NFL 2012

[Lyion]

My projections, which I've had good luck with:

Saints are going to have a rough year.

Bronco's will not win the West.

Tebow will start sometime this year, but the Jets will remain mediocre.

KC is my spoiler team.

49ers will be strong again, but mainly due to the weakness of the NFC West.

The NFC East remains the toughest division in football.

New England will win home field advantage due to a cushy schedule but get rolled in the divisional round.

My early super bowl pick, which probably will be wrong:
Green Bay vs Houston with Green Bay winning.

[Tikker]

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[leah]

obviously the Lions are going to kick all your asses. :D

[Jay]

Chicago winning it all. Other teams, whatev. =P

[Lyion]

I hate Chicago, but Lovie Smith is the coolest coach in the NFL. Especially with his Olympics visit plan.

lolzers at Ochocinco. Wtf?

I really hope they get a contract with the old refs. As crappy as they are, they're miles ahead of the replacements.

[Arlos]

AFC West: Chargers will win it, but will lose in the 1st round again, resulting in Norv finally getting fired.

AFC North: Ravens win, unless the Steelers somehow magically fix their OL in the next couple weeks.

AFC South: (worst division in football) Houston takes it, probably at 9-7 or worse.

AFC East: Patriots win this one (as usual), going 12-4, I suspect.

AFC Wild Cards: Denver, Pittsburgh.

NFC West: 49ers crush the division. Will once again have arguably the best D in the NFL, but probably end up 11-5 as they aren't as lucky with injuries/fumble bounces as last year. Will still predict Super Bowl bound, though. (no homerism here!) Seattle will be improved, Arizona won't. Arizona may be so bad at QB, they look at hiring the 61-year old Dan Fouts, since he'd be an improvement. (OK, maybe not THAT bad, but Kolb sure has looked awful so far). St. Louis will probably finish 5-11 or worse, as they still can't seem to get their shit together.

NFC North: Green Bay. (Rogers will have another monster year. I suspect the NFC Championship game will be SF/GB)

NFC South: Atlanta. (who will also lose in round 1 of the playoffs)

NFC East: NY Giants. (will make 2nd round of playoffs, but lose)

NFC Wild Cards: Philly, Detroit.

As previously mentioned, SB Champ: 49ers, beating the Patriots. (how could I pick anyone else than the 49ers? heh)

-Arlos

[Tikker]

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[Arlos]

Pittsburgh's might be better, but it's not by much.

Steelers had quite a bit better pass D, but 49ers had a better run D. (49ers had by far the best run D in the NFL last season, they only gave up 77 rushing ypg, and didn't give up a rushing TD until the next to last game of the season.) Still, probably A: Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh was #1 in 1st downs allowed with 264, 49ers were #2 at 267. Basically a wash.

Pittsburgh was #1 in points allowed, at 14.2, 49ers were #2 at 14.3. Also basically a wash. (3rd place was Baltimore, which allowed a more than 2pts/game more than either the 49ers or the Steelers, at 16.6.)

SF was +28 on turnovers last year (#1 in the league), with 38 takeaways on D (tied for 1st in the league with GB), including 23 INTs and 15 opponent's fumbles recovered. Pittsburgh was the worst team in the AFC at -13, and only had 15 takeaways on D (worst in the league), which were 10 INTs and 5 fumbles recovered. That's 23 more turnovers the 49ers D forced than Pittsburgh's D did. Definite A: 49ers.

So yeah, I think a case can be made that Pittsburgh's D was better last season, but like I said, if it was, it wasn't by much.


However, the 49ers returned every single starter from last year's team, plus almost all of the backups. The Steelers did not. Also, do the Steelers have anyone as individually insanely good as Patrick Willis is? I think Willis is THE best inside LB in all of the NFL, and it's not even close, now that Ray Lewis is getting up there in years.

So, as for THIS year, I guess we'll just have to see.

-Arlos

[Tikker]

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[Arlos]

Uh, Willis plays in a 3-4, since that's what the 49ers run. His partner ILB is Navorro Bowman, who also had an insanely good year last year.

If you're not really familiar with Willis, I suggest doing a couple google searches, he's rated as the #1 ILB on basically every single list. His first year he was the Defensive Rookie of the Year, made the Pro Bowl, AND was an All-Pro. Actually, he's been an All-Pro (4x 1st team, 1 2nd team in his 2nd year) and a pro-bowler every single year he's been in the league.

-Arlos

[Lyion]

other than 49er fanbois, who thinks they have the best defense?

no one in the world would trade the steelers d for the niners straight up, and I'm not sure the Ravens would either

All you need to do is go watch the 49er D just destroy Pitt last year.

Pitts main people are getting a little long in the tooth. I'd say the 9er were about equal to the Ravens last year, who also have a far better D than Pitt. What Pitt has that San Fran does not is a franchise QB.

AFC West: Chargers will win it, but will lose in the 1st round again, resulting in Norv finally getting fired.
AFC North: Ravens win, unless the Steelers somehow magically fix their OL in the next couple weeks.
AFC South: (worst division in football) Houston takes it, probably at 9-7 or worse.
AFC East: Patriots win this one (as usual), going 12-4, I suspect.
AFC Wild Cards: Denver, Pittsburgh.

I'd love to see the Chargers win it all, but their D was terrible last year at stopping the run. I think they'll put up points but I'm worried about them protecting Rivers, too. The Chiefs D looks really good and Crennel is an underrated coach.

