FCA
East: The AFC East, in my opinion, will be the most competitive division in the NFL this year.
WHY? Because…
Dolphins – Miami comes off a very frustrating year. Once they lost Ronnie Brown and Chad Pennington, the fans lost hope in Miami. Now remember, three years ago the Dolphins were one of the worst teams in the NFL, if not the worst. They came close to becoming the first team in NFL history to go 0-16, but they defeated the Baltimore Ravens, who went 5-11 that year, on the final day of the regular season. The following year they went 11-5, and then the surprise of last year. This year, they have two powerful running backs, a young quarterback who has experience and now a star wide receiver, which they lacked last year. I have no doubts on offense, but I’m not so sure on defense. We’ll see how it develops.
* Patriots- New England might be one of the best teams in the NFL (again). They’ve got Tom Brady in full health, they’ve got star wide receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker, and their defense is ready for any type of offense. This could lead, yet again, to another Super Bowl ring for Tom Brady.
* Jets – The Jets are overrated. Let me remind you who led the team last year; It wasn’t Mark Sanchez, it wasn’t Jerricho Cotchery or Braylon Edwards, it wasn’t Shonn Greene. Thomas Jones was the only reason the Jets came close to making the Super Bowl. He had 14 touchdowns, 1402 yards and tripled Shonn Greene’s stats in almost every category! Here are the “amazing” stats the Jets posted in 2009 (the following are averages): 12.5 points (31st), 237 yards (30th), 147 passing yards (29th), and 89.5 rushing yards (22nd). Unless the offense can turn it around, I don’t think the Jets are going anywhere.
* Bills- Once again, the Bills are at the bottom of the list in the East … and they’re not going to surprise anyone. They will have another great rushing season, but their passing really needs to boost it. I think they should have taken a quarterback in the first round instead of CJ Spiller. Trent Edwards just isn’t the right guy for the job. A rookie quarterback with a good arm, who doesn’t need the ball all the time. Tim Tebow is a guy who would have fit the bill.
* Permanent after 2010:
x-Patriots: 12-4
x-Miami: 10-7
Jets: 9-7
Bills: 3-14
North: This division will also come down to the last game.
WHY? Because…
* Bengals: The Bengals might be the most powerful teams they’ve ever had in their franchise history, but they could also be a BIG surprise. Carson Palmer will have three better wide receivers to throw to, Ochocinco, Bryant and Owens, and Cedric Benson is coming off probably the best year of his career. His defense will be a mystery every week, as will tight end Jermaine Gresham.
* Ravens- The Baltimore Ravens had a great year last year … and they’re about to have an even better year. Anquan Boldin will help Joe Flacco a lot. Last year, Flacco had a primary receiver to turn to in Derrick Mason. Todd Heap was the other main target early in the season, but it turned out to be a disappointing year. Now, with Heap hoping to have a breakout year to add to his big career stats, Anquan Boldin poised to finally win the big one and Derrick Mason in one of his last years, he’d say they’re going for it.
* Browns – The Browns, sadly, could be a good team to watch this year. Jake Delhomme doesn’t have a Steve Smith to pitch this year, but Mohamed Massaquoi will be a great replacement. Jerome Harrison could be a top 10 running back this year, opening up the passing game. The only thing a Browns fan should worry about is defense. Now that Jake Delhomme is helping the offense, the defense will likely be off the field longer.
* Pittsburgh-Where do I start? Obviously Big-Ben will be out for the first four or six weeks, Rashard Mendenhall is coming off a great season and they lost Santonio Holmes. Hines Ward should have another good season, and the loss of Santonio Holmes will open up spots for Mike Wallace and Antwan Randle El. My predictions for the best players this year are: Roethlisberger- 17 TD, 56.8 Perc., 3467 yards, Mendenhall – 276 ATT, 11 TD, 12,889 yds, Ward- 78 Rec., 5 TD, 879 yds.
* Permanent after 2010:
and-Ravens: 12-4
Bengals: 9-7
Steelers: 8-8
Browns: 4-12
South: The AFC South is going to be a pretty competitive division, again, but I think it’s going to be down to the Colts and Texans. WHY? Because…
* Colts- The Colts won’t be much different than last year. Peyton Manning will have another great year, Reggie Wayne will have 1,000-plus yards, Joseph Addai won’t have many carries, and Pierre Garcon will have to play a big role if the Colts want to make it to the Super Bowl again. Dallas Clark is healthy and this could be the year.
* Jaguars- Jacksonville needs a quarterback and wide receivers. David Garrard might make the playoffs, but he’s not going anywhere. If you want to make the playoffs in this division, you’re going to have to work. Jones-Drew can’t carry the entire team alone. If they had a good passing game to rely on, there would be nothing to worry about. Mike Sims-Walker isn’t enough to fill out a wide receiver list; they need another target to throw at. Aaron Hernandez would have been a great draft pick for the Jags.
* Titans: Once again, one running back won’t take the entire team to the playoffs. There just isn’t enough talent on this team to go anywhere. The defense could use a little work, Vince Young would probably appreciate another receiving target, and Chris Johnson won’t be able to run the ball if the passing game doesn’t work. I don’t see the Titans playoffs for the next two years.
* Texans-Houston is a big contender this year. Matt Schaub has Andre Johnson as his primary target, and together they could total more than 1,500 yards this year. Kevin Walter is an underrated fantasy player. He is the second stringer, and he could score 100 to 150 points this year. Arian Foster has taken over the role of running back this year. Steve Slaton worked hard, but he didn’t make it. His tight end, Owen Daniels, will probably get five to 10 touchdowns and 600-plus yards. If the defense can keep the score under 20 points in almost every game, the Texans will be a touch team to beat.
* Permanent after 2010:
y-Colts: 14-2
x-Texans 11-5
Jaguars 7-9
titans 6-10
West: The AFC West will not be a very competitive season. I don’t think it will take more than ten wins for the winning team to get into the playoffs.
WHY? Because…
* Raiders- Oakland has a better team than last year, but not good enough to make the playoffs. Jason Campbell has Heyward-Bay and Schilens as primary targets. Zach Miller could also be one of the greats. The defense is terrible and the running backs aren’t that great either. The only thing the Raiders are good at this year is knocking out other teams.
* Chargers- San Diego is going to make the playoffs, no question about it. Philip Rivers could top 4,000 yards again this season, but without Vincent Jackson, he’d say maybe 3,500. Malcolm Floyd is a question mark. He could do very well or very badly. The defense doesn’t look too bad and Ryan Matthews will be a great addition.
* Chiefs-Kansas City has one more year to improve. I don’t think they’ll have a chance this year, but maybe next year. Once these two years are up, they are going to lose a lot of their good players. Jamaal Charles won’t have much trouble if Matt Cassel can find Dwayne Bowe and Chris Chambers. The defense is not the best, and that is the main thing that is going to irritate them.
* Broncos- With the mystery of who will be the starting quarterback and a lack of talent at wide receiver, Denver doesn’t have much of a chance. McDaniels is trying to use what he can with Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter, while the defense just has a couple of problems to fix. Eric Decker will likely end up as one of the three starting wide receivers by the end of the year, if he stays healthy.
* Permanent after 2010:
x-boots 11-5
Broncos- 8-8
Bosses- 5-11
Raiders – 2-12