predictions anyone? Here's mine, (some bold ones too!)

[monkey]

Starting with the NFC West, because that's what we all care about.
z = division winner
y = wild card
z Seattle 13-3
St. Louis 10-6
Arizona 9-7
San Fran 5-11

NFC South
z Atlanta 11-5 (That's right I said it! They have the weakest schedule ever and will easily win the South)
New Orleans 8-8
Carolina 7-9
Tampa 2-14

NFC North
z Detroit 12-4 (Yup I went there!)
y tie Vikings 10-6 (And there!)
tie Green Bay 10-6 (and mostly I went THERE!) Tie Breaker goes to the Vikings who beat Green Bay TWICE, and the Packers miss the playoffs completely.
Chicago 5-11

NFC East
z tie Philadelphia 11-5
y tie Dallas 11-5 Philly wins the tie
Giants 6-12
Redskins 3-13

AFC
AFC West
Miami 12-4 (I know right?)
Buffalo 10-6
New England 10-6 (Whaaat? Is he crazy?!?) loses tie breaker to Buffalo and MISSES PLAYOFFS!!!
Jets 5-11

AFC North
z Baltimore 12-4
y Cinci 11-5
Pitt 9-7 (He really is nuts!)
Browns 7-9

AFC South
z Colts 13-3
Jaguars 9-7 (just barely misses the playoffs, only eliminated second to last game.
Houston 8-8
Tenn 2-14

AFC West
z San Diego 11-5
y Kansas City 11-5
Denver 9-7 (the wheels come off the Peyton Manning bus, and they miss the playoffs even though their defense is top 5)
Oakland 6-10

NFC Wild card round
Philadelphia beat the Vikings
Dallas beats Atlanta
AFC Wild card round
San Diego beats Cinncy
Miami beats Kansas City

NFC Divisional round
Seattle beats Dallas
Philadelphia beats Detroit
AFC divisional round
San Diego beats Colts
Miami beats Baltimore

NFC Championship
Seattle beats Philadelphia
AFC Championship
San Diego beats Miami

Super Bowl
Seattle beat San Diego 31-13

Ok how about you guys?

[curmudgeon]

If this happens....ouch. San Diego is a bad matchup. Much, much closer and likely an SD victory......

[jshawaii22]

AS long as we don't play the Chargers on a Sunday Afternoon in 90 degree / 90% humidity, we should blow by them.

[Vegaseahawk]

y tie Vikings 10-6 (And there!)
tie Green Bay 10-6 (and mostly I went THERE!) Tie Breaker goes to the Vikings who beat Green Bay TWICE, and the Packers miss the playoffs completely.

This^
Boy, you got to stop the shroom fest. Come down & talk sense, lol.

[monkey]

You don't think that a run first team (Vikings) with Adrian Peterson back, can beat a Packers team which is lousy against the run, twice?
I do.
I also think that losing Jordy Nelson, and having a defense that really isn't very good does anything but make the Packers a shoe in, like everyone seems to think.
The north isn't the best division, but it will be competitive.

[Zorn76]

Wow.

You'd make some serious money if just a few of those predictions come true, monkey.

Meanwhile...I just don't see some of these teams making that big of a leap to the next level or others falling that hard from grace.

The Rams have too many questions on offense, starting with Foles (and their OL as well). The Bills are going with a guy who has virtually no starting experience to begin with. Their defenses should be good, but they'll be on the field too long to preserve enough victories.

The Patriots will not miss the playoffs.
The Packers will not miss the playoffs.

Too high of win totals for Miami, SD, and KC, especially the latter. Alex Smith...just blows.
12 wins is awfully tough to get. Sketchy on Ravens doing it as well.

I think the Lions are overrated, along with the Vikes.

Naturally, I'd love to see 13 wins for us, but think we're more likely to finish with 11 or 12.

You put a lot into your breakdown of the divisions and conferences, but I suspect we'll end up seeing a lot of the familiar faces in the playoffs this season.

I'll try to put my specific predictions in here soon.

[obiken]

Not to throw a monkey wrench in your picks but no way the Lions win more than 9 games. The Packers are still the class of the division. I think your still looking at the Pats vs. Seattle again, but we get it done this time.

[monkey]

My reasoning against pats is, the corners that made them formidable last year are gone, and the interior of their o line is pathetic. I'd the steelers had any defense at all they could have gotten to Brady. Pats are overrated they lost a lot in the off season and did nothing to add back.

[burrrton]

My reasoning against pats is, the corners that made them formidable last year are gone, and the interior of their o line is pathetic.

I guess it could be more the Steelers' d-line that made them look good (it's only 1 game so can't argue about it), but I have trouble criticizing NE's o-line when Brady didn't have to *budge* all night long (going on memory anyway).

The Patriots are frustrating to watch for me because I've never seen a QB be so successful while being nearly 100% stationary. He does move well in the pocket which counts for a lot, but that guy throws fewer balls under duress than any QB I recall watching.

