NFL Season Preview

As we approach on the start of the NFL season it's time for me to do a season preview. We will take a look division by division, and I will also give you my Superbowl prediction. Ready? Here we go.



AFC East
New England Patriots (10-6)
New York Jets (8-8)
Buffalo Bills  (7-9)
Miami Dolphins (5-11)



This is once again the Patriots division to lose. However, with each passing season the gap is becoming narrower and narrower. The Jets have a defense that we know can play well, so it`s up to the offense to improve this team, if the QB situation can sort itself out I believe they can and will be better. Rex Ryan deserves some sort of award for getting that team to 8-8 last year. This year I expect them to be possibly better, but about the same. Same with the Bills. Call me crazy for having them close to .500, but I believe those pieces are there. They have a solid young QB with a stud of a target in Sammy Watkins and are slowly building and improving. Watch out for the Bills in a couple of years. Everyone has improved and gotten decent but the Dolphins haven`t really. They have too many QB questions and not enough talent to answer them. There`s pieces there in certain areas, but too many gaps. I believe they will struggle to hit .500 and in the end will fall short.


AFC North
Cincinnati Bengals (12-4)
Baltimore Ravens (10-6)
Pittsburgh Steelers (7-9)
Cleveland Browns (6-10)


The Bengals team has proven to be dynamite. In the regular season that is. I once again expect them to lead this division, but it won`t be has easy as last year. Look for the Ravens to rebound, they once again have a legitimate offense. They also will have restocked the defense after struggling last year when they lost Ray Lewis. I think they will be a good team next year. The Steelers are just the Steelers. They aren`t the Superbowl winning teams anymore. Big Ben is aging and they don`t have a defense like the Steelers have been famous for in previous years. I don`t think there`s much to save them from being better than .500. I do expect the Browns to be better than last year, but I don`t expect them to be a lot better. Yes they drafted Manziel, and yes they are adding pieces. However, bad teams take time to recover and Manziel isn't going to be an instant answer. This will be a gradual change, and it may be yet something else the Browns find a way to mess up. I think they will be slightly better, and their football won`t be nearly as painful to watch, but I still expect them to be well below .500.



AFC South
Indianapolis Colts (13-3)
Tennessee Titans (5-11)
Houston Texans (4-12)
Jacksonville Jaguars (3-13)


Can we just slot the Colts in for the playoffs now? They should easily be able to manhandle this division. Andrew Luck keeps getting better, and I think even in a strong division this team would be in the playoffs. They just keep getting better, and should be making deep playoff pushes in years to come. All the rest of these teams have so many holes. None of them have what you would call a solid quarterback, Houston's defense is good, but they have no offense. Tennessee is going to be Tennessee which is average at best. Jacksonville is young and has some talent, but none of that talent is ready yet. Other than the Colts this is a fairly talent-less division.



AFC West
Denver Broncos (11-5)
Kansas City Chiefs (10-6)
San Diego Chargers (8-8)
Oakland Raiders (4-12)


Last year Peyton Manning shattered multiple records. I don't expect him to be quite so good this season, but I do still expect them to be on top of the division (barely). I think the Chiefs are clearly the other really good team in this division. I don't think they've done enough to make a large improvement on last year. I think Kansas City will be about the same as last year. San Diego is going to do what San Diego does. Rivers is a solid QB and will help them out enough. They're just going to hang around and make life tough for other teams. They might find a way to squeak into the playoffs again, but I don't think so. However, don't count them out. There are positive signs on the Raiders, and like a lot of struggling teams have some pieces. However, those pieces haven't developed enough and/or there aren't enough pieces. I expect another abysmal season in Oakland.


AFC playoffs

Wild Card Games

6 vs. 3: Ravens vs. Broncos
This would be a really good game. However, the Ravens having missed the playoffs last year and having some younger less experienced guys I think could hurt them. Where as the Broncos were in the Superbowl last year. I think the Broncos will be anxious to go deep again and will come out better than the Ravens and advance to the next round.



4 vs. 5: Patriots vs. Chiefs
The Patriots are slowly but surely starting to slow down. I definitely believe they're good enough to make the playoffs again, but I think this is where it stops for them. The Chiefs were in a Wild Card game last year and lost by one point in a shoot out, they won't let a playoff loss happen again. I like the Chiefs to win and push past where they were last year.


Divisional Round

1 vs. 5: Colts vs. Chiefs
Wow a rematch of last years Wild Card round. The Colts won that round 45-44 in a wild one. Don't let the Chiefs being a five seed fool you. They would be a very strong five seed, and I believe this game will be just as close as last years match up. I just really like this Colts team and I do believe they are capable of going to the AFC Championship and that is where I will put them.



2 vs. 3: Bengals vs. Broncos
This one is a very tough one. The Bengals keep getting to the playoffs and yet never win. Yet I also think the Broncos are slowing down and that they could be beatable for the Bengals. However, the Broncos have also improved a fair bit and helped out some of their weaknesses from last year. Peyton Manning is still elite and the Bengals have not given me a reason to pick them. I think Bengals lose out yet again in the playoffs and the Broncos go into the AFC Championship yet again.


AFC Championship

1 vs. 3: Colts vs. Broncos
Peyton Manning vs. his replacement, what a match up. Luck did actually beat the Broncos in the regular season last year. Now, I think he's ready to do it in the playoffs. I believe this season Manning will start to fade and be running out of steam by this point. The Colts won a playoff game last year and I believe Luck learned some valuable lessons as well about playing in the playoffs. I will take the Colts all the way to the Superbowl. Will they win? Well, keep reading to find out.



