Breaking Down The NFL Divisions For 2009-2010: Weakest To Toughest

The 2009-2010 NFL season is still months away, but with the NFL draft over and rosters set for the most part, I'd like to take a look at NFL divisions and rank them from weakest to toughest.

8. NFC West

This was a tough decision on the weakest division because the AFC West may not be much better this year either. I'm putting the NFC West here because I honestly think it will be another down year for the Rams and Seattle.

I don't think either team has made enough improvements in the offseason so far to warrant any belief in winning seasons. The Cardinals will once again win the division, possibly with an even better record then last year, but that still doesn't push this conference out of the weakest spot.

San Francisco could be a surprise team this and make a run for a wild card spot so be on the look-out for them as well.

7. AFC West 

San Diego and Denver both went 8-8 last year and both sat atop the standings in this weak division. Oakland is a train-wreck and somehow will be even worse this year than last year. In my opinion, they will continue to struggle until they make a change at the quarterback position.

Kansas City will get more than two wins this season, but not much more. The loss of Tony Gonzalez and a new quarterback in the system could spell another long season for the Chiefs.

I expect San Diego to be the class of the division once again with not much of a challenge from Denver who will have a new quarterback, new head coach, and no much of a dependable running game.

6. AFC North 

It's hard to rank this division THIS low with the defending Super Bowl champs here and a great team like Baltimore, but blame the Bengals and Browns for that. Wide receivers are looking for any reason possible to get out of Cincinnati. They have no running game, a defense that really has struggled, and a quarterback that seems to be injured more than healthy (he can thank his offensive line for that).

Cleveland surely won't be better this year as the quarterback merry-go-round continues to turn. They lost TE Winslow, managed to keep WR Edwards for his final year of contract, but he will surely be running out of town after this season as well. Neither team will get more then four wins this season I don't believe.

Pittsburgh and Baltimore will continue to be great teams and battle it out for the division. They both look to continue where they left off last season and I'm sure one of them will make a great run for a Super Bowl spot.

5. NFC North 

This was another tough spot for me, because I could honestly have put this division at the fourth position ahead of the AFC South simply because I feel this will be the most improved division in the NFL top to bottom this year.

The Lions will not go winless this season. Looking at their schedule, I could see them winning anywhere from three to five games. They have a rookie quarterback in Matt Stafford who will be playing early in the season, a solid young running back in Kevin Smith who will have a break-out season, and a nice rookie TE in Pettigrew. The offense will be better in all aspects.

Green Bay will be better than a six win team this year. Chicago made the big move of the offseason by geting Cutler and that puts them in a great position to make a push for the division title this year.

The Vikings are still the favorites here and will have another great season (Favre or no Favre) simply because they have Peterson and a solid defense. This will be the most improved division in the NFL with all four teams cashing in more wins than in the 2008-2009 season.

4. AFC South 

Despite the controversy at quarterback, Tennessee will be great again this season with the solid running game and defense. Will they be 13 win great? Probably not, but they will still make the Colts sweat it out come down to the end of the season. I expect both the Colts and Titans to be 10+ win teams again this season, with the Colts winning the division over the Titans by one game or holding the tie-breaker.

Houston will have a healthy Matt Schaub this season and if they can protect him long enough, I think Houston could also make a run at 10 wins as well. The tricky team for me to make a prediction on is the Jaguars.

Every season I have reason to believe that this team will finally make it over the hump. Jones-Drew will now be the go-to guy "officially" now that Fred Taylor has left, and that will turn out to be great for both Jones-Drew and the Jaguars. If they can get consistent play out of Garrard and the defense can continue to be strong, the Jaguars could pick up a few more wins than last season, making this a great all-around division.

3. NFC South

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