NFL 2008: NFC Predictions

The NFL season is quickly approaching, and in news not surprising to anyone I am extremely excited. In celebration of the upcoming year of football, I now present my preseason picks so that when I am completely wrong call everything I will have the proof.

To make things simple I am going to go through division by division and throw out a few thoughts on each team. Then I will give you the division winner, and by the end will have the entire division predicted. I will start with the vastly inferior conference, the NFC.

NFC North

Chicago Bears

The Bears are currently in contention for the worst quarterback situation in the league. Coach Lovie Smith announced today that Kyle Orton will be the starter. Congratulations Kyle, you beat out Rex Grossman for a starting job. That said the Bears defense is still solid (in non-Adrian Peterson weeks) but do not expect anything special from them this year.

Detroit Lions

Detroit seemed to be on the verge of actually turning things around last season until they ran out of gas at the end of the year. I have not heard any bold predictions from Kitna this year, but I think the team still is on the way up. Having developing beast Calvin Johnson cannot hurt, and the Lions added monster back Kevin Smith in this year’s draft. It is their defense that will ultimately keep them out of the playoffs this year.

Green Bay Packers

Of course the loss of Favre (and the circus of news that surrounded it) will be a huge problem for the Packers this year. There is no player in the NFL with more pressure on him this season, and possibly for his career, than Aaron Rodgers. I think he has the skill, but it is going to take at least five or six games into the year before we see him at his full potential. People forget that when Alex Smith went first overall to the 49ers a few years back, Rodgers was in contention for that number one spot. He fell to the Packers at 24. Rodgers will be out to prove the Favre-faithful and the 49ers front office wrong this season.

Adrian Peterson will look to prove his rookie season was no fluke.

Minnesota Vikings

Everyone in sports expects great things out of the Vikings this season, and with good reason. The best rush defense in the league has upgraded its secondary to create one of the league’s more formidable defenses. Adrian Peterson is going to be widely recognized as the best running back in football by the end of the season. The wildcard here is Tarvaris Jackson. He has the weapons in receivers Berrian and Rice to make plays, but his injuries (already hurt in the preseason) could be an issue.

NFC North Winner: Minnesota Vikings

NFC South

Atlanta Falcons

Michael Turner is a nice addition, but he probably would have preferred a team with an offensive line. Matt Ryan is for the future instead of the present, so do not be surprised if he struggles this year. The Falcons are rebuilding and unfortunately will be doing that for a few more years post-Vick.

Carolina Panthers

If Jake Delhomme is healthy, they can win their division. Granted receiver Steve Smith is suspended for punching his teammate in the face, but when he returns he is a Pro-Bowl talent. Speaking of fisticuffs, the one-two punch of Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams should give the Panthers a solid ground attack. Expect a big improvement from last year assuming they can avoid the quarterback carousel that was last season.

New Orleans Saints

After a miracle season that almost sent the Saints to the Superbowl two years ago, the Saints suffered a dramatic drop-off. This was partly due to the injuries in the backfield (Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister), but then again when your defense is a sieve you should probably address that. I like the addition of Shockey who will act more like a second wide receiver (behind Colston) than a tight end.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay is one of the most ignored NFL franchises right now. They have a great defense, and a solid running attack that gets even more potent if Cadillac Williams can stay healthy. If Jeff Garcia can remain consistent at quarterback I think Tampa Bay will have every opportunity to repeat their success from last season. However part of the reason they get overlooked is because they are mediocre on offense, and that could be a problem.

NFC South Winner: Carolina Panthers

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys are on the verge of a Superbowl appearance (which I in no way want to occur)…if they can ever win a playoff game. Tony Romo is spectacular during the regular season, but cannot seem to pull out a win in January. The Cowboys right now are the best team in the NFC, and there is no reason they should not be able to secure a first round bye in the playoffs. Even in their tough division the Cowboys are going to have a great record, and T.O. is going for a monster season.

New York Giants

After winning the Superbowl teams often have a tendency to fall very quickly. In many ways I expect that from the Giants this year. The loss of Michael Strahan should not hurt too much because of the emergence of Justin Tuck on the defensive line. My problem is that I see Eli as the same old Eli that he was before last year’s playoffs. Tons of incompletions and a myriad of interceptions will certainly be the case this year. The Giants still have the talent to make the playoffs, but for those looking for a repeat: no chance.

Philadelphia Eagles

There are a few big questions I have about the Eagles heading into the season. Can Donovan McNabb play an entire year, and can Westbrook maintain his production given his heavier workload? I certainly hope the answer to the second question is ‘Yes’ seeing as I drafted Westbrook for my fantasy team. The Eagles always have the ability to explode and make a run, but their division is just too tough for me to see them doing any damage this year. It is a toss-up between them, the Giants, and the Redskins for a shot at the wildcard. It really is anybody’s game.

Washington Redskins

My comments about the Eagles ability to explode applies to the Redskins as well. They have plenty of weapons on offense, and even made a playoff run last year with Todd Collins at QB. The word out of training camp this year was that Jason Campbell was looking stellar, and if that is the case Washington will have improved its situation dramatically. I expect big things out of Portis under new coach Jim Zorn, and it is not out of the question that they can sneak into the wildcard. As I said at this point the role of second in the NFC South is up for grabs.

NFC East Winner: Dallas Cowboys

NFC West

Can Matt Leinart finally bring the Cardinals into respectability?

Arizona Cardinals

Will this be the year? It seems like each and every season the Cardinals get brought up as a team who could surprise and finally break into playoff contention. And every season like clockwork they fail miserably. Edgerrin James is not getting any younger (though still can go over a grand and maybe grab 6 TDs). Matt Leinart might be able to put his drunken frat parties on hold long enough to throw a couple of passes in the general vicinity of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. With the best wide receiver duo in football you would expect more out of this franchise, and maybe we will finally see that this year.

San Francisco 49ers

As I mentioned up in the Green Bay section, how does that Alex Smith pick feel now? Old small-hands does not deserve all the blame though. The front office has done a poor job of building a team, and throwing 80 million to Nate Clements did not fix their defense as they thought it would. On the other hand, Patrick Willis is a man among boys, and is right now the absolute best defensive player in the league for my money. In this division, the 49ers at least have a chance.

Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks replaced the fragile and currently unemployed Shaun Alexander with Julius Jones in the off-season which should help balance the pass-heavy offense they employed in 2007. At this point the Seahawks really have no choice because their receiving corps has been hit with injuries all around. The team still boasts one of the league’s best defenses though, so they should be in the mix to win the division.

St.Louis Rams

Every day that Steven Jackson does not report to camp the Rams get further away from winning…well, anything. Besides Jackson’s holdout the Rams have to worry about their offensive line which was destroyed by injury last year. Bulger can put up huge numbers if that line can keep him off his back. Right now things look absolutely horrible for the Rams. At this point if they win six games I will consider their season a success considering their current situation.

NFC West Winner: Arizona Cardinals

Wildcard Winners and Summary

In short I have the division winners as the Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, and the Minnesota Vikings. As for the wildcard I see the New Orleans Saints and the New York Giants making it into the postseason.

Now that I have said all that, please keep in mind this is without seeing a single second of regular season action. The great thing about the NFL is that you never can know what to expect because of the parity on the league. Teams bubble up and fall down every year. I guess my boldest pick is the Cardinals winning the NFC West. I just see too much talent in an embarrassingly awful division.

What are your thoughts on the NFL and more specifically the NFC this season? Are you as excited for the NFL season as I am?