NFC Preview

NFC East Winner-Dallas Cowboys

I know this is a late for a football preview, but it’s better late than never. The Cowboys are already 2-0 and the Eagles are 0-2. The Eagles can very well win the division still at 0-2, but they don’t look very good to start the season. The cowboys will be without Romo for another 8 weeks and Dez Bryant for about the same time frame. I say they still go around .500 without them. If they can do that they will be 6-4 when they get back and I think someone can win this division with a 10-6 record. I would definitely not count the eagles out by any means. They have the talent with the additions of DeMarco Murray and Ryan Matthews.The wide receiver corps for them aren’t that great with the loss of Jeremy Maclin, but they have Jordan Matthews and drafted Nelson Agohlor. The Giants look bad outside of Odell Beckham Jr. and Eli Manning Victor Cruz is out and it is not known when he will be back. The running game is poor, and the defense is not nearly as good as it once was. Don’t be surprised if they finish last in the division. The Redskins are bad too, so who will be last place between those two? Whomever comes in second will make the wildcard.

NFC North Winner- Green Bay Packers.

The Green Bay Packers are one of the best teams in the Conference, not just the division. They may even win it all this year, even without Jordy Nelson for the year. They have enough weapons In Randall Cobb, and Davante Adams. They have Eddie Lacy who is a beast of a running back and can do it all, and as long as you have Aaron Rodgers you’ll be a favorite no matter what. The only other team that can give Green Bay a run for their money is the Minnesota Vikings, but they won’t win enough games to win this division. I say the Vikings win 9 maybe 10, and possible playoff berth. They have Adrian Peterson back for a full year, but no quarterback play or much else really. They did pick up Mike Wallace from the Miami Dolphins and the defense is solid enough. The Lions look good on paper, but they are a little weak at running back. They drafted Amer Abdullah and he’s a rookie running back, but you never know what you will get with rookie running backs, let alone rookie players. Matthew Stafford is over-rated and is prone to throw a lot of interceptions because he takes a lot of risks. He is not a smart QB. He has a great arm and great weapons in Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate, but the Lions are just not good enough to do anything in this division. As long as the Bears have Jay Cutler at quarterback they will struggle. Matt Forte is a beast, but there’s only so much he can do. They will struggle to finish .500.

NFC South Winner- Atlanta Falcons.

Watch out for Atlanta. They are already off to a hot start at 2-0. Quarterback Matt Ryan is extremely underrated and one of the top 5 QB’s in the NFL in my opinion. They have Julio Jones at wide receiver who is a top 3 receiver in the NFL. The running game is average. Devonta Freeman is at back and he’s decent, but is he a good enough back to get them to win this division or get in the playoffs? The Falcons defense is a little weak. The New Orleans Saints lost Jimmy Graham and they look like they are struggling early to start the season. Drew Brees doesn’t look as good and he’s getting older as well. He also is known to have a shoulder injury know and will miss a few games. That will really hurt them, and may hurt their playoff chances now. Brandin Cooks is the #1 receiver for them and hasn’t shown what he is capable of this season in the first two games, but he can still turn things around. The saints might have to rely mostly on their running game as they have a solid core with Mark Ingram and C.J Spiller. I think they will use Spiller as more of a 3rd down back and receiver from the back field. Carolina did win the division last year, and they might this year, if not they can get in the playoffs. It will be a three team race I think. Cam Newtown is still a good quarterback, he’s young, but everyone knows what he can do. He’s fast and is a great scrambler. He isn’t the best passer and makes some bad decisions. They have Jonathan Stewart again at running back, who has been consistent, so we will see what they do, they will probably miss the playoffs this year in my opinion. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will probably finish last. They just don’t have enough weapons to get it done and are going with a rookie QB in Jameis Winston. I don’t think he will do in the NFL to start. I say they win 6 or 7 games this year, so maybe it won’t be too bad for them. That would be a success for them.

NFC West Winner- Seattle Seahawks

I know that the Seahawks are off to an 0-2 start, but that’s no reason to panic for the defending NFC champs. They have more than enough talent to come back and win this division. Marshawn Lynch is a beast and Russell Wilson is improving year by year and getting smarter. They added Jimmy Graham, but he has yet to be an impact for them. Seattle’s offensive line is a little suspect, but we’ll see if they can win this division still. If not they should get in the playoffs. The Arizona Cardinals are off to a hot 2-0 start and I wouldn’t be surprised if they won this division. They won 11 games last year, and are my dark horse to win the division. They might not win 11 games again, but I can see 9 or 10 for sure. Carson Palmer is healthy and he is consistent when he is healthy. They have young players in Josh Brown, and they have Andre Ellington at running back. Ellington is hurt for a few weeks, but when he comes back he will help the Cardinals. They have Larry Fitzgerald and even though he’s not as good as he used to be he still has one of the best hands in the NFL and I wouldn’t count him out. He is the quintessential football player. Watch out for Arizona! I don’t know what to make of the St. Louis Rams. I don’t even really know what to make of Nick Foles and who is going to start at them at running back. Todd Gurley, who they drafted from Georgia, or Tre Mason? They will probably split carries between the two and go more with the one that does better. Their defense is supposed to be a lot better, but it didn’t look good against the Redskins. They have so many questions and the NFL is so unpredictable so they can still be good or bad. Then you have the San Francisco 49ers who I think will finish last. Kaepernick is not a good quarterback and I don’t think he will improve much. I do like Carlos Hyde a lot for them at running back, but I see maybe 5 wins for them.

