My 2010 NFL Season Predictions

“Its tough to make predictions, especially about the future” -Yogi Berra-

So here it is.  My first ever NFL season predictions.  If you saw my NHL playoff predictions for the first round last year, you should know by now that I’ll never be the next Nostradamus.  But part of the fun and excitement of a new football season is predicting what might, or what might not happen.  So read on and enjoy.  Feel free to comment, laugh, make fun, and most of all, share your own thoughts.  When we look back at this come February, we’ll be getting ready for a Bills-Lions Super Bowl! 

AFC East

New York Jets 11-5

New England Patriots 9-7

Miami Dolphins 9-7

Buffalo Bills 3-13

Maybe I’m being a little biased here (okay not maybe, I am), but I think the Jets have what it takes to win the division. The defense should be fine but it all depends on which Mark Sanchez shows up: the interception prone Sanchez or last season’s playoff edition Sanchez…As always the Patriots will be in the playoff conversation, but they’ve faded a bit each year since their disappointing 16-0 season…The Dolphins will make life hard for many teams this season, but will also make life harder on themselves with losses to the Jets and Patriots as the season winds down…What more can I say about the Bills?? A loser of four straight Super Bowls in the 90’s, their misery continues this season. The only reasons to watch Bills games this year: 1- You won’t have to stay up late as all their games will kick off at 1:00 pm EST. 2- C.J. Spiller if he’s on your fantasy team.

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens 11-5

Pittsburgh Steelers 8-8

Cincinnati Bengals 7-9

Cleveland Browns 6-10

After losing their Monday night opener on the road, I see the Ravens ripping off ten straight wins before stumbling to the finish line as division champs...How the Steelers finish, depends on how they start in Roethlisberger’s four game absence. I see them going 1-3 and missing the playoffs…The Bengals won’t be able to capitalize on last season’s division title but at least they’ll get some good publicity with the TO and Ochocinco reality show on the field…The Browns will add one more win to least years total and consider this a successful season. Still in a rebuilding process, this team may surprise next year.

AFC South

Indianapolis Colts 12-4

Houston Texans 9-7

Tennessee Titans 9-7

Jacksonville Jaguars 4-12

Peyton Manning. That’s all you need to know about the Colts repeating as division champions and eventually Super Bowl champions.…Houston, we have no more problems. The Texans will make the playoffs by sweeping the Titans during the season…Since they wont be winning too many games, the only things the Jaguars should be concerned with is staying on TV. Looks like Tim Tebow would have been a good draft pick, huh?

AFC West

San Diego Chargers 11-5

Kansas City Chiefs 10-6

Denver Broncos 7-9

Oakland Raiders 4-12

The Chargers will win this division by beating Kansas City twice during the regular season…The Chiefs will be this year’s surprise team thanks to the relatively easy schedule they’ve been gifted. Winnable games against Cleveland, Jacksonville, Buffalo, Oakland, Seattle and St. Louis should get them to the playoffs…Pre-season injuries to Elvis Dumervil and Knowshon Moreno will doom the Broncos this year.  What looked to be a promising season, will end in disappointment…The Raiders need to find an identity again before anyone can take them seriously. Jason Campbell is not the answer they should be looking for. If I was Al Davis, I would’ve given Arizona castoff Matt Leinart a chance. 

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys 10-6

New York Giants 10-6

Washington Redskins 8-8

Philadelphia Eagles 6-10

Pumped up by the possibility of playing a Super Bowl at home, the Cowboys will sneak by New York to win the division…The Giants will lose the division crown to Jerry’s boys by going 8-6 against common opponents, but a return to the playoffs will keep Tom Coughlin around. And Brandon Jacobs will still be whining about his role on the team…The Redskins will be a much improved team this year with the addition of Donovan McNabb and new coach Mike Shanahan as they put last year’s 4-12 finish behind them…Unfortunately (or fortunately, depends on how you look at it) for Eagles fans last season’s disappointment is prolonged as Kevin Kolb takes over the reins as starter in a really tough division. Not to say Kolb is a bad QB, but a 6-10 record in this division could easily be a 10-6 record in the NFC West.

NFC North

Green Bay Packers 13-3

Minnesota Vikings 8-8

Chicago Bears 8-8

Detroit Lions 2-14

Aaron Rodgers will come into his own in his third season at the helm of the Packer’s offense. This will be the year they put the Vikings and Brett Favre to rest as they make a run to the Super Bowl but fall short of hoisting the Lombardi trophy…Speaking of the Vikings, don’t expect Favre to put up the same numbers he did last season. One good hit and his season is over, as well as Minnesota’s…This will be the last season Lovie Smith is roaming the sidelines for the Bears. His seat is on fire right now and if Da Bears don’t make the playoffs, which they wont, he’ll be a goner…The Lions must have angered the football Gods again.  After going 0-16 in 2008 and improving to 2-14 last year, they have a really tough schedule which includes games against the AFC East and NFC East.

NFC South

New Orleans Saints 12-4

Atlanta Falcons 10-6

Carolina Panthers 5-11

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4-12

The Saints are coming. No Super Bowl hangover for the defending Champs, but no Super Bowl trophy this time around either…Falcons QB Matt Ryan will lead his team back to the playoffs, but to an early first round exit…With a new QB under center and a fragile Steve Smith, the best the Panthers can do is ruin the post-season dreams of their opponents…Little Johnny goes trick-or-treating dressed up as a pirate and rings a ladie’s doorbell.  She looks at him and says, “How cute you look! But where are your Buccaneers??” Little Johnny replies, “On the side of my buccin head you buccin dumbass!” And that’s all the Buccaneers will be this year; either a joke or a buccin Halloween costume.  

NFC West

San Francisco 49ers 10-6

Arizona Cardinals 10-6

St. Louis Rams 4-12

Seattle Seahawks 3-13

The 49ers will be this seasons version of last year’s Jets as their season will end in the NFC title game in Green Bay…The Cardinals will miss out on the playoffs this year. It’s hard to return to the playoffs when most of the guys who got you there the past two seasons are gone…If it wasn’t for fantasy football, no one would be paying attention to the Rams… Or the Seahawks for that matter.  Sadly, this will be Matt Hasselback’s last season after it turns out to be an utter disappointment.  One quote from Hasselback I’ll never forget, “We want the ball and we’re gonna score!”

Playoffs ( I took a page from Sports Illustrated and went ahead and predicted the actual scores of the playoff games.  Cant wait to see how many of these I get right!)

AFC                                              NFC

1.      Colts                                        1. Packers

2.      Jets                                          2. Saints

3.      Ravens                                     3. 49ers

4.      Chargers                                  4. Cowboys

5.      Chiefs                                      5. Giants

6.      Texans                                     6. Falcons

(home teams in CAPS) 

RAVENS 27, Texans 20                    49ERS 35, Falcons 10

CHARGERS 25, Chiefs 20                COWBOYS 24, Giants 20

COLTS 17, Chargers 14                     PACKERS 21, Cowboys 17

Ravens 23, JETS 17                           49ers 27, SAINTS 24 OT

COLTS 28, Ravens 20                       PACKERS 34, 49ers 21

SUPERBOWL XLV

COLTS 17, Packers 14