Are You Ready for Some Football???
God knows I am. I have watched enough Little League baseball, WNBA (ok, I don’t really watch that, but if I see it when I’m flipping through the channels…. that’s still too much), drag racing, golf, tennis and reality cooking shows to last me…. until next summer. But now it is TIME! Break out the football!!!! For those of you who don’t know, I am a premier football handicapper, although these days it’s done on a strictly recreational basis. Without further ado, I bring you my fearless 2007 NFL predictions. Note: in last year’s preseason 2006 edition, I correctly predicted the Colts would break their playoff jinx, and bring home the bacon.
AFC East AFC North AFC South AFC West
New England 12-4 Baltimore 11-5 Indianapolis 12-4 San Diego 11-5
New York Jets 9-7 Pittsburgh 10-6 Jacksonville 9-7 Denver 11-5
Miami 8-8 Cincinnati 9-7 Houston 7-9 Kansas City 6-10
Buffalo 5-11 Cleveland 6-10 Tennessee 6-10 Oakland 6-10
New England appears to be the class of the AFC (and the league for that matter), at least to hear the talking heads tell it. About a month ago, I was ready to go with Indianpolis, mostly on the Ric Flair basis (To Be The Man, You Have to Beat The Man). However, the Colts had their All-Pro left tackle Tarik Glenn unexpectedly retire, plus they lost one of their starting defensive tackles for the year as well. I believe these losses do, in fact, put New England in the driver’s seat. San Diego will take a significant step backwards. Norv Turner?? Coach Norv Turner??? Oh, my, why don’t you ask some of my Redskins friends what they think of Norv Turner. I know we used to love the guy in Philadelphia, because we knew we never had to worry about the Skins. Baltimore will also be in the hunt. Nevertheless, I pick New England to be in Glendale in February.
NFC East NFC North NFC South NFC West
Philadelphia 11-5 Minnesota 10-6 New Orleans 11-5 Seattle 11-5
Dallas 9-7 Chicago 9-7 Tampa Bay 8-8 St. Louis 10-6
Washington 6-10 Green Bay 8-8 Carolina 8-8 San Fran 8-8
New York 3-13 Detroit 5-11 Atlanta 5-11 Arizona 6-10
For those of you who don’t know, I’m from the Philadelphia area, and I bleed Eagles green. As much as I want to pick them this year, after having watched them closely in the preseason, the defense will not be good enough. Again. So, who’s left? I think New Orleans will come back to the pack a little, generally after a magic season, things tend to bounce the wrong way. Chicago will fall hard… you can’t win consistently in the NFL when your quarterback can’t hang onto the ball. I will take Seattle. They were close last year, losing in OT in Chicago, and that was a year where everything went wrong for them. I except them to rebound and beat the Eagles in the championship game. Who’s the champion? Call it: Seattle 24, New England 17. You heard it hear first!
