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penguinpride
Deal with it.
NFL Prediction I – AFC
Author: Aaron J07.04.2009
North
1. Pittsburgh Steelers 14-2. Bias? Perhaps. But I doubt it. The Steelers are a team full of tremendous players, and this season gives them the fourth-easiest schedule in the league. The only 5-star team they play this year is the Kansas City Chiefs, and some argue that even with Cassel and Vrabel they still won’t be quite as good as I think they will be.
- 5 star teams: Kansas City
- 4 star teams: Minnesota, Baltimore
- 3 star teams: San Diego, Tennessee
- 2 star teams: Chicago, Miami, Denver, Green Bay
- 1 star teams: Cleveland, Cincinnati, Oakland, Detroit
QB’s
Ben Roethlisberger – 2nd best QB in the league, in front of Brady, behind only Peyton Manning.
Byron Leftwich – 30th best QB in the league. He’s better than some teams’ starters. He wants to be a Bear. But there is still no interest in him. He has said he would be happy staying another season with the Steelers. He loves the team. I don’t blame him.
Charlie Batch – 5th best backup QB in the league. Who’s ahead of him? Byron Leftwich (1). Vince Young (2). Matt Leinart (3). Seneca Wallace (4). Tarvaris Jackson would be #6.
Dennis Dixon – An extraordinarily talented backup, but untested.
And this year it’s like we have two first-round picks. HB Rashard Mendenhall from last year was never tested because of injuries, and this year we’re probably drafting Eben Britton, OT from Arizona.
2. Baltimore Ravens 9-7. Joe Flacco had a great rookie year, but expect a slide this season. Not a big one, but don’t expect him to be the next Roethlisberger. Also:
Baltimore is one of two teams with a huge warning sign attached to them. WARNING! Your team is expiring! It’s in danger of going downhill fast in 5 seasons or less. The Ravens defense is aging quickly.
- ILB Ray Lewis – 33
- DE Trevor Pryce – 33
- DT Kelly Gregg – 32
- FS Ed Reed – 30
Who’s left that’s good on the Ravens defense? DT Haloti Ngata. DE Terrell Suggs, and CB Fabian Washington. Also, what good is a QB if there’s nobody to throw to? The best Ravens receiver is TE Todd Heap, and he’s old too. The best WR is Derrick Mason, and he’s 35.
Haloti Ngata.
Bart Scott is now on the Jets. Jim Leonhard is now on the Jets. Defensive Coordinator Rex Ryan is now Head Coach of the Jets. Chris McAlister was released. The Ravens are still going to have to rely on what remains of their defense for now, but soon they’ll find themselves slipping.
3. Cleveland Browns 6-10. The Browns have many, many holes in their team. Personally I think they should use Jamal Lewis and follow this guide to the Super Bowl. But one position they are set at is QB. Between Brady Quinn (#10) and Derek Anderson (#3), they’ve got this position down nicely. Now if only they had someone to throw it to. Braylon Edwards can’t seem to catch a pass…that’s going to be a problem.
Hopefully they can draft a WR. They may have lost Kellen Winslow to the Bucs but they picked up Robert Royal, an excellent TE from the Bills. Overall I think Cleveland will become an offensive team but weaknesses on the defense and offensive line will keep them from the playoffs (not to mention the Steelers and Ravens).
4. Cincinnati Bengals 3-13. Harsh? Nope, realistic. The only thing they have going for them is Carson Palmer, when he’s healthy. He probably wouldn’t be injured so much if his offensive line were any better…but they aren’t, and they suck violently.
And TJ Houshmandzadeh, their best WR, has gone to the Seahawks. Carson Palmer has always wanted to go to the Super Bowl; this is not the team to do it with.
SOUTH
1. Indianapolis Colts 14-2. The Colts will win because they are the Colts. Even without Marvin Harrison. Let’s just hope Peyton Manning doesn’t get knocked out for the season like Tom Brady, in which case they will drop to third or fourth in this tough division.
2. Houston Texans 10-6. A questionable first round draft pick in 2006, Mario Williams has become the cornerstone of a new Texans team, one that’s not the worst in the league.
They’re going to come into 2009 with the best defense in the AFC South, now that Haynesworth has left the Titans. Now that they’ve (hopefully) resolved their QB problems with Matt Schaub, and have a great WR in Andre Johnson, the Texans are ready to become the Breakout Team of the Year.
3. Tennessee Titans 9-7. The Titans have been the Ravens of the AFC South; super defense, and a couple receivers good enough to catch a nice pass. The Titans’ addition of Kerry Collins at QB last season was a great move and it strengthened the offense to give them the #1 seed in the playoffs. But their defense isn’t what it was even last year, and Collins needs receivers if he plans on moving the ball on offense.
4. Jacksonville Jaguars 5-11. It’s sad that the Jags are always last, but it’s a tough division. David Garrard has been a good QB, but is not really an improvement over Leftwich, except he seems a bit less prone to injury.
Maybe in years to come, the Jaguars will rise to the top. We’ll have to see the fall of the Colts first though.
WEST
1. Kansas City Chiefs 13-3. This team is going to have a huge season this year, with the acquisition of Matt Cassel.
They also get Vrabel from the Patriots, which adds a boost to their defense. And even if Cassel never completes a single pass (HA!) he’s still got Larry Johnson.
2. San Diego Chargers 8-8. Philip Rivers is the most over-rated QB in the NFL. He gets credit for handing the ball off to LaDanian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles, but this past season he was forced to pass more, and it landed them at 8-8.
3. Denver Broncos 6-10. Denver has been snatching up mediocre free agents, then dumped their franchise quarterback. Expect mediocrity.
4. Oakland Raiders 3-13. If Al Davis would quit finagling with the team, they might actually become halfway decent. However, that time is apparently not now.
EAST
1. New York Jets 10-6. New York has bits of that #2 Ravens defense, the most prominent of which being its defensive coordinator, Rex Ryan, as head coach.
He stepped into an almost turnkey playoff team, just some defensive patching up and, most importantly, a QB is needed. Luckily, the Jets are in a position to draft Mark Sanchez out of USC.
2. New England Patriots 9-7. This year’s Tom Brady probably won’t be the old Tom Brady. People are never the same after they come off a season-ending injury; just look at Daunte Culpepper. I’m not saying he’s going to suck, but he’ going to fall in stats.
3. Buffalo Bills 8-8. Yes they have Terrell Owens. This means they have a great passing game, between him and Lee Evans. But this is not yet their breakout year…it may come soon though.
4. Miami Dolphins 6-10. Last season was a fluke. They had an easy season and somehow managed to win their hardest game on top of that. They’ll take one giant step back this year.
April 11th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Chicago is more than a 2-star team now, with Cutler.
April 14th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
That’s a lot of guesses, especially in the NFC East. Especially about Brady. The whole division hinges on the assumption that he won’t be 100% next season.
May 9th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
This is all old info. You need to redo
May 13th, 2009 at 1:56 am
The Steelers don’t have Leftwich anymore. He signed with the Bucs. But he probably won’t start. They’ll probably start Josh Freeman.
May 13th, 2009 at 1:57 am
OMFG I hope not :/
May 13th, 2009 at 1:58 am
I know rite!
May 13th, 2009 at 1:58 am
But I guess we wont really ever know for sure until they do the preseason and have position battles
May 13th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
The Steelers schedule is going to be harder than you predicted. The “fourth-easiest” is based on LAST year’s games. This year, a lot of these teams have improved. Minnesota will get its fifth star for sure if they sign Brett Favre, will they not?
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