AFC NFL Preview

AFC EAST. Division Winner= New England Patriots

I hate to say it and it’s hard to write being a Jets fan, but with Brady playing all games it will be hard to stop them from winning the division. They are the defending super bowl champs even if they cheated to do it. Their defense isn’t going to be as good, but they have enough weapons at offense especially with Gronk, and they have Edelman and Amendola as well. They are pretty weak at running back, but as long as you have Tom Brady and Bill Belichick you have a great shot at winning the division. The rest of this division will be close all year. All teams improved immensely. The Bills have Rex Ryan and a great defense, and they also added McCoy. They could get one of the wild card spots and also can win the division. The Miami dolphins have improved also adding Suh on the defense and Ryan Tannehill is just going to get better. Lamar Miller is also an under-rated running back. They don’t have many options at wide receiver besides Jarvis Landry. The Jets will be interesting this year with first year coach Todd Bowles leading the reigns. They have Revis and Cromartie back, and they picked up other key players like Buster Skrine, Calvin Pryor, and Marcus Gilchrist, not to mention drafted Leonard Williams out of USC and Devin Smith to add to the wideout corp. He can be dangerous at special teams with his speed. The defense will be a force to be reckoned with. On offense, They added a key deep threat in Brandon Marshall, who might be poised to have a big year. Marshall and Decker is a great 1-2 punch. The running game will also be good with Chris Ivory, who is one of the most under-rated backs in my opinion. The Jets also have good back ups in Bilal Powell, and picked up Zac Stacy from the Rams. This division will be one to watch. The Jets have an easy schedule so they can sneak into the wildcard. The AFC east will get at least one team from their division in the wild-card if not two.

AFC SOUTH. Division Winner= Indianapolis Colts.

This should be an easy division for the Colts to win. There aren’t many good teams standing in their way. The Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars will both be terrible and I don’t see the Tennessee Titans doing much of anything. The Jaguars might even be better than both of those teams actually and finish second in the division I think, but this is the Colts division to lose and I cannot see them losing this division. They are one of the favorites from the AFC to make the Super Bowl and even to win the Super Bowl. They are my dark horse to win it all. They picked up Frank Gore from the 49ers, and Andre Johnson from the Texans, and of course you have Andrew Luck throwing to T.Y Hilton and both Fleener and Allen as tight end options, so they will be tough to dethrone in that division.

AFC NORTH. Division Winner= Pittsburgh Steelers.

I think the Steelers will win this division, but it won’t be easy, The Bengals are a better team and the Ravens will always be there, but I think the Bengals might pose a bigger threat for the Steelers for the division. The Browns will finish dead last and could even be the worst team in the NFL this year. The Steelers have great offensive Weapons. Big Ben has always been consistent and LeVeon Bell at running back and Antonio Brown at Wide Receiver and those two could be the best or near the best respectively at their positions. They will be deadly on the offensive end. The defense will be good enough to win a good number of games, but it’s not as good as it has been in the past. The Bengals have a pretty solid running back in Jeremy Hill. They also have a great receiver option in A.J Green. The Bengals are a bit questionable at QB and their success will depend on how he does this season.

AFC WEST. Division Winner= Denver Broncos

I think the Broncos will edge out the Chargers and Chiefs in this division. I think the Chargers and Chiefs will both be decent and have a shot at taking this division. The Chargers didn’t get much better but they did draft Melvin Gordon, and they desperately needed a good running back. Philip Rivers is a decent QB in terms of getting the job done. He has Keenan Allen to throw to and Malcolm Floyd and Antonio Gates when he returns. I can see them being around .500. Denver will win this division I think, but not by much. Peyton is getting older and is not as good as he used to be. He still has weapons to throw to in Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. C.J Anderson is now their #1 back, and there is no running back by committee as there usually is with Denver because he is the clear running back for them. They will need him to have another big year if they want to succeed this year. Anderson also has decent hands to catch passes from the back field. He is the X factor for them I believe. If anyone makes a run at Denver and the AFC West it’s the Kansas City Chiefs. They picked up Jeremy Maclin from the Eagles for Alex Smith to throw to and of course they have one of the deadliest tight ends in Travis Kelce. Jamal Charles is one of the best backs in the game. He is a work horse and does it well. Their success will depend on how Alex Smith does, but as long as he’s decent there’s no doubt that they will make the playoffs. They have a legit shot at winning this division as well. The Raiders will once again be in last place. They did add a key piece on offense in Amari Cooper and they have a solid running back in Latavius Murray. I can see them winning 6 or 7 games this year. Derek Carr at QB is not a threat at all. They also have Crabtree, but he’s not what he used to be, but he’s still a decent #2. The. Raiders defense will be solid as I believe they are a bit under-rated.