NFC EAST

Philadelphia Eagles- 11-5 - Philly improved their secondary,
but still weak in the middle of the defense. Offense still lacks a big target
for Vick. Can Vick and small WRs stay healthy?

Dallas Cowboys- 10-6 – Romo needs to utilize his young
offensive weapons and finish drives in the end zone to counter suspect defense
with newly charged DC Rex Ryan.

Washington Redskins- 7-9 – Redskins inconsistency at QB will
doom them in the end. If Coach Shanahan can trust a QB to manage the game, the
Redskins have a chance.

New York Giants- 7-9- Giants should have learned from the
Cowboys last year and realized that you can’t play that bad in the preseason
and expect a change in the regular season.

NFC NORTH

Green Bay Packers- 14-2- Packers were a 12-14 win team last
year but injuries got in the way. Packers improved dramatically by just getting
healthy. Cheese heads may forget who Favre is by season’s end.

Chicago Bears- 11-5 – Bears start the season off with the
three best teams in the NFC, two at home. A win or two in the first three will
determine their season and will show what this team is made of.

Detroit Lions- 10-6- The playoffs will be early for the
young cubs as the Week 1 and Week 4 match up against the Bucs and Cowboys will
be crucial. Stafford’s health is the big X factor for this team as usual.

Minnesota Vikings- 6-10- Donovan McNabb will feel young
again for the wrong reasons. Great RB, but his receivers will be one of the
league’s worst groups like they were when he was on the Eagles.

NFC SOUTH

New Orleans Saints- 13-3- Veteran team with some hungry
newcomers will wreak havoc in the toughest division in the NFL. Saints have a
chip on shoulder and will refuse to let weak NFL rule make them travel.

Atlanta Falcons- 12-4- Got to admit that Julio Jones is on
every one of my fantasy teams, but I’m not biased. Jones will prove to everyone
why the Falcons traded for him. Ryan has an extra weapon.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers- 10-6- The young Buccaneers will prove
to everybody that last year’s success was not because of favorable schedule.
Can stud QB Josh Freeman and the young Bucs make the playoffs?

Carolina Panthers- 1-15- Cam Newton is getting paid more
than he did in college, but his success will be dramatically different. Good
games will not be awarded with wins, but moral wins in the NFL pay off well.

NFC WEST

Arizona Cardinals- 8-8- The NFC West is still the worst and
will only slightly improve. QB Kevin Kolb is a big improvement for the West,
but won’t mean much in the NFC playoffs.

St. Louis Rams- 7-9- Things don’t get better or worse for
the Rams but the experience of the season will give Rams hope for years to
come. NFL fans will get to see great RB Steven Jackson in the playoffs in future.

Seattle Seahawks- 4-12- Season ticket holders who call
themselves the best “12^th man” in league will regret buying tickets.
Seahawks will regret not losing more games than winning games.

San Francisco 49ers- 3-13- That won’t be “suck” you are
hearing in the crowd, it will be for Stanford QB Andrew Luck, and 49ers fans
will try to ignore that sick feeling in their gut as Alex Smith looked the
same.

AFC EAST

New England Patriots- 13-3- My hatred for the Patriots won’t
make me ignore their solid winning system led by QB Tom Brady. Will two misfits
(Haynesworth and Johnson) be greater than one? We will see…

New York Jets- 11-5- Defense will prevail once again. The
best thing from the offense will be parolee WR Plaxico Burress won’t shoot
himself during the season. Fans will wish he shoots QB Mark Sanchez.

Buffalo Bills- 5-11- Bills will be one of the most exciting
teams to watch all season, but end results will be the same as losing has
become the norm. This is a playoff killing team as I expect upsets.

Miami Dolphins- 4-12- The best thing Reggie Bush brings to
Miami is community support which I commend him for and hope he keeps up on.
Other than that, not much, if anything at all on the field.

AFC NORTH

Pittsburgh Steelers- 12-4- Easiest schedule for defending
AFC champs will get them in the playoffs, but how much further after that? The
league’s most hated team will struggle with loyalty and health.

