NFL Predicions: Division By Division

The best thing about the beginning of the NFL season is the anticipation and knowing that just about anything can happen. The second best thing is making predictions that are usually never correct. But it’s too difficult to resist so here are my bold predictions of the division winners of the 2009 NFL season. Since the NFC has more competitive divisions, I’ll start with them.

NFC EAST: Fewer questions = More wins

It’s simple… the teams with the least amount of questions hovering around will win be crowned the Beast of the East (ex. Will the Giants make up for the loss of their of a no.1 receiver?). The two teams with the least amount of questions are the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles. The Giants only have one flaw and that’s the absence of a play-making receiver. They addressed that by drafting Hakeem Nicks with their first round pick, but that won’t be enough to fill the void Plaxico left them. Fortunately, the Giants still have a scary running game and an even scarier defense with Osi Umenyiora back.

The Eagles also don’t have as many questions as one might think. The most important question the Eagles will have to answer is how the defense will be able to cope without their emotional leader Brian Dawkins and the loss of the defensive genius Jim Johnson. Philadelphia also needs head coach Andy Reid to be consistently good with his play-calling. McNabb has so much talent around him now that they will be able to put up enough points to get to 10 wins.

However, the Redskins and the Cowboys have too many questions. Will Devin Thomas or Malcolm Kelly emerge as the solid receivers Jason Campbell needs? Will Albert Haynesworth play up to his 100 million dollar contract? Will the offensive line come together and keep Jason Campbell on his feet? How will Tony Romo play without Terrell Owens? Who will emerge as the Dallas no.2 receiver? How many punts will hit the gigantic scoreboard in the new stadium?

Here’s how the NFC East will finish: 1. Giants – 11-5  2. Eagles – 10-6         

3. Redskins – 9-7       4. Cowboys – 8-8

NFC NORTH: Now, it’s personal…

Brett Favre got what he really wants all along (going back way before he was a New York Jet). Does anyone really think Favre ever wanted to be in New York? Of course not. He always wanted to play in Minnesota and try to beat the guys who wanted him to respectfully leave or be on the team as a backup to Aaron Rodgers. But the Packers wouldn’t trade him to a division rival last year. But now Favre is where he wants to be. There is no hope for Detroit and if Jay Cutler’s number one target is Devin Hester (He is a kick returner, not a wide receiver), then Chicago is going to have a problem.

So this division will come down to Favre’s new team against his old team. Here’s the thing about Minnesota and Brett Favre: Favre is going to lose at least a couple games for the Vikings as he did for the Jets last year, but head coach Brad Childress will also lose some games. There is a reason why he is 24-24 overall as head coach in Minnesota. He is a mediocre coach who crumbles in big games even when he has a more talented team. You know a coach is bad when he essentially puts his job on the line to acquire Brett Favre throughout the entire offseason, lines him up at wide receiver in a preseason game, and calls a running play to his side in which Favre actually has to block!

The Green Bay Packers and their fans want their revenge and they are going to get it. Rodgers is going to have a break out season and as long as Ryan Grant and the defense can stay healthy, the Packers will win the division.

1. Packers – 10-6       2. Vikings – 9-7          3. Bears – 8-8             4. Lions – 4-12

NFC WEST – The best of the worst

Well none of these teams stand out as a good team. Arizona looks like they will run away with the division title because well… who is going to challenge them? It won’t be San Francisco as long as Shaun Hill is their quarterback and Michael Crabtree is on the sidelines. And who knows if Frank Gore can stay healthy. St. Louis has no shot in contending for the division title. On the other hand, Seattle has Matt Hasselbeck healthy again. T.J Houshmandzadeh is the best target Hasselbeck has ever had the privilege to throw to. But Seattle still has absolutely no running game and no defense to stop Arizona’s high powered offense.

With Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and a healthy Kurt Warner out there, defenses are going to have an enormous amount of trouble. The Cardinals have arguably the best wide receiver combination in the league so there is no way the Seahawks, 49ers and Rams are going to stop them. Here’s how the NFC West will end up:

1. Cardinals – 9-7       2. Seahawks – 7-9      3. 49ers – 6-10            4. Rams – 6-10

NFC SOUTH: Offense wins championships… or just this division

One thing is for sure, games between these teams are going to have ridiculously high scores. Each team (except for Tampa Bay of course) has so many weapons on offense that it’s becoming one of the most entertaining divisions in football. The south has stud quarterbacks like Drew Brees and Matt Ryan. There are some extremely talented receivers like Steve Smith, Marques Colston and Roddy White (underrated!). And I can’t forget about the running backs DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, Michael Turner and Reggie Bush (maybe this will finally be his break out year). And let’s also not forget about players like Tony Gonzalez, Jeremy Shockey, Antonio Bryant and Pierre Thomas.

There is almost too much offensive fire power in this division. One would think which ever team has the best defense will most likely win this division, but I just don’t see any of these teams being able to stop the other. The Saints defense will give teams the most trouble now that Gregg Williams is the defensive coordinator in New Orleans. That will make the Saints the surprise team in the NFC, but they will most likely get one of the wild card spots.

I have to go with the team with the most weapons – and that team is the Atlanta Falcons. Matt Ryan is not a fluke and with the addition of tight end Tony Gonzalez, there is just too much talent around Ryan for him to fail. Atlanta takes this division in a hard fought battle with New Orleans. Here is how the rest of the division will turn out:

1. Falcons – 11-5        2. Saints – 10-6           3. Panthers 9-7           4. Buccaneers – 6-10