The NFL is arguably the most difficult sport to predict of the big three. In baseball you'll have your Tampa Bay Rays' of the world, but on a bad year you can probably pick five out of eight playoff teams. In the NBA, the order is the most difficult part, along with the bottom 3 team in the East who don't matter one bit. But in the NFL, if you saw the playoff teams for the year before watching it, you'd probably sound a little like, "OK...Indy, New England...whoa, holy shit!" The Texans could be 10-6 this year for all we know...they're really not that bad! The point is, I'm about to rank where I believe everyone will finish in their division and pick the Wild Card teams...I can't wait to see these in 3 months. Beginning with the AFC North, let's go clockwise (I will also be listing who on the teams is also on my fantasy team...alright, here we go).
AFC North
1) Pittsburgh Steelers
Mike Tomlin likes to throw the ball and Ben Roethlisberger is a great improviser. For 16 games in the regular season, I see this working. I imagine Pitt going on a sort of cruise control and winning that division because it's filled with inept and/or self destructive teams. I don't like this passing strategy with Big Ben at the helm in the playoffs however. I think only in a severe down year for the league can this team win a Super Bowl.
Buddies' Fantasy Count: None
2) Cincinnati Bengals
I've watched this team as much as anybody in the world over the past few years and they are really one of the worst teams of all time in ANY sport to be a fan of. I've never seen a team with such a nose for losing. With that said, I think they can manage a .500 season, mainly because they seem to have Baltimore and Cleveland's numbers over years. If they can go 4-2 in the division and beat Tennessee, Houston, Washington, and KC, that's 8-8 right there (I would like to predict that Palmer is hurt for the KC game and Ryan Fitzpatrick wins it, I'm not sure why). Even with these low expectations, I'm sure the Bungles will find some way to disappoint me. This is definitely not one of my Wild Card picks.
Buddies' Fantasy Folks: Keith Rivers and Chris Perry
3) Cleveland Browns
This team blew a chance at the playoffs last year and I was pretty high on them for a while, but I'm wary of teams who go against the typical personality of the city. The Old Browns were based on running and defense, and this is basically a passing team. That makes me nervous.
Anyway, I'm not sure Derek Anderson is that good. He had great receivers, a good line, a good running game, and an easy schedule last season and if he struggles, the "Brady Quinn" chants will commence (which is never a good thing). This team's defense is still not even average. They have too many expectations with a much more difficult schedule. I just see this team being under .500. Sidenote: If The Browns make the playoffs this season, we are looking at a new city of Cleveland. Maybe it's time for the dark cloud to move onto somewhere else.
Fantasy Buddies: Kellen Winslow and Phil Dawson
4) Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore's offense is as terrible as ever and their legendary defense is aging. The only thing that can keep this team above 4-12 is if Troy Smith is somehow great (which would be neat). They just got a new coach and it doesn't even seem like there is any reason for them to try this year.
Fanta-Buddies: Troy Smith, Terrell Suggs, and Ray Rice
Not bad, I would just flop the Bengals and Browns. It's not because I think the Browns will be good, I'm guessing 8-8, it's because the Bengals are not good enough to go 8-8 with the injuries their team has already sustained. This division sucks.
ReplyDeleteThe Bengals are much more likely to go -8 wins and 24 losses than any other outcome. Their talent level is at the bottom of the league, along with their brain level. They also have to worst coach and the worst front office along with the worst personal conduct. All of their "key" players are injured and Rudi Johnson taste like old dingle berries. This division is already the worst and they have to play the NFC East...in which they would be lucky to pull off a 1-15 season.
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