Baltimore Ravens- 11-5- The Ravens weak off season will come
back to haunt them. Age will be looming on the team as the defensive era’s end
may come to an end before the season’s end.

Cleveland Browns- 6-10- Record won’t reflect great strides
the Browns will have made by season’s end. Record could flip flop on
progression of QB Colt McCoy.

Cincinnati Bengals- 1-15- Record will be reflection of
ownership, management, and coaching. Best thing for the Bengals this season
will be RB Cedrick Benson’s 20 day prison sentence was reduced to 5 days.

AFC SOUTH

Houston Texans- 11-5- Texans finally live up to experts
predictions the last five years and make the playoffs. Division win will be scrutinized
because of another team’s player’s health.

Indianapolis Colts- 9-7- My heart bleeds with the news of
Peyton Manning’s health, even as a Cowboys fan. It may be for hatred of Brett
Favre’s only meaningful record. Good guys don’t always win.

Tennessee Titans- 7-9- They paid CJ2K but it won’t mean
much. QB Matt Hassleback is an improvement with a huge health risk. Add that to
WR Kenny Britt’s prison risk, it doesn’t add up too well.

Jacksonville Jaguars- 3-13- Not sure why Coach Jack Del Rio even
stays as coach of this team. Jaguars will need to evaluate rookie QB Blaine
Gabbert to see if they should enter the “Luck” sweepstakes.

AFC WEST

San Diego Chargers- 12-4- QB Philip Rivers will have huge
year and the special teams unit won’t ruin it. Chargers will look for revenge
but a mirror is not allowed on the playing field. Will they make a run?

Kansas City Chiefs- 6-10- Chiefs will come back to life with
first place schedule. QB Matt Cassel has to play beyond himself for this team
to challenge. Fans will still enjoy electric RBs Chiefs offer.

Denver Broncos- 6-10- Broncos defense will again destroy any
hopes of Broncos success. Hall of Fame QB John Elway, will right the sunken
ship ex coach Josh McDaniels sunk. Ship will be repainted by next year.

Oakland Raiders- 5-11- Raiders will still be playoff killing
team late in season instead of playoff competing team. Raiders seemed to have
invade beach with quicksand, AKA Al Davis.

NFL PLAYOFFS

WILCARD

Falcons @ Cardinals- Matty Ice finally wins a playoff game and the Falcons look like a team on the verge like the 2010 Packers. Kevin Kolb gets his feet wet in the playoffs and the Cardinals future will be looking good despite the loss.

Bears @ Eagles- Bears defense knows how to contain Vick and they will do it again. Vick will receive blame for
loss, but small WRs rarely win the big games.

Jets @ Texans- Revis Island looks more like Shutter Island. Andre Johnson plays the
doctor.

Ravens @ Steelers- Ravens steal the show and doesn’t
squander early lead. True NFL fans wil enjoy this match up as it may be the end
of several future hall of famers’ careers.

DIVISION

Bears @ Packers- The Bears will get a chance to avenge their loss to the Packers in last year's Championship game, but Rodgers will prevail once again. A lack of a possession WR will be the top of the Bears list for the offseason. A year too late.

Falcons @ Saints- QB Matt Ryan will be questioned again despite ridding himself of the "one and done" label. The Saints seem like a team destined for another taste of the Lombardi trophy.

Ravens @ Patriots- Revenge game comes through for hungry
Patriots. Ravens playoff failures squawk “evermore”.

Texans @ Chargers- Great battle will result in home playoff
advantage. Rivers elevates status.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Saints @ Packers- The Saints march right into their
kryptonite and that is outdoor weather. Packers wear beach gear in celebration
despite going to Indianapolis.

Chargers @ Patriots- Revenge plays a factor again and people
will start to question Patriots playoff legacy. QB Philip Rivers finally gets a
chance to shine.

SUPER BOWL

PACKERS vs. CHARGERS- Experience trumps inexperience as QB
Aaron Rodgers elevates his status from Favre status to Starr status in Cheese
Head lure. Packers 34, Chargers 24

SEASON AWARDS

MVP- QB Aaron Rodgers- Packers’ Rodgers is no surprise and
Super Bowl status puts him above QB Tom Brady who has similar stats overall at
end of season. Vikings RB Adrian Peterson will have supporters as well.