AFC North I'd bet on the Ravens, too

AFC South I bet the Texans go 12-4. They could be the best team in football.

AFC East will be a wash for the Pats, especially since the NFL gave them yet another creampuff schedule

Most of the fun next year will be in the NFC.

[Tikker]

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[Harrison]

I don't think the Patriots have a shot for the superbowl this year, but I do believe we're going to push the shit in on the division as usual.

I'm disgusted with the cohesiveness of the Red Sox this year, and Bobby Valentine, so I am hoping this will make up for it.

[Lyion]

I don't think the Patriots have a shot for the superbowl this year, but I do believe we're going to push the shit in on the division as usual.
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As much as I hate Belichik, as long as you have Brady and him you have a decent shot.

As much as I want my local Browns and hometown Chargers to win, part of me really wants to see the Giants beat the Pats a third time in the Super Bowl this year. Preferably on another icewater-in-the-veins play from Eli.

[Tossica]

Go Vikes!

[Harrison]

Patriots signed a 4x100 bronze medalist for WR.

I think we should focus on our defense and leave our more than adequate offense where it is.

[Jay]

The patriots offense isn't as adequate as it was and they don't really have as much of deep threat anymore without that new WR. Welker can't do it alone. Yeah the D is suffering but the Pats are definitely more of a offense team.

[Lyion]

Cutler and Marshall in Chicago could be a scary combo.

I was reading Vick has played like two series and gotten hurt both times. Not a good fantasy choice, there. I'm surprised the Eagles haven't traded for a vet. Colt Mccoy has looked great in preaseason which means the idiot Browns will probably trade him.

[Kaemon]

Dark Horse - Dallas Cowboys.

[Griever]

I guess if people continue to call them a dark horse every year they'll eventually get it right.

[Arlos]

Dark Horse - Dallas Cowboys.

A dark horse for what, 1st overall draft pick next year? That I might grant you. Dark horse to even approach the super bowl? Oh hells no.


You know, my eternal curse for Dallas is that they go 7-9 or MAYBE 8-8. Not so bad as to get a top-10 draft pick, but a losing (or at best a non-winning) record, and eternal futility. Seriously, fuck the cowpatties....

-Arlos

[Kaemon]

I guess if people continue to call them a dark horse every year they'll eventually get it right.

Actually, Cowboys have always been picked to make it to at least the championship game.

They strengthened their defense with aquiring Carr, Pool and Conner and drafting Morris Claiborne. Carr and Claiborne alone could very well lock down the passing game in effect making their Defense a force to be reckoned with this year. They already had a great running defence and now they could be a top ten defence, the quarterback holding on to the ball for even a second longer means trouble when you have a pass rusher such as DeMarcus Ware running you down.

Saftey is now the only weak link in the defense and it's not as bad as it was, as long as everyone stays healthy it should be a standout year for Dallas D.

On offense, we signed a couple of veteran o-linemen that should protect Romo better than the way they were protecting him last year and he still had a fantastic year. I'd like to see what he can do this year with a better o-line and a healthy Murray.

Don't be surprised when they go to Snoopy Stadium and shut down the Giants in the season opener.

Oh and Arlos, at least I take great comfort that whatever the 49'rs do, the Cowboys know how to beat them. Last year it was a reciever that made the team via a reality show....really?

[Lyion]

I guess if people continue to call them a dark horse every year they'll eventually get it right.

Sez the skins fan.

I think every team in the NFC East is a dark horse every year. Take away the greased balls in Seattle a few years ago, and Romo might already have a ring. I don't see them going better than 8-8 this year, but really it depends more on how their revamped secondary does then anything.

The only sure thing is once again the Browns will be awful. So, my hometown Chargers and my current town Browns will both be sucktastic.

[Griever]

I can't remember the last time someone projected the Skins to finish higher than 4th in the division.

However, just like Kaemon says:

Actually, Cowboys have always been picked to make it to at least the championship game.

And they always end up falling short. They are arguably the most talented team in the division yet they just don't get it done. Is it Romo's fault since he hasn't taken it to the next level? Is it under-performing secondary? Is it the lack of pass rush opposite of Ware?

Yes, the secondary should be improved, but you still have a rookie in place. Just because he was drafted in the first round doesn't mean he's an instant Revis on your team. Their secondary will take time to gel. Not only that, a good safety is a cornerback's best friend. And they are quite lacking in the safety department.

Not to mention that Jason Garrett still is not a proven commodity. I'm not saying he can't be a good coach, but the verdict is still out on him.

[Kaemon]

Absolutely they fell short, that's the beauty about the NFL - any given team can lose any given day.

The Superbowl Champion Giants lost to the Redskins TWICE and once to Seattle last year.


Other teams that have talent and are being picked to make it to the big game?
San Diego - every year past 4-5 years
Houston - past 2-3 years (again this year)

I can also see the Cowboys going 8-8 this year, but there's also a chance they can go 12-4 winning some of those big games they have on their schedule.

I have tickets to go to the Giants/Cowboys opener and I'm pretty pshyched about it since it's normally the Cowboys playing here in Novemeber/December and not usually September. At the same time, I feel that I might want to give up the ticket only because I believe NFL Football is perfect for TV. Sitting at BWW's and watching the game is just as fun.