Pre-Preseason NFL Picks

The 2007 Draft has come and gone. Having had a week to go over things and give partial analysis to how the 32 teams have tried to improve themselves through trades and rookies, I decided the time was right to make my revamped predictions for the 2007-08 NFL Season. The next, and final, picks will come sometime before the Colts host the Saints in the season opener. Don't rush me on when...I've got a Bar exam to take this summer.

Without any further wait, here are the picks. Let the bashing by the homers begin:

NFC
NFC East *Philadelphia 12-4 **Washington 10-6 Dallas 8-8 NY Giants 4-12 Philly is the top of the NFC East again. Even without Stallworth, if McNabb’s health holds up, they’ll win the East. Washington’s lack of a D-Line prevents it from winning the division, but the offense and secondary pull it together. Dallas has Wade Phillips as its head coach … and there’s no running game in New York … ‘nuff said.	NFC North *Chicago 13-3 Green Bay 6-10 Detroit 4-12 Minnesota 2-14 Still a very weak division. Minnesota has no QB, a less than healthy rookie RB, no WRs, and a depleted defense. Chicago, while still with Grossman at QB and without Thomas Jones, is still the top of the division. Green Bay had a shot, but a weak draft and weak free agency prevent Favre from retiring a champion. Detroit is still rebuilding and “debuilding” at the same time under Matt Millen.
NFC South *New Orleans 12-4 Carolina 7-9 Atlanta 7-9 Tampa Bay 5-11 A stronger division than the records imply. A lot of close losses for the bottom three teams. Either the Panthers or the Falcons could easily be 10-6 instead of 7-9. New Orleans’ record completely depends on the recovery of Drew Brees. Tampa’s defense will start to return to form, but my faith in Cadillac is non-existent.	NFC West *San Francisco 12-4 **Arizona 9-7 Seattle 7-9 St. Louis 5-11 Again, a strong division despite weak records. Arizona will start to turn it around under the Whisehunt. San Fran, however, comes into its own with the strong and young backfield. Seattle will give it a solid try … but Hasselbeck will be more of a liability this season. St. Louis will play close games, but it’s D is too weak.
Note: SF gets the 4 seed by virtue of losing the 3-way tiebreaker to NO and PHI. NO gets the 2 seed by virtue of beating PHI head-to-head.
AFC
AFC East *New England 14-2 **NY Jets 12-4 Buffalo 6-10 Miami 4-12 New England has 500 wide receivers, and all of them are good. Even without Dillon, Tom Brady can complete passes from his ass all season long. The Jets are a solid 12-4, and are 1-2 players away from a Super Bowl season. Buffalo will need to give Marshawn Lynch another season before he can be truly effective. Miami will suffer from taking Ted Gimp with the #9 pick and not fixing the QB situation.	AFC North *Baltimore 12-4 Cincinnati 8-8 Cleveland 6-10 Pittsburgh 4-12 Baltimore benefits from having a relatively weak division and takes the cake. Cincy will have flashes of brilliance, even without Chris Henry in the redzone for half the season. In Cleveland, Brady Quinn will be a starter before week 8 and will make his hometown team proud. Pittsburgh needs 2-3 seasons under Tomlin before they can come close to their former status.
AFC South *Indianapolis 13-3 Tennessee 10-6 Jacksonville 10-6 Houston 4-12 Tennessee and Jacksonville will beg to move to the NFC after this season. Both teams will post strong records and just miss out on the playoffs. Indianapolis, while not as strong as last season, is still a team to be reckoned with. The Matt Schaub experiment in Houston will be reminiscent of Rob Johnson in Buffalo.	AFC West *San Diego 12-4 **Denver 11-5 Kansas City 5-11 Oakland 4-12 San Diego has the talent to finish 15-1, but Norv Turner is the head coach. They still, barely, win the division. Jay Cutler does just enough to get Denver into the playoffs. Kansas City has done nothing to improve it’s O-line after massive losses the past two seasons, and will accordingly suffer. Plus, we still don’t know who their QB is … Brodie Croyle?? Oakland will be stronger than their 4-12 record.
Note: SD gets the 3 seed by virtue of a head-to-head win over BAL.

Wildcard Playoffs

San Francisco over Washington –Frank Gore plows through the D-Line in a good game.

Philadelphia over Arizona – Blowout win for Philly.

Denver over San Diego – Denver dispatches of its division rival. Norv just can’t do it.

NY Jets over Baltimore – The Jets take advantage of an aging and weakened B’more D.

Divisional Playoffs

San Francisco over Chicago – Mike Singletary’s defense schools his old team’s offense.

New Orleans over Philadelphia – No WRs means that Philly can’t abuse the Saints’ secondary.

New England over Denver – Brady throws 4 TD passes in this game; none are given up by Champ Bailey.

Indianapolis over NY Jets – The defending champs win a close one on a last second field goal by Mr. Clutch.

Conference Finals

San Francisco over New Orleans – The bay area can cheer again … and Gore finally beats Bush.

New England over Indianapolis – Once was enough for Peyton.

Super Bowl

New England over San Francisco – Alex Smith can’t shake off the jitters, Brady plays with ice in his veins, and the AFC wins a 5^th straight Super Bowl.