Next up obviously is the NFC which shakes up to look like a much stronger conference than the AFC.



NFC East
Philadelphia Eagles (9-7)
New York Giants (7-9)
Washington Redskins (5-11)
Dallas Cowboys (3-13)


This is another division that is won by default. The Eagles are a solid team, but not amazing. However, the fact that they get to play three at best mediocre teams twice each helps out their record a lot. The Giants haven't improved a lot and Eli Manning even though he can win in the playoffs he can't take a bad team on his shoulders and bring them there.The Redskins are going to be better than last year, but they won't be amazing. I just hope they get to keep their name. The Cowboys have looks like an okay offense, however, Tony Romo is known for choking. This year though Romo likely won't need to choke late in the season. They have absolutely no defense. I have them at 3-13 there's a chance that they could be better, but the defense is that bad.


NFC North
Green Bay Packers (13-3)
Detroit Lions (10-6)
Chicago Bears (9-7)
Minnesota Vikings (6-10)


Green Bay will be an improved team on last year. Rodgers is healthy and his receivers are healthy. The defense should be improved, but by how much remains to be seen. I believe this is a very strong Packer team. Next up is the Lions. Last year they only had Calvin Johnson catching balls for Matthew Stafford. They added Golden Tate as a wide receiver and have a couple of other okay options. Reggie Bush in the backfield helps as well. Combine this with an okay defense and this is definitely an improved team. I think they are very capable of making a push for that elusive playoff spot. Last year the Bears were abysmal on defense, they have made some improvements there and will also likely have a very good offense. However, I'm not sure if they're good enough to push into the playoffs. I'm also not sure if Jay Cutler is the right QB to lead them into the playoffs, let alone deep into them. I know he went before, but I'm not sure how often or how well he can do it. The Vikings will be improved from next year, but still won't be too good. I believe Bridgewater will be a very good QB (I think best of this draft), but this team still has some holes. They'll be more competitive this year, but still nowhere near a playoff spot.


NFC South
New Orleans Saints (12-4)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7)
Atlanta Falcons (7-9)
Carolina Panthers (5-11)


New Orleans is significantly better than the other teams in this division. They are poised to take back the division title. The real battle hear is for second place, and what a battle it will be. I expect Tampa Bay to be good this year, they have made some very solid upgrades all around. Mike Evans will be a very solid number two target, a solid defense, and this team has two potential starting QBs which is always a good problem to have. Expect this team to make a push and potentially make the playoffs. Atlanta will be healthy, but they are old and lacking pieces at key positions. A questionable offensive line, Matt Ryan's targets are both aging (Jones and White), and this defense is questionable. Matt Ryan is a good QB and I expect them to still be around .500 this year. Cam Newton is a good QB, but he has no targets other than Benjamin, he has Cotchery and Avant, but those aren't guys you want to be prime targets. I have them at 5-11 because other than Newton there isn't a whole lot on this team.


NFC West
San Francisco 49ers (12-4)
Seattle Seahawks (12-4)
Arizona Cardinals (9-7)
St. Louis Rams (5-11)


Arizona and St. Louis are seriously in the wrong division. I expect the race for first to come down to a tie breaker between San Fran and Seattle. I gave the 49ers the tie breaker, because I don't believe they will stand for finishing second in the division again. Last year was a very special season for Seattle. Like most Superbowl teams do I believe that they will come down a little bit from last year. However, they will still be very hard to beat. Arizona is going to do what they do. Play good football and be competitive. However, in this division it will be very hard for them to get into the playoffs. I believe that Sam Bradford will one day be a solid starting NFL QB. The Rams also have a very solid defense. However, this team still has some holes, and in this division it will be hard for them to go anywhere.




NFC Playoffs

Wildcard games



6 vs. 3: Lions vs. 49ers.
I gave the Lions the tiebreaker, so I believe they finally make the playoffs. However, I believe the playoffs will be short lived for them. The 49ers have been here before, and I'm not even sure if this is a close game. 49ers advance.


4 vs. 5: Eagles vs. Seahawks
This is such a strange league. Seahawks would have the better record, but Eagles automatically get the higher seed. Anyways, I believe this would be another mismatch. I don't think the Seahawks are as good as last year, but they're good enough to take this game. Seahawks move on.


Divsional round


1 vs. 5: Packers vs. Seahawks
This is the match up I've been dreading predicting. I am a Packers fan, but the Seahawks are a tough match up. This will come down to what the Packers defense looks like at this point in the season. If the Packers defense is as strong as it's potential they could win. However, at this point the Packers have an unproven defense and a defense that doesn't look as good as the Seahawks. I'll painfully move on the Seahawks and hope I'm wrong if this happens.


2 vs. 3: Saints vs. 49ers
These are two very capable offenses, so I believe this comes down to defense. Both defenses are also very solid. I believe though that the 49ers are better. I think San Francisco wins a close one and gets to play the Seahawks.


NFC Championship


3 vs. 5: 49ers vs. Seahawks
Once again these two bitter rivals will meet in the playoffs. Last year Seattle advanced. However, this year it will be in San Francisco with the 49ers looking for revenge. As I've said before I don't think the Seahawks will be quite as strong as last year, and they don't have their loud crowd to back them up. I'll take the 49ers.


Superbowl


Colts vs. 49ers
San Francisco was here once before recently and lost to the Ravens. This time they will be playing a less experienced but still very good Colts team. As good as the Colts are, the 49ers have a better defense and playoff experience. I am picking the San Francisco 49ers to win the Superbowl. However, I don't doubt at all that the Colts will be back and win their own Superbowl in years to come.