Again, I apologize for not having any regular posts up in ages. Hopefully my blogger instinct will kick back in again one of these days.
In the meantime, football starts tonight, and I couldn’t be more excited, although not nearly as excited as I will be on Sunday, when it’s the Bears first game.
First off, my friend Tim and I come up with predictions every year as to how the season will end up. I didn’t do a very good job keeping up last year, so I’m not really sure how we did last year. Nevertheless, here’s our picks this year:
* – denotes wildcard
Morgan’s Picks:
AFC East
New England Patriots
Miami Dolphins
NY Jets
Buffalo Bills
AFC North
Pittsburgh Steelers
Baltimore Ravens*
Cleveland Browns
Cincinnati Bengals
AFC South
Indianapolis Colts
Houston Texans*
Tennessee Titans
Jacksonville Jaguars
AFC West
San Diego Chargers
Oakland Raiders
Kansas City Chiefs
Denver Broncos
NFC East
Philadelphia Eagles
NY Giants
Dallas Cowboys
Washington Redskins
NFC North
Chicago Bears
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings
Detroit Lions
NFC South
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints*
Atlanta Falcons
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
NFC West
Seattle Seahawks
Arizona Cardinals*
San Francisco 49ers
St. Louis Rams
I decided to go balls to the wall with my picks this year. I’ve been so terribly wrong in the last couple years, let’s just go all out. Yep, Denver Broncos last in the AFC West, Giants missing the playoffs, everyone’s darling Atlanta missing the playoffs, Houston finally making it (though I’ve picked this before, like the last 3 years), and Seattle first in the NFC West. That’s right. I did it.
Tim’s Picks:
AFC East
New England Patriots
Miami Dolphins
NY Jets
Buffalo Bills
AFC North
Pittsburgh Steelers
Baltimore Ravens*
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
AFC South
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts*
Tennessee Titans
Jacksonville Jaguars
AFC West
San Diego Chargers
Kansas City Chiefs
Oakland Raiders
Denver Broncos
NFC East
Philadelphia Eagles
NY Giants*
Dallas Cowboys
Washington Redskins
NFC North
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings*
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
NFC South
New Orleans Saints
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
NFC West
Seattle Seahawks
Arizona Cardinals
San Francisco 49ers
St. Louis Rams
So I hadn’t looked at Tim’s picks when I wrote those comments above, but Tim’s are pretty crazy too. Here are his words on the subject:
“I guess they’re a little bit weird considering some serious teams from last season are missing the playoffs (Cardinals, Titans, Panthers, Dolphins, Falcons)…We’ll see about the Texans actually winning the AFC south, they’re my reach I think.”
So best of luck Timmy!
Now to the games.
Tennessee @ Pittsburgh
I could easily see Tennessee being the post super bowl Bears from 07. Not that they went to the super bowl, but they played better than they were last year, and could take a big step back this year. Pittsburgh should still be solid.
Miami @ Atlanta
Atlanta is everyone’s darling this year, and I think they also played over their head last year. However, this is the perfect game to be a decent game to watch, they pull it out, everyone raves about Atlanta, they eventually come back down to earth.
Kansas City @ Baltimore
Kansas City is a little bit of a mess, and Matt Cassel I have a bad feeling will be terrible when put on a team that is not very good. That said, I think they should be a little better than everyone seems to think this year (eg 7-9 rather than 4-12), but Baltimore should win this game relatively easily.
Philadelphia @ Carolina
This is a tough one to call, but I do think Philly’s probably the best team in the NFC.
Denver @ Cincinnati
Denver is such a mess, which stinks cuz I want Kyle Orton to do well. I really do wish him all the best.
Minnesota @ Cleveland
Could I possibly hate Minnesota any more than I do? I already hate them, and then they sign Favre. Why not just sign Latrell Sprewell, Barry Bonds, and Sean Avery and call it a day. And what a cake game they get right off the bat. Favre will throw 2 or 3 touchdowns, everyone will laud the move, and then Minnesota will collapse mid way through the year. Please please please.
NY Jets @ Houston
Well looks like Houston is both Tim and my darling team of the year. I’m rooting for em.
Jacksonville @ Indianapolis
There will always be a warm spot in my heart for Jacksonville, but I have a bad feeling they’ll be really bad this year.
Detroit @ New Orleans
Why not, here’s my upset special. Every first week there’s some crazy game that goes different than everyone expects, here’s mine. NO is a little banged up from the pre-season, Detroit’s got something to prove. Why not.
Dallas @ Tampa Bay
Which one of these teams will be more disappointing this year? Fingers crossed that it’ll be Dallas.
San Francisco @ Arizona
I was tempted to put Arizona the 3rd place team in the division to San Fran, but I don’t know if that’ll happen just yet. But they’ll be close.
Washington @ NY Giants
I really have no idea about the Giants this year. Nor Washington for that matter. I don’t think either will be good, but at the same time, it wouldn’t shock me if they put together a run.
St. Louis @ Seattle
One things pretty certain. St. Louis will more than likely be terrible.
Chicago @ Green Bay
Even with a weak receiving core, I really do think the Bears have the potential for a pretty dangerous offense. Quite possibly the best dual tight end tandem in the league, a heck of a running back, a franchise QB, and a guy who can outrun everyone on the field. I just don’t get why everyone is so down on the Bears offense. To be honest, the D makes me far more nervous. That said, I really think the Bears come out gunning in this and win it close.
Buffalo @ New England
I was tempted to have two crazy picks in the first week, but it’s hard to pick Buffalo in this matchup.
San Diego @ Oakland
Call me crazy, but I actually think Oakland may turn out to be not that terrible this year. Regardless, they’re not beating SD this week.
Football!