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AFC East

1. New England, 12-4....All the band wagon people are talking about 15-1 or 16-0....Sorry, Moss is a potential headache, believe me....He turned Raiders into a fractured locker room.....Picking up Thomas as a FA was huge, though.....

2. New York Jets, 9-7....They surprised everybody last year but they wont this year....They raped the Bears by stripping them of Thomas Jones and left the Bears with an unproven back....Pennington needs to be more consistent....

3. Miami, 6-10.....Trent Green is toast, they botched it by taking Ginn over Quinn....They say they are gonna use Ginn like Az Hakim was in St.Louis as a 3rd WR, in the slot, etc.....Miami does have a good D but it is aging.....How much does Porter help them????

4. Buffalo, 3-13....A lot of people think the Bills are gonna be like 6-10 or 7-9 but they lost a bunch of guys on D....Nate Clements, Takeo Spikes and London Fletcher-Baker....They overpaid for OL Langston Walker (trust me, Im a Raider fan) and Dockery....They basically traded McGahee for a rookie in Marshawn Lynch....It's gonna be ugly because Losman is inconsistent.....

AFC West

1. Denver, 11-5....Cutler is young but Travis Henry (picked up from Tennessee) will be unreal in Denver's running game....The D is solid and Javon Walker will be great....

2. San Diego, 10-6....Huge dropoff because Norv Turner is a coordinator not  a head coach (trust me, Raiders fan, see a pattern here?)....LT is possibly the greatest back ever but Chargers dont have a solid WR corp....D is excellent although pass D could be a concern....

3. Oakland, 6-10....Finally....The D is ever improving, they added Donovan Darius so they can put Schweigert on the bench....The secondary is one of the best and they have a solid LB group.....It all depends on Culpepper....He has looked good on roll-outs and has a rocket arm....If he's 75% of 2004 Culpepper Raiders cld jump to 8-8 and be a wild card contender....COULD....

4. Kansas City, 4-12....The Chiefs dont have LJ in camp and they are far apart, they dont have a clear cut favorite at QB and have questionable WR's.....See Buffalo, things cld get ugly.....Ironic as they have improved on D and picked up a CB in Ty Law.....And some good LB's.....If they only had an offense....

AFC South

1. Indianapolis, 11-5....Their defense was picked apart by usual FA's looking for big money....They lost both their CB's and a safety from their secondary, also lost LB Cato June....So Manning will throw and throw....They shld be ok on D by the time the playoffs roll around....

2. Jacksonville, 8-8....Great D, but they need more offense plus a clear QB....Why didnt they chase Culpepper??? Their offensive coordinator, Mike Tice coached him in Minny....Frustrating year for Jags fans....

3. Houston, 5-11....Growing pains with Schaub....Ahman Green is an upgrade at RB....Another rough year depends on the D.....

Tennessee, 3-13....Young is gonna take a step back....He has hardly any weopens....They lost both WR's in Bennett and Wade plus their best RB Travis Henry....They did improve the D with CB Nick Harper from Indy....But Young needs help on offense, he cant do it all alone....

AFC North

1. Baltimore, 14-2....McGahee makes them a real threat to get to the Super Bowl, big improvement over a burnt Jamal Lewis....McNair needs to go deep more this year; he was excellent last year as a game manager and short passing game....The loss of Thomas may hurt a little but they still have Lewis....Ed Reed is the best safety in football....

2. Cincinnati, 9-7....The Bengals and Steelers will be fighting for 2nd place and a wild card....The Bengals D is key because Palmer will do what he does; score and score a lot....

3. Pittsburgh, 8-8....This season is a honeymoon for Tomlin....Will the real Big Ben please stand up?

4. Cleveland, 4-12....Quinn looked good in his 1st action in pre-season and Jamal Lewis is over the hill....Crennel gets fired after the season....

 NFC East

1. Dallas, 11-5...The Boys thrive under Romo, Barber, Jones, Glenn and TO....Romo is playing for a contract and they didnt lose much in free agency and added a huge OL in Leonard Davis to protect Romo....Make no mistake, Dallas didnt win a Super Bowl under Parcells but he left them a lot better off than when he got there....If Dallas wins, its cause Parcells left the cupboard loaded....

2. Philadelphia, 10-6....The entire season hinges on McNabb....If he's healthy, the Eagles could be the team in the Super Bowl from the NFC....Westbrook stepped up when McNabb was hurt last year and is a phenomenal talent....Reggie Brown is a star waiting to happen....The D improved from picking up Spikes from Buffalo; he is a bona fide playmaker....