[mykc14]

[quote="burrrton"]

I guess it could be more the Steelers' d-line that made them look good (it's only 1 game so can't argue about it), but I have trouble criticizing NE's o-line when Brady didn't have to *budge* all night long (going on memory anyway).

The Patriots are frustrating to watch for me because I've never seen a QB be so successful while being nearly 100% stationary. He does move well in the pocket which counts for a lot, but that guy throws fewer balls under duress than any QB I recall watching.[/quote]

I would say a huge part of that is how fast the ball is coming out of his hand. He is deadly accurate and so good pre-snap that he knows exactly where he is going before the ball is snapped and if his guy is even a little covered he can still put it in a place only his guy can get it. On the rare occasion that he mis-reads pre-snap or his initial reads are covered is the only time he will make a mistake, but that can be said for almost any QB in the league.

[NorthHawk]

I think a lot of the Pats success is the combination routes the receivers including Gronk run in creating holes in the Defense and subtle pick plays. The OL coach in NE has to be one of the best in the business as they pretty much held off the Steelers as well as had some good run blocking. That being said, the Steelers OL was very good, too with Roethlisberger sometimes having 5 seconds to simply stand there and survey the field. They are missing 2 OL starters, so their Line Coaches must be doing something right.

Maybe it has to do with drafting good, solid in college Offensive Linemen from the start instead of trying to hit home runs converting DL in college to Offense.

[Futureite]

Brady just sees the field better and makes better decisions than almost every other QB. Those same routes are open with other QBs but they hold the ball too long, take a sack or run. And then everyone complains about the bad pass protection.

If I am not mistaken, the Pats started undrafted rookie ar C and a RB who didn't play last yr. And they both looked great. Everyone looks great with the cheater at QB.

[Hawktawk]

I dunno Monkey those are some bold predictions. I think you might be like me a bit, picking your wish list with the heart as opposed to conventional logic. Ill do some research and get my picks in here soon.

Brady is the ultimate system creation. The one constant throughout his pro career has been very good line play. If he has a clean pocket and good receivers he is absolutely deadly and he almost always does. On the extremely rare occasions when he doesn't he becomes worse than ordinary very quickly. His 2 SB losses the Giants defense was able to get significant pressure with a 4 man rush and he was ineffective. The Ravens have eliminated them in the postseason based on the same formula.Obviously Seattle was so banged up in the front 4 and secondary they were a shell of themselves last Feb. Had they been as healthy as 48 we wouldn't ever have to talk about a yard.If the Dolphins and Bills can collapse the pocket they could both be tough on NE this season.And Brady will be treated like the cheater he is by fans anywhere but Gillette stadium as well.

Pittsburgh was pathetic on defense last night so it wasn't much of a measuring stick for this years Pats offense but the times Pittsburgh got free runners they disrupted Brady.Their OC must be getting lessons from Bevfool based on that trick play call as well. Honestly Pittsburgh could have won the game quite easily without all the unforced mistakes. I did root for them for the first time in 10 years though.

[Hawktawk]

Ok here goes

NFC West
Hawks 12-4,Rams 10-6,AZ 8-8,49ers 7-9

NFC North
Detroit 11-4-1,GB 10-6, Minnesota 8-7-1, Bears 8-8

NFC East
Giants 10-6, Cowboys 9-7, Skins 7-9, Eagles 5-11 see ya Chip.

NFC South
Atlanta 10-6, Carolina 9-7,Saints 7-9, BUCs 1-15 see ya Lovie

AFC West
Chargers 11-5,Chiefs 9-7,Donkeys 8-8 Ostwieller era begins by mid season. Raiders 5-11

AFC North
Ravens 12-4,Cincy 10-6,Steelers 9-7,Browns 6-10

AFC East
Dolphins 10-6 win division over NE 10-6 on tiebreakers. Buffalo 8-8, Jets 3-13
AFC South Colts 11-5,Texans 9-7, Titans 8-8 Mariota OROY. Jags 6-10 see ya Gus.

Hawks vs Dolphins in the big Zipper
Hawks 27 Fins 13

[Zorn76]

NFC West:
Seahawks 12-4
Cards 9-7
Rams 8-8
49ers 7-9

NFC North:
Packers 11-5
Lions 9-7 (wc team)
Vikings 9-7
Bears 7-9

NFC South:
Panthers 9-7 (beat Atl in tie break for division)
Falcons 9-7
Saints 8-8
Bucs 6-10

NFC East:
Eagles 10-6 (beat Dallas in tie break for division)
Cowboys 10-6 (wc team)
Giants 9-7
Washington (being pc here:) 5-11

NFC Summary: While historically there's always playoff turnover in terms of teams year after year, I think there's an equal chance that we see the same teams as last season in 2015. I don't think the Vikes are quite there yet, the Packers are easily the class of the division, and the Lions will some how manage to sneak in over a myriad of other 9-7 calibre teams.

The Falcons D keeps them out of the mix, the Saints are old, and the Cards' ceiling is low with a aging Carson Palmer.

