NFL Predictions: 5 Teams That Could Shock Us in 2012

Can you feel it?  Can you feel the excitement of the 2012 season building and building as each hour goes by?

We are so close to the beginning of the 2012 NFL season that I can taste it.  It's around this time of year that everyone makes their bold playoff predictions and tells anyone who will listen how well players A, B and C will do.

I've decided to go a bit of a different route—at least for now.  Last season, the Cincinnati Bengals went from being the laughingstock of the league to making the postseason. 

Who could be that team in 2012?

Seattle Seahawks

I've been very up and down about the Seattle Seahawks over the last couple seasons—you'll get a team one week that shows up and puts up a big fight, and then the next week shows nothing.

I'm not the biggest Russell Wilson supporter, but you have to believe that he'll bring some excitement to the offense.  He's a young guy who isn't afraid to move out of the pocket, and has put on a pretty good showing this preseason, throwing for five touchdowns and only one pick.

He's got solid receivers in Sidney Rice and Doug Baldwin, and the team just added Braylon Edwards—we'll see if he gets back to form.  Marshawn Lynch is a top-10 back, so the offense is in decent shape.

The defense isn't as well off, as there are no real playmakers.  The team hopes Bruce Irvin wasn't a wasted first-round pick.

Being in the NFC West, they should win four of their six games, as they are better than both the Cardinals and Rams.  They also play the AFC East, which could get them another three wins. 

Overall, the team isn't star-studded and I'm not picking them as my sleeper team, but they won't be an easy victory.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

I feel like quite a few people have picked the Bucs as a potentially surprising team in 2012—after all, this is the team that finished just a game out of the postseason only two seasons ago.

A lot of their success is going to hinge on Josh Freeman bouncing back and being the guy who threw 25 touchdowns and only six interceptions in 2010.  I'm not concerned about the running game, as Doug Martin and LeGarrette Blount should carry the load just fine.

Tampa Bay added Dallas Clark and Vincent Jackson to its offense, giving Freeman more weapons to utilize.  If he struggles again this season, he may be shown the door.

On defense, the ageless wonder, Ronde Barber, is joined by Mark Barron in the secondary, and they'll team with Eric Wright and Aqib Talib to form a powerful secondary.  Gerald McCoy spent much of his 2011 season injured, so he'll be a force on the front line, and Adrian Clayborn will build on last season, when he made 7.5 sacks.

With the Bucs' schedule being what it is, I'd say this is the least likely surprise team.  The NFC South is quickly becoming the league's toughest division, so six games against Atlanta, Carolina and New Orleans won't be easy.  Playing the AFC West isn't awful, but Denver and San Diego aren't pushovers. 

It's not likely, but keep Tampa Bay on your radar.

Tennessee Titans

Since the Titans were so close to the postseason last year, I don't know if it's fair to say they could shock us this year, but I'm going to anyway.  I feel like the expectations aren't high for Tennessee.

They're entering the season with rookie Jake Locker leading the offense, a move I commend the Titans for.  Matt Hasselbeck has been a good quarterback, but his time is up. 

Locker has been solid despite his minimal NFL experience, but it's time to get the kid on the field.  He's got an absolute gun for an arm, but we'll have to see how well he performs between the ears.

If Chris Johnson can get back to form, this team has a good offense—but the entire season cannot be left solely up to Locker.  Johnson has to show up ready to go, but the preseason has not given us any reason to believe it will happen. 

Still, the point is, Locker has good weapons to throw to, a decent offensive line and (hopefully) Chris Johnson.  If everything falls into place, that offense could be surprisingly good.

The defensive line isn't great, but the corps of linebackers and secondary action make up for that.  Jason McCourty is a machine and is going to give quarterbacks fits all year.

The AFC South isn't particularly rough outside of Houston this season, and if Matt Schaub gets hurt (again), those games even become winnable.  They play the NFC North this season, which should get them at least one win, maybe two when Detroit comes to town. 

After that, the Titans are good enough to beat the Jets, Chargers, Bills and Dolphins, so 10 or 11 wins isn't impossible for Tennessee.

Carolina Panthers

Of all the teams on this list—or off this list, for that matter—it seems that the Carolina Panthers are under more pressure than any other team to perform well.  And the man with the magnifying glass on him?

Cam Newton. 

He shattered rookie records and was the Rookie of the Year in 2011, and Panthers fans are convinced their savior is taking them back to the promised land in 2012.

Now, in Newton's defense, he doesn't have much to throw to.  Steve Smith is getting old and brittle, Greg Olsen isn't quite the receiving tight end he used to be and Brandon LaFell is unproven. 

They make up for that with one of the more underrated running games, made up of Jonathon Stewart and DeAngelo Williams (and Cam Newton). 

Jon Beason, the team's inside linebacker, is the only big playmaker on defense, and he's struggling with injuries.  Unfortunately for the Panthers, if they're going to win some ballgames in 2012, they'll pretty much have to do it in shootouts—the defense really doesn't have anything that sticks out.

Looking at their schedule, it's conceivable that they could win four games.  Tampa Bay is up in the air, New Orleans is surrounded by Bountygate penalties and Atlanta is solid, but only in certain aspects. 

This team should fair pretty well against a weak AFC West, and certainly is capable of beating Washington, Dallas and Seattle.

The Panthers will probably be the favorite to shock everyone in 2012, but they're not mine...

Washington Redskins

This one will be tough—coming out of the tough NFC East, the young Washington Redskins could make quite a splash in 2012.

How is this possible?  They play each of their NFC East division foes twice and the AFC North, which has three playoff contenders. 

People didn't see how well Washington played last season—without a quarterback!  This is a team that beat the New York Giants twice last season, and returns quite a few key guys. 

On defense, Ryan Kerrigan and Brian Orakpo are excellent receivers. 

London Fletcher is their inside man.  Now that's a scary defense, and those are just the linebackers.  DeAngelo Hall still has some gas left in the tank and Adam Carriker is solid on the line.

On offense, the explosive Robert Griffin III should breathe life into what was a struggling offense, and he'll be throwing to some quality guys.  Santana Moss, Leonard Hankerson and Pierre Garcon aren't huge names, but they can make an impact. 

The big concern will be the offensive line, but it should be enough.

Looking at Washington's schedule, it's easy for me to pick nine games they could potentially win.  I say they win 10 and reach the postseason.