3. Washington, 7-9....A lot of questions that need answers....Can Gibbs endure this? Can Portis stay healthy? Is Campbell the real deal?

4. New York Giants, 4-12....Without Strahan and Barber, things get ugly and only way they equal last year's 8-8 is if Eli morphs into Peyton....

NFC West

1. San Francisco, 10-6....The Niners are back....Well not quite....They will win a weak NFC West and are way better with their impressive off season signings of Clements, WR Darrell Jackson and S Michael Lewis....They didnt lose much...

2. Seattle, 8-8....The Seahawks are done, they went 1-3 against SF and Arizona last year....Alexander may not be the RB he once was....They lost Jackson to NFC West rival SF....Hasselbeck cld keep them a tough team but age is creeping up on him as well

3. St.Louis, 7-9....They again cld be the Greatest Show on Turf with the additions of WR Bennett and TE McMichael to go with Bruce and Holt....However the D is another story....The DL is solid but the LB's are a question....The secondary is ok....

4. Arizona, 5-11....Give **** a season to implement his system....The talent is there but the D is a concern....The secindary has a solid perfomer in Adrian Wilson and little else...Offense isnt a problem in Arizona with Leinart, James, Boldin, and Fitzgerald....

NFC South

1. Carolina, 11-5....The Panthers D is a step below Chicago....Foster and Williams give Carolina a solid 1-2 punch....David Carr will be a solid backup to Delhomme and the future....

2. New Orleans, 9-7....The Saints had a miracle year and will experience a drop off....Bush showed he cldnt make the burst around the corner like he did in college and was basically a 3rd WR....Without Horn, they have to hope Colston is the real deal and that rookie WR Robert Meacham can do what Colston did last year....On D, they have a solid Line, decent LB's and DB's that need to step up....

3. Tampa Bay, 6-10...Garcia shld have stayed in Philly where an injured McNabb means he gets playing time in a tailor made offense for him....In TB, he has a coach on hot seat and an aging D....Cadillac looked like a Ford Focus last year and needs to step up....

4. Atlanta, 3-13.....Ummmm.....They cld be the worst team in the League....But even with Vick, they were looking at a 5-11 or 6-10 season....If Harrington fits into Petrino's new system he cld find redemption if he rallies Falcons to a couple upset wins and a 6-10 record....Patrick Kearney is gone from their D but the offense is the concern here....At least Dunn is still around....

NFC North

1. Chicago, 10-6....The Bears let Thomas Jones go to the Jets to see what Benson cld do??? This is a bad omen....If Grossman doesnt step up like Eli needs to, Grossman will be a career backup....At least the D is the best in the NFC....

2. Green Bay, 9-7....Favre is still around and they are trying to corral him? He's a gun slinger and that D wont win many games....Brandon Jackson will be a sleeper RB this year....Driver is Favre's main option on offense...Greg Jennings cld develop into something special....Charles Woodson had a bounce back year....If things break right, the Pack cld be in hunt for a wild card

3. Detroit, 6-10....The Lions wont win 8 games, much less 10 games....Goodell needs to drug test Kitna and see what he has been smoking and suspend him....LOL....The offense could be a potent 1 right up there with St.Louis but the D is a major concern....They lost CB Dre Bly and DE James Hall from an already weak D...Some think the Lions cld be this years Saints but NO went 8-8 before Hurricane Katrina 3-13 season....Detroit is the laughing stock of the NFL....They have a journeyman QB who had to throw last year cause they cldnt run the ball....Having said that, they wont be the worst team this year....

4.Minnesota, 4-12....The Vikes need to trade a 3rd or 4th round pick to Arizona for Warner.....Minnesota has a line that cld keep him up and Warner cld lead them to an 8-8 record and contend for a wild card berth....Without him, Jackson will get on job training....Peterson and Taylor are a solid 1-2 punch....Troy Williamson, Billy McMullen and Wade are decent 3 WR's....Vikes D keeps them in most games but not enough to win....They need a proven QB to back up Jackson or Warner to get them in contention for a .500 record.....

Playoff predicitons

AFC Championship

Baltimore vs Indy=Baltimore

NFC Championship

Dallas vs Carolina=Carolina

Super Bowl

Baltimore over Carolina