Changing of the Guard: Some Food for Thought: Division Winners

The old powerhouses of the NFL are slipping to the way side and growing a little long in the tooth. Peyton is making way for his little bro Eli and the Pats are an ever growing question mark each week barely beating an improved Bills team and losing to the upstart Jets and rookie QB Mark “Dirty” Sanchez, mind you the Jets D has been tough and NE lost a whack of gritty veterans whose leadership was obviously important.

The Falcons and the Ravens emerged last year as contenders with rookie QBs Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco, don’t ya love saying that, Flacco! Go Flacco yourself! Oops off on a tad of a tangent there...at any rate... Both continue to play well, though Baltimore has always had great D though it is aging, but Lewis sure made his presence felt breaking through the line and sealing the deal this week in their win against San Diego. Giving Ryan another weapon in most likely the best tight end ever in the NFL Tony G just makes them all the more dangerous and the chemistry between Ryan and Gonzales has been apparent early, the supposed weakness in the secondary seems to be fading as they have been fairly steady.

Pittsburgh seems to be slipping after squeaking out a Super Bowl win over the Cards, at least on the offensive side of the ball and special teams, what happened to the usually automatic Jeff Reed, the loss of the wild one Polamalu on D is tough as well, obviously.

Tampa who’s always been a tough team to play is a quandary to assess as it seems their franchise is in turmoil which I believe was everyone’s preseason thought anyhow and is proving to be “Just who we thought they were”.

Minny who has been on the cusp of greatness since getting AP has the ever retiring yet seemingly ageless wonder Brett Favre who looked over cooked after a pretty poor season in NY last year but may have found a shot at another Super Bowl and seems rejuvenated. The addition of first rounder Percy Harvin has paid dividends already though their D doesn’t seem to be as bruising as it was last season.

Holly smokes, the Saints are on fire! The Brees is blowing Colston out there and the Bush is Shockeyly swaying in it! Could a team get off to a hotter start on offence, I think not. We all knew Breezy was good but he has moved into the conversation for the best QB in the NFL. Smashing Det week one was nothing but taking it to a Philly D like they did was off the hook, leaving only one question when looking at this Saints team, can their D step up, and if so can you say Super Bowl bound?!

Tennessee who held the best record in the NFL last year has started 0-2 losing to Pit week one in a tight one and then dropping game two to their division rival Houston Texans. Kerry Collins still has a good arm and the rushing attack with their two headed monster of Chris Johnson and LenDale White is still dangerous but have NFL coaches found something lacking here?

With all the first rounder’s on this Houston team each year they seem to be ready to make a jump into the upper echelon of  the league yet seem to find a way to lose and really they are still a few draft picks and players away from doing that still but they are on the rise. They have started the season in the opposite fashion of their previous trends winning on the road and losing at home, the Texans are conundrum in my book.

Da Bears with Jay Cut Cut started weak against Green Bay and then beat the Champs in week two, which QB are we going to see in week three, I think Cutler is becoming more comfortable in his new digs and should steadily improve and learn to use some of the weapons he has in Chicago with Hester and Forte some more screens to either and learning to hit Hester on the run in open field could turn deadly for any opposing D.

Green Bay has all the weapons and will put up points as Aaron Rogers has made Favre a name of the past while the newly installed 3-4 D should help utilize the skills of linebacker A.J. Hawk. But when you lose to Cincy at home you have to scratch you head and reassess! A Lambeau leaping Ocho Cinco isn’t what the cheese heads want! I liked the guy patting his back yet still giving the one finger salute! Damn I love football!

AFC East—New England will be challenged by the Jets for the division title, but should retain it as Brady gets his stuff back.

AFC North—Baltimore edges out Pittsburgh and as the Bengals and the Brown continue to rebuild.

AFC South—Indy and Manning get it done though not in convincing fashion while Tennessee falls from greatness and the Texans and Jags continue to build for the future.

AFC West—San Diego takes this weak division while Oakland improves if management stays out of the mix while KC and Denver continue to suck.

NFC East—Giants win one of the toughest divisions in football and go deep in the playoffs while Philly and Dallas battle for a wild card and Washington still needs to find some offense.

NFC North—Minnesota comes out on top challenged by Green Bay and the Bears improve slightly while the Lions win a couple.

NFC South—Atlanta battles for the division with New Orleans decided by their head to head games with New Orleans coming out the victor though ATL gets in as a wild card team as Carolina and T-Bay struggle.

NFC West—St. Louis wins it all and goes on to the Super Bowl hahahaha! But seriously San Fran Zona and Seattle are in a tight fight but Arizona seems to have an easier route and should take the division.

Hell of a great start to the season, keep an eye for my breakdown each week The Quick Read where I give a quick break down and my assessment of who gets it done against the spread. After two weeks I am 24-8 straight up and 19-13 ATS.

All the best!