFL. Most favorably, looking at their schedule, it's one of the easiest schedules in the league. The Saints have a tougher schedule than the rest of the division. Tough road games. Tampa is getting old fast and it will show this year. Atlanta is rebuilding.
NFC East: 1. Dallas 2. NY Giants 3. Philadelphia 4. Washington
Dallas is loaded this year. I think they will be better than last year. There is no reason this team should not get to the Super Bowl. I know Romo still hasn't won a playoff game, but he's the type of person to build off past experiences. The Giants are the defending champs. However, losing Strahan and Osi will cost them dearly. I don't see much difference in this Philly team than last year. Sure, they signed Assante Samuel, but they need a lot more help than that. I would not be surprise that this is McNabb's last year in Philly. The Redskins have looked awful this preseason. Sure, it's just preseason, but it's their starters that look very bad.
NFC North: 1. Green Bay 2. Minnesota 3. Detroit 4. Chicago
A lot of people like Minnesota this year. I still don't understand why people are giving Tavaris Jackson a pass over Aaron Rodgers. Until Minnesota gets a good QB, they will be an average team. Green Bay has a lot of young talent. I think McCarthy and Ted Thompson are getting a bad wrap with this Favre thing. They rebuilt this team with young talent and their future looks bright. If they believe in Aaron Rodgers, I'm on board. Detroit is getting better, but not enough. I think Chicago and Atlanta will fight it out as the worst 2 teams in the NFL this year.
NFC West: 1. Arizona 2. Seattle 3. San Francisco 4. St Louis
This is my surprise pick. Most experts are picking Seattle. They just have too many injury issues. Arizona has been taking a step in the right direction. Wisenhunt is doing a good job and this year will show. However, this will be by far the weakest division in the NFL. Arizona or Seattle probably would be the last place team in the NFC East.
AFC East: 1. New England 2. New York Jets 3. Buffalo 4. Miami
I don't see 16-0 or anything close to that this year. I see more like 12-4 this year. The Jets are closing the gap, but Brady and Company are too strong. Their defense is slipping a little this year. Not really much to say about Buffalo or Miami. Both are trying to improve, but unless Brady retires, it doesn't look like it will happen soon.
AFC South: 1. Jacksonville 2. Indianapolis 3. Houston 4. Tennessee
This is finally the year Jacksonville overtakes Indianapolis. They finally have a stable QB and their defense will be tops in the NFL this year. Depth at key positions. I like them. If things fall their way, like injuries with New England, they could wind up in the Super Bowl. The reason I'm not picking Indianapolis, I just don't see any fire in Dungy. His poor coaching cost them against San Diego last year. They are dealing with injury issues too. Houston will be slightly improve. Tennessee I see just getting worse. Vince Young has regressed rather than progressed and he does not have a good WR corp.
AFC North: 1. Pittsburgh 2. Cleveland 3. Cincinnati 4. Baltimore
Cleveland made a lot of off-season acquisitions on defense. I'm going more with gut than logic with Cleveland. Since Crennel has gotten there, they've been very inconsistent. Pittsburgh will still be the class of the league by default. I don't see any improvement in Cincy and Baltimore may be the worst team in the AFC this year.
AFC West: 1. San Diego 2. Denver 3. Oakland 4. Kansas City
I think San Diego is the best team in the division, but I see them slipping a little this year. Merriman will not last the season, Gates is dealing with an injury, LT was banged up more last year than he ever has in his career. All signs point to a decline. Fortunately for San Diego, the rest of the division is inconsistent. I think Denver has a chance to overtake San Diego, but I want to see some result before I trust them. Even though Oakland should be a little more improved this year, KC and Oakland are about even for 2 bad teams.
Playoff Predictions.
NFC - 1. Dallas 2. Green Bay 3. Carolina 4. Arizona 5. Saints 6. Giants
NFC Championship - Dallas over Carolina
AFC - 1. New England 2. Jacksonville 3. San Diego 4. Pittsburgh 5. Indianapolis 6. Cleveland/Jets (One of the two, slight advantage to Cleveland).
AFC Championship - New England over Jacksonville
Super Bowl - New England over Dallas
Showing posts with label New England Patriots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New England Patriots. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
NFL Roundup! NFC/AFC Championship Predictions
We've got the NY Giants vs Green Bay Packers in the NFC and the New England Patriots vs San Diego Chargers in the NFC. Before we get to my predictions, let's get my thoughts on the past weekend's results.
The Chargers and Giants shocked most everyone by winning this weekend. The Chargers moreso than the Giants. That was a gutsy performance by the Chargers, especially with all the injuries. However, I think the soft coaching from Tony Dungy and the poor defensive play cost them the game. There was poor tackling, giving up the big plays, and crucial turnovers in the red zone. It seems like almost every year, a team with a bye comes out flat. A lot of it has to do with the coaching. Yes, Dungy has a Super Bowl ring. Dungy led teams have a history of coming out flat and soft. See Tampa Bay and Indy before last year.