COACH- Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy will follow his QB and
receive an award he deserved last year with all of the injuries he had to deal
with.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER- WR Andre Johnson, Texans, won’t receive
the proper amount of votes he deserves for MVP, but will be rewarded for
stellar year with OPY.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER- DT Ndamukong Suh, Lions, will be mentioned
in MVP talks but not seriously enough. Young DT will already start “greatest DT”
talks.

ROOKIE- WR Julio Jones , Falcons, will not disappoint the
many draft picks the Falcons used to get him with 1,000 plus and near ten TD
season.

The NFL is proving again why it's America's sport. NFL teams truly do start 0-0 and have a chance of making the playoffs. The short season makes every game count. There is no time to relax during the season and there are always storylines to keep us talking on even the boringest of off days.
Here are my thought from Week 3:
- The Cowboys finally looked good, but they are not off the hook just yet. I still question Garrett's game plan. He has shown in the past that he can put a game together, but quickly reverts to his stupid pass happy play calling. He still needs to manage the run game better. Marion Barber should be the main focus of the run game and if he is running well, should never come off the field.
- I was waiting for one of two things when the referee stuttered his way through offsetting penalties. Either a "wanna get away" Southwest commercial or a "I'm not really a ref, but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night" Holiday Inn commercial.
- The young Buccaneers learned a tough lesson against the Steelers. It's a good lesson to learn from.
- Call me crazy, but Coach Tomlin may not have wanted this. It's going to be tough to put a guy like Ben Roethlisberger back on the field after his team has rallied around the back up QBs. Big Ben has put his ego before the team and chemistry could be an issue.
- The Patriots have a lot of scoring to do this season with that swiss cheese defense.
- Jets WR Braylon Edwards should have had his BAC read after his TD. He actually caught the ball. He must have been drunk.
- Ravens WR Donte Stallworth is going to run over a defender before he scores a TD. That was cheap. I know.
- Anquon Boldin looks like the stud he is. Hoowazthat other guy they picked up? Scary win for the Ravens.
- Bengals win, but QB Carson Palmer looks more like Trent Edwards than the franchise guy they had hopes for.
- Coach Mike Singletary fires another OC. Mike Martz looks good in Chicago. Singletary may want to drop his drawers again.
- The Chiefs have some explosive players. The most explosive may be QB Matt Cassell who may blow the season up if he doesn't play better.
- Who's that with the worst QB rating as a starting QB? That's right. Vikings Brett Favre who looks more like the INT record breaker than the TD record breaker so far. That was a bad pass to Percy Harvin who made a great diving play for the TD. I'm not scared to say it.
- Saints Garrett Hartley better mark his calendar for the next job fair in New Orleans. Just ridiculous.
- Drew Brees looked more like Eli Manning than Peyton Manning.
- I'm the carries watch for Titans RB Chris Johnson. It will be tough for him getting 30 plus carries every game.
- I'm not falling for Eagles Michael Vick just yet. I want to see him face a tough defense that has game tapes against him. The Jaguras and Lions (who the Eagles barely beat last week) may not combine for 6 wins this year. I need to see more.
- They make a QB high profile QB change and the Redskins remain the same. Losing to the Rams is inexcusable. No pride still.
- Somebody should tell Albert Haynesworth that he isn't winning anybody over with his pathetic remarks. He made a quote tying his contract to slavery. I don't even think Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton would be dumb enough to defend that garbage.
-- If I'm Dan Snyder, I'm not calling other teams for trades, I'm calling Tony Soprano.
- Raiders Sebastian Janikowski should read my Hartley remarks. Oh wait, he has Al Davis for an owner. His job is secure.
- Only Colts Peyton Manning can bring in a rookie practice squad player and not appear to miss a beat.
- The Chargers special teams is horrible. That's two games they choked in big situations.
- Why would any player in the future consider the Chargers?
- The Packers fans who hated on Ted Thompson can start kissing his feet. He made a great call going with Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers looks to have the ability to equal Bart Starr's super bowl total.