Wednesday, September 3, 2008

2008 AFC predictions

It's go time in the NFL. So like everyone else in this media world, I will give you my fairly uneducated picks for how each team will fare this year (NFC picks to come on Thursday).

Note: This baseball season I picked the Mariners, Tigers and Padres to win their divisions this year. Whoops, hopefully football is really my sport.

AFC East
1. Patriots (13-3) - If Brady is healthy, this team will have the best record in the AFC again. If he's not, the Pats could be one of the worst. 

2. Jets (9-7) - Favre makes them a better team this year, but not good enough for the playoffs. No one had more overrated offseason acquisitions than the Jets (See Damien Woody and Calvin Pace).

3. Bills (7-9) - They're really not that bad, but they are also significantly worse than the Patriots and probably slightly worse than the Jets. 

4. Dolphins (3-13) - Paul Pasqualoni is the best thing on this team this year. He's a head coach by 2011.

AFC North
1. Pittsburgh (11-5) - This division is surprisingly soft, and the Steelers are the least soft of the bunch.

2. Cleveland (10-6) - This is the year the Browns finally make the playoffs. Romeo knows what he's doing.

3. Cincinnati (7-9) - I love Ocho Cinco, but this year his act might go over the line and the Bengals don't have enough firepower on defense.

4. Baltimore (4-12) - The defense is led by aging players and they don't have a legitimate quarterback. It's going to be a long season.

AFC South
1. Indy (13-3) - Manning's health is a concern, but he'll be fine and so will the Colts.

2. Jacksonville (11-5) - They're the trendy pick this year, and they will be solid with Garrard's improvement. The Jags aren't good enough to overtake the Colts though.

3. Houston (9-7) - The Texans will come so close to the playoffs this year with a healthy Matt Schaub and an improved team overall. Next year's the year for them.

4. Tennessee (6-10) - Vince Young wants to become a star, but he needs more of a supporting class. This team will be hurt by playing in the toughest AFC division.

AFC West
1. San Diego (12-4) - Another trendy pick for 2008. The love affair is a little much, like it was last year, but Phillip Rivers is good enough to take them deep in the playoffs.

2. Broncos (7-9) - Seven wins is only possible for the Broncos because they play the Chiefs and Raiders twice. They're not seven-wins good, but the rest of the teams in the west are that bad.

3. Chiefs (5-11) - I used to love Brodie Croyle, but it's time to jump off his bandwaggon.

4. Raiders (4-12) - Jamarcus Russel is really a rookie this year, and he will face some growing pains. The Raiders will struggle with him and their defense won't bail them out.

Playoffs
Round 1 - Chargers def. Browns, Jaguars def. Steelers
Round 2 - Patriots def. Jaguars, Colts def. Chargers
AFC Champ - Patriots def. Colts

I know these playoffs resemble last season's a lot, but come on, I picked the Browns to be in the playoffs. Gimme a break here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

how do you feel about Gutierrez getting the boot?

Anonymous said...

Since Damien Woody was on your team, you can say he is overrated, but he is an upgrade of what we had. As for Calvin Pace, you can't say that he is overrated. He got 6.5 sacks in his 1st season in a 3-4 defense last year. I think he is only going to get better. He's a former first round pick and now has a fresh start. I disagree with you on Pace, but time will tell.