As for the Cowboys, very similar to the Colts. However, you could see the struggles from the Cowboys coming a mile away. If the Cowboys defense didn't play soft, I think they would have won. How many missed tackles did Toomer dodge, not break, on the 1st TD? It was unexcusable to let the Giants get away with that 2 minute drive at the end of the 1st half. Wade Phillips made a mistake giving the team the bye week off. It's playoff time! Their minds should be on football all throughout the playoffs. Romo can go to Cabo after the SuperBowl. The Cowboys and the Colts were suffering from the same virus. They expected to cruise through their games last week, but the Giants and Chargers wanted it more. Give the Giants and Chargers credit. They stepped up when they needed to and took advantage of mistakes.
Now for predictions for this weekend. The AFC Championship kicks off first. The Patriots are favored by 14 points. I think the Patriots blow out the Chargers. I am personally rooting for the Chargers. LT is in a class by himself on and off the field. However, I think the injuries will catch up to them. Chris Chambers has stepped up big for the Chargers the past few weeks. It will not be enough. Belichick will shut down Rivers and LT like they did their meeting earlier in the season. Brady will be Brady, Moss will be Moss, and the Pats will be the Pats. I expect the Patriots to win by at least 3 TDs.
The NFC Championship is very interesting. They are expecting a high of 7 degrees for the game. Everyone wants to see Brady vs Favre in the Super Bowl. Eli Manning has been playing very well as of late. It's been a collective team effort by the Giants. Favre is on a magic carpet ride. Ryan Grant had a game for the ages last week. I think this will be a close game. Even with the weather conditions, I don't think the Packers will have a great advantage b/c they aren't use to these conditions. Don't expect an air it out game from Favre this week. I expect the Packers to win a close won though. The Packers receivers against the beat up Giants secondary will be the difference in the game. I like the Packers to win, but not by the 7 point spread.
NFL PICKS:
New England -14
NY Giants +7
Stronger Play on New England.
The Chargers and Giants shocked most everyone by winning this weekend. The Chargers moreso than the Giants. That was a gutsy performance by the Chargers, especially with all the injuries. However, I think the soft coaching from Tony Dungy and the poor defensive play cost them the game. There was poor tackling, giving up the big plays, and crucial turnovers in the red zone. It seems like almost every year, a team with a bye comes out flat. A lot of it has to do with the coaching. Yes, Dungy has a Super Bowl ring. Dungy led teams have a history of coming out flat and soft. See Tampa Bay and Indy before last year.
As for the Cowboys, very similar to the Colts. However, you could see the struggles from the Cowboys coming a mile away. If the Cowboys defense didn't play soft, I think they would have won. How many missed tackles did Toomer dodge, not break, on the 1st TD? It was unexcusable to let the Giants get away with that 2 minute drive at the end of the 1st half. Wade Phillips made a mistake giving the team the bye week off. It's playoff time! Their minds should be on football all throughout the playoffs. Romo can go to Cabo after the SuperBowl. The Cowboys and the Colts were suffering from the same virus. They expected to cruise through their games last week, but the Giants and Chargers wanted it more. Give the Giants and Chargers credit. They stepped up when they needed to and took advantage of mistakes.
Now for predictions for this weekend. The AFC Championship kicks off first. The Patriots are favored by 14 points. I think the Patriots blow out the Chargers. I am personally rooting for the Chargers. LT is in a class by himself on and off the field. However, I think the injuries will catch up to them. Chris Chambers has stepped up big for the Chargers the past few weeks. It will not be enough. Belichick will shut down Rivers and LT like they did their meeting earlier in the season. Brady will be Brady, Moss will be Moss, and the Pats will be the Pats. I expect the Patriots to win by at least 3 TDs.
The NFC Championship is very interesting. They are expecting a high of 7 degrees for the game. Everyone wants to see Brady vs Favre in the Super Bowl. Eli Manning has been playing very well as of late. It's been a collective team effort by the Giants. Favre is on a magic carpet ride. Ryan Grant had a game for the ages last week. I think this will be a close game. Even with the weather conditions, I don't think the Packers will have a great advantage b/c they aren't use to these conditions. Don't expect an air it out game from Favre this week. I expect the Packers to win a close won though. The Packers receivers against the beat up Giants secondary will be the difference in the game. I like the Packers to win, but not by the 7 point spread.
NFL PICKS:
New England -14
NY Giants +7
Stronger Play on New England.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
State of the NFL - 11/28/07
Here we are after Week 12 and not much has changed over the past few weeks. The Patriots are still undefeated, the Cowboys and Packers still rule the NFC, and the Dolphins are still winless. Looking over the rest of the schedule, I do think the Patriots will go undefeated this season. The only possible hiccup is Week 17 at the Giants (Sorry Steeler fans, no chance next week because your team can't play on the road). The Patriots may not have much to play for that week except for the record and the Giants might have everything to play for and they are at home.
