Darren McFadden Will Lead the AFC in Rushing and Nine Other Predictions for 2009

1)    Darren McFadden will lead the AFC in rushing.

I saw enough of McFadden to know that he’s something special. The Raiders are going to get a good offensive head coach, whomever he is.

Al Davis loves good offensive coaches. That coach is going to arrive in Oakland to find the new best running back in the AFC.

2)    Tom Brady will not be ready to start the season.

There have been rumors swirling about Tom Brady and his knee since he went under the knife. Most of those rumors center around that theory that his recovery is going slower than expected.

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Tom Brady will return in 2009, but it will be closer to week 6 than week 1.

Speaking of Patriots’ quarterbacks…

3)    The Patriots will franchise Matt Cassel, then trade him to the Vikings.

The Patriots aren’t going to let Matt Cassel go for nothing. But they’re also not going to carry $25 million worth of quarterbacks next season.

Regardless of Brady’s health, unless we’re talking career threatening, Matt Cassel will be traded by the New England Patriots.

Many teams will be interested, but the Vikings are desperate. The Patriots won’t get two first round picks for their franchise player, but they might get one.

4)    Ed Reed will once again be the best defensive player in the NFL.

I don’t care who wins the awards. I don’t care what anyone says. Don’t talk to me about Bob Sanders or anyone else. I’m not listening.

Ed Reed is the best defensive player in the NFL. He might be the best all around player in the NFL. His not winning NFL Defensive Player of the Year is a travesty.

He’ll take it out on the rest of the NFL next season.

5)    Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid will both be back with the Eagles.

There’s nothing like winning to fix what ails you. If you had asked me a month ago, I would have told you that both McNabb and Reid were likely gone.

A great December and a playoff win later, and I’m 100% sure that both will be back. Reid gets a lot of credit for benching McNabb earlier in the season.

I’m not sure that’s what did it, but something woke McNabb up. He’s been tremendous.

I still don’t trust him in a close playoff game, but it’s not like the NFL is drowning in great quarterbacks.

6)    The Detroit Lions will win a game!

It’ll be bad. It’ll be really bad. But it won’t be as bad as it was this season.

They may make it to week 8. Maybe even week 12. But at some point next season, the Detroit Lions will win a game.

Of course, the over-under on total wins is 2…

7)    Brett Favre will retire…for good. Seriously.

It got so bad in New York this season that even Favre started to realize that his act was getting tired. Almost as tired as his arm.

Favre will retire. There will be rumors that he’s going to return. He may even hold a press conference or two to discuss returning.

Hell, he may want to return. But in the end, Favre will not be playing football in 2009. Either by choice, or by force.

8)    The Dallas Cowboys will be the most entertaining team in the NFL…off the field.

The Cowboys are like a big barrel of gun powder. You have all kinds of crazy players who want to see what happens when they light a match.

The only thing standing between those players and that match is a “new and improved” Wade Phillips.

Ka-boom.

9)    Adrian Peterson will win the MVP

He’s probably the best pure running back I’ve ever seen. He’s been running at eight man fronts for two seasons, and he’s been dominating.

What happens if the Vikings get a real quarterback? What happens if teams can’t stack eight men in the box?

I’ve already predicted that Matt Cassel will end up with the Vikings. Should that happen, the happiest man in Minnesota will be Adrian Peterson.

Just imagine what he’ll do to a defense when they have to actually respect the pass…

10)    The Baltimore Ravens will win their second Super Bowl in a row.

That’s right. Their defense is dominant enough to get them their and, gasp, even win this season. Next season, Joe Flacco will be good enough to get them there himself. Only he’ll still have that insane defense.

The one that features that Ed Reed guy.

The Ravens are built to dominate for a long time. It’s scary, really. Now that they have a quarterback, the sky’s the limit for this team.

Hold a gun to my head, I think they win this season’s Super Bowl. Keep the gun pointed at my head, I make them the early favorites to win next season’s Super Bowl.

Sean Crowe covers the New England Patriots for Examiner.com and writes a bi-weekly column for Sports-Central.org.

He is a Senior Writer and an NFL Community Leader at Bleacher Report. You can email him at [e-mail]. His archive can be found here.