El Pad's annual AFC preview!
AFC EAST
Patriots 11-5: I just think Brady is going to have an even better year than last. Without Branch he can still put up numbers. Maroney will step in nicely to compliment Dillion and is a nice insurance policy if he goes down. The D is not great but good although the Seau signing confused me a bit. Belicheck has said this year he is going "back to fundamentals". NE gave up too many big plays last year and he equates that to players "being out of position". I love the two tight-end set for Brady and their schedule is not brutal by any means
Projections: Watson, he-huge year (Francesa talk). They may end up playing in Miami twice this year.
Dolphins 10-6: Saban had dem boys playing like hell the last 9 games of the last season. the key here will be Culpepper who looks phenominal so far. There isn't much depth however for the fins to survive a major injury.
Projections: I don't think I'm going out on a limb here to say that Ronnie Brown is going to blow-up.
Bills 5-11: Well, the speacial teams are good..... That's all I have to say about that.
Projections: McGahee will be the only bright spot.
Jets 4-12: Oy vey! Re-building hurts. There is nothing good going on here. Even NY sportswriters are picking the Jets to finish last. Pennington stinks even when healthy so the QB situation is dire. The RB situation is even worse. Who told them Barlow is good? Defense and speacial teams should keep them competitive but they just don't have the horses to pull anything out.
Projections: How do we know Mangini is going to be good? Belicheck stunk in Cleavland before going on to do what he has.
AFC WEST
Denver 11-5: They got some talent in the Rockies. If Plummer plays any where nears to how he played last year they will be right back in the thick of things come January. If the defense holds up.....speacial things.
Projections: The RB situation, does anyone care other than fantasy owners? I mean it doesn't matter. Mike Bell, Tatum Bell, Bonnie Bell...who cares?
San Diego 10-6: LaDanian Tomlinson get them two wins alone. He's that good. The Steve Foley thing kind of smacked them in the kisser. The D was looking real good but he was an big piece of that. Rivers will be fine. Kid sat for two years and he says he was ready last year.
Projections: Marty is a terrible coach. Just putting it out there.
Cheifs 8-8: It's all about the defense. Can Herm get them to stop letting teams score 25+ every game or will they keep giving up the 25 points? We know LJ will be the O...who's going to be the D?
Projections: I did like the Ty Law thing though. He might pick off Aaron Brooks 8 times alone.
Da Raiderz: Stink aint the word. Brooks, please. Moss is going to go apeshit on TV alot.
Projections: Peter King got something right: "Brooks Throws 5 INT's, Benched by Shell".
AFC SOUTH
C olts 12-4: Well they were a FG away from winning that crazy divisional game vs Pittsburgh so what do they do? Sign the clutchest kicker of them all. Adam Vinateri. The RB platoon is solid, the wideouts are still dope, Manning is Manning and the defense is very solid. Super Bowl or bust.
Projections: I think Peyton is too talented not to win the big one. I know I sound like Peter King but I think this is it. The kicker was the last piece.
Jaguars 9-7: No more sneaking up on people. We know you can coach Del Rio, we know your team plays physical defense. The tough schedule will subtract two wins but no one wants to play this team. Trust me.
Projections: Odds on Fred Taylor's legs disintegrating by week 5? 3-1.
Titans 7-9: The QB situation is a little eh but I like the young defense and I think they will sneak up on a few teams this year.
Projections: How long will they wait to unleash Vincent?
Houston 3-13: The biggest debacle of a draft pick. EVER! I don't want to hear any arguments whatsoever. Terrible choice evidenced by the firing of the GM immediately after.
Projections: I have no projections. Kubiak is a good coach. I feel bad for him.
AFC NORTH
Steelers 10-6: Alot of bad news lately. But Rothlisberger is so pissed about his performance olast Super Bowl that he is driven to prove he can do it again. Cowher is always driven and last year or not he's a helluva coach. Key players at all skill positions are returning which should put them in the driver's seat in this division.
Bengals 9-7: I can't help but look at that schedule and gasp. Plus the defensive woes and the whole Palmer thing (even though he looked good)...scare me. Pitt twice, New England, at Tampa, Carolina, Atlanta, Ravens twice, San Diego, at Indy and at Denver......like whoa.
Projections: Last year they should have beaten the Steelers, that was unfortunate.
Ravens 8-8: McNair is bound to get nicked up at some point. Then your right back at square one. The D will keep this team in alot of games. I love the under in just about every game they play.
Projections: Musa Smith looked better than Mike Anderson. That confused me a bit.
Browns 7-9: Much improvement in year two of the Crennel experiment. I like the young talent, I like Frye, of course Braylon is for real and getting Fraley (C) was big for them. He can be the anchor of the line.
Projections: Better than some people think
Playoff teams:
1. Colts, 2. Patriots, 3. Broncos, 4. Steelers, 5. Dolphins, 6. Chargers
Wild Card:
Broncos over Chargers, Steelers over Dolphins
Divisional Games
Colts over Steelers, Patriots over Chargers
AFC Championship
Colts over Patriots
Super Bowl
Colts over Bears
Am I crazy or what. I just can't believe the Colts can't win the big one. If I get proved wrong this year then I will never pick them to win it all again. Never.
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9 comments:
no wonder colts didnt re-sign edge, seems like he didnt mean anything. youre going about this all wrong, you should pick against peyton until he shows you something, why give him the benefit of the doubt, what has he done to deserve it.
Exactly. The other facets of the respective teams aside, the Jets RB situation is worse than dire, but the Colts backfield is solid? I realize you have an obsessive and irrational hatred of the Jets, but there is very little separating Rhodes and Barlow in talent, come on! Let's call a spade a spade, I agree the Colts will be in the 12-win neighborhood, but they'll have to be better in other areas because they will be WORSE at running back.
well for starters i think Addai is going to be good for them this year
Rhodes I'm not banking on bringing anything other than a couple of hundred yards or so. Plus Mungro so I get what your saying with Barlow, Houston combo but that means you got nothing on Addai.
Spaceman
maybe your right, it's the other spectrum of the arguement - maybe I should pick against and see if he beats me....
York you got nothing to say bout the nfc?
I had to get this off of my chest. A lot of people are praising the Raiders for rehiring Art Shell. Do you realize after he was fired by the Raiders, nobody asked him to coach for 14 YEARS???? Does this sound like a good coach to you?????
Secondly, everyone is saying that Art Shell will bring discipline with this team. How soon everyone forgets (and no, I didn't get this from Bill Simmons) that when he coached, his team was the most penalized team in all of football (by far). Does this sound like good discipline to you? Ridiculous.
well crass he's platooning here too, with Rhodes and Mungro
AFC is deeper, by a nose though
Raider stink, Shell stink
Touche Los.
I'm definitely rethinking my own Jaguars over Colts pick. I might be wrong on that one.
But, I just have this feeling that the Colts are going to slip. Even consistent playoff teams have the year when they slip. The Pats had it in 02. The Eagles had it last year.
It's just a gut thing. I think the Colts might trip over something this season.
Other than that, your AFC pretty much matches my thoughts.
BTW...
suicide pool at LOV. Get in by 6pm. I want you there.
steveo, root for the cowboys
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