There are a lot of Patriots bashers and haters out there, but I like what they are doing. There should not be an asterik because of Spygate if they do run the table. The Patriots got caught because they were arrogant about it. I can guarantee you they weren't the only ones doing it. There have been wide-spread cheating, or what some like to say, unfair advantage in the NFL for a long time. Whether it's the dome teams feeding in noise, teams opening trucking dock doors for a wind advantage on Field Goals, the Headset/Communication system randomly blacking out, or the home team growing the grass thick on purpose if they feel they have a speed disadvantage. The list goes on and on.
Before this year, I thought the 85 Chicago Bears were the greatest team I've seen in my lifetime. Offensively, I think this Patriots team is the best I've seen. They have a lot of flaws on defense as the Eagles showed on Sunday. I think the 85 Bears Defense was more dominant than the Patriots Offense of this year. I would like to see the Patriots beat a playoff caliber team 56-10 or whatever instead of inferior teams like the Dolphins, Bills, or Redskins. Do it against Pittsburgh, Indy, Jacksonville, etc and I will be sold. The Patriots Offense have yet to prove they can run the ball. The only way they will lose if a team outscores them and plays error free football. I think Indy and Dallas are the only 2 teams that could possibly do that, even though the Patriots have already defeated them. If the Patriots have to play either again this year, it could spell trouble because Indy and Dallas can correct their mistakes from the 1st game. If they go undefeated this year, I'm not ready to say they are the greatest team of all-time, but they will be one of the greatest.
Top 10 NFL Rankings
1 - New England Patriots (No question about it)
2 - Indianapolis Colts (Lots of injuries, but the champs get respect from me)
3 - Dallas Cowboys (Like the Cowyboys against the Packers tomorrow)
4 - Green Bay Packers (Still need to establish a running game against good teams)
5 - Pittsburgh Steelers (Need to show they can win on the road)
6 - Jacksonville Jaguars (On a roll, very physical, and Garrard is the real deal)
7 - Seatle Seahawks (Hasselbeck is carring this team on offense.)
8 - Cleveland Browns (Who would have thunk it?)
9 - Tampa Bay Bucaneers (Been overlooked because of dreadful NFC South)
10 - San Diego Chargers (Most underachieving team in the NFL. Should be Top 5.)
That's it for today. Tomorrow: Fantasy Football and weekend football picks
There are a lot of Patriots bashers and haters out there, but I like what they are doing. There should not be an asterik because of Spygate if they do run the table. The Patriots got caught because they were arrogant about it. I can guarantee you they weren't the only ones doing it. There have been wide-spread cheating, or what some like to say, unfair advantage in the NFL for a long time. Whether it's the dome teams feeding in noise, teams opening trucking dock doors for a wind advantage on Field Goals, the Headset/Communication system randomly blacking out, or the home team growing the grass thick on purpose if they feel they have a speed disadvantage. The list goes on and on.
Before this year, I thought the 85 Chicago Bears were the greatest team I've seen in my lifetime. Offensively, I think this Patriots team is the best I've seen. They have a lot of flaws on defense as the Eagles showed on Sunday. I think the 85 Bears Defense was more dominant than the Patriots Offense of this year. I would like to see the Patriots beat a playoff caliber team 56-10 or whatever instead of inferior teams like the Dolphins, Bills, or Redskins. Do it against Pittsburgh, Indy, Jacksonville, etc and I will be sold. The Patriots Offense have yet to prove they can run the ball. The only way they will lose if a team outscores them and plays error free football. I think Indy and Dallas are the only 2 teams that could possibly do that, even though the Patriots have already defeated them. If the Patriots have to play either again this year, it could spell trouble because Indy and Dallas can correct their mistakes from the 1st game. If they go undefeated this year, I'm not ready to say they are the greatest team of all-time, but they will be one of the greatest.
Top 10 NFL Rankings
1 - New England Patriots (No question about it)
2 - Indianapolis Colts (Lots of injuries, but the champs get respect from me)
3 - Dallas Cowboys (Like the Cowyboys against the Packers tomorrow)
4 - Green Bay Packers (Still need to establish a running game against good teams)
5 - Pittsburgh Steelers (Need to show they can win on the road)
6 - Jacksonville Jaguars (On a roll, very physical, and Garrard is the real deal)
7 - Seatle Seahawks (Hasselbeck is carring this team on offense.)
8 - Cleveland Browns (Who would have thunk it?)
9 - Tampa Bay Bucaneers (Been overlooked because of dreadful NFC South)
10 - San Diego Chargers (Most underachieving team in the NFL. Should be Top 5.)
That's it for today. Tomorrow: Fantasy Football and weekend football picks
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