AFC West:
Broncos 10-6 (beat SD in tie break for division)
Chargers 10-6 (wc team)
Chiefs 8-8
Raiders 7-9

AFC North:
Ravens 10-6
Steelers 9-7
Bengals 9-7
Browns 6-10

AFC South:
Colts 11-5 (#1 seed over N.E. via tie breaker)
Texans 9-7
Jaguars 5-11
Titans 5-11

AFC East:
Patriots 11-5
Dolphins 10-6 (wc team)
Jets 9-7
Bills 7-9

AFC Summary: Still no real powerhouse teams in this conference. Until proven otherwise, however, the Pats are the team to beat in this conference. I have the Colts as the #1 seed, but blowing it in the playoffs, allowing New England HFA in the CCG. The Dolphins and Chargers have just enough going to get in. I'm not buying Buffalo given their QB, the Steelers D isn't good enough, JJ Watt can't QB Houston (or could he?:) and Marvin Lewis finally gets canned after being on the hot seat for what seems a decade now.

Overall:
I skipped the rest of the playoffs to cut right to the chase.
And as rare as it is, I think we see a rematch for SB 50, with (natually) the Seahawks beating the Patriots, 31-24.

[burrrton]

the Cards' ceiling is low with a aging Carson Palmer.

Plus I can't get past feeling like they were doing it with the proverbial 'smoke and mirrors' last year even when Carson was there.

I can't stand saying "yeah, but" for a win in the NFL, but iirc, there was a bizarre string of events that led to their impressive record before Carson went down.

I guess we'll see.

[obiken]

Did I miss something folks? Did Detroit get some new players I don't know about? What makes them special enough to win 11 or 12 games.

[HumanCockroach]

Top five defense, improved running game, healthy Tate and Megatron, how are you expecting a step back?

I mean they did win 11 last year, what makes you think they can't do the same this season exactly?

[monkey]

Plus I can't get past feeling like they were doing it with the proverbial 'smoke and mirrors' last year even when Carson was there.

I can't stand saying "yeah, but" for a win in the NFL, but iirc, there was a bizarre string of events that led to their impressive record before Carson went down.

I guess we'll see.

You're absolutely right Burrrton, there was a bizarre string of events before Carson went down, including leading the NFL in plus turnovers by a huge margin, and not because they were doing anything special, but because they were getting EVERY SINGLE BOUNCE to go their way.
They were easily the NFL's luckiest team BY FAR, and I can guarantee they will regress towards the mean this year. There is simply no way they will be the beneficiary of that many bounces again, no way.
While everyone wants to pick the Cards as a dark horse because "Palmer", apparently they don't realize that 1. Palmer is the epitome of "injury prone QB" and 2. He actually sucks.
Arizona will disappoint big time this year. it's the Rams who will provide the competition in the West, what little there will be. Besides, the Rams always play us tough, the Cards always get their rear ends SPANKED by us.

[monkey]

Did I miss something folks? Did Detroit get some new players I don't know about? What makes them special enough to win 11 or 12 games.

They have a terrific passing game, and terrific defensive front seven, a rookie RB who looks like he could become a very special back, and quite possibly the most underrated offensive line in the NFL.
Sure they lost Suh, but adding Ngata was a pretty solid replacement.
IMO if Detroit can just stop crapping the bed, they're the most talented team in that division.

[Futureite]

I dunno Monkey those are some bold predictions. I think you might be like me a bit, picking your wish list with the heart as opposed to conventional logic. Ill do some research and get my picks in here soon.

Brady is the ultimate system creation. The one constant throughout his pro career has been very good line play. If he has a clean pocket and good receivers he is absolutely deadly and he almost always does. On the extremely rare occasions when he doesn't he becomes worse than ordinary very quickly. His 2 SB losses the Giants defense was able to get significant pressure with a 4 man rush and he was ineffective. The Ravens have eliminated them in the postseason based on the same formula.Obviously Seattle was so banged up in the front 4 and secondary they were a shell of themselves last Feb. Had they been as healthy as 48 we wouldn't ever have to talk about a yard.If the Dolphins and Bills can collapse the pocket they could both be tough on NE this season.And Brady will be treated like the cheater he is by fans anywhere but Gillette stadium as well.

Pittsburgh was pathetic on defense last night so it wasn't much of a measuring stick for this years Pats offense but the times Pittsburgh got free runners they disrupted Brady.Their OC must be getting lessons from Bevfool based on that trick play call as well. Honestly Pittsburgh could have won the game quite easily without all the unforced mistakes. I did root for them for the first time in 10 years though.

He had 3 rookies starting on his OLine last night, one went undrafted. His #1 WR is a converted QB from Kent State. Last yr the Pats started Jordan Devey - who we now have - and he graded out by most ratimg systems near the bottom of all NFL gaurds. He has no advantage over any other QB in surrounding talent. Give any ither QB 3 rookies and Edelmen and see how they fare. He's just a great player that is leaps and bounds ahead of almost all other NFL QBs.

And I agree, he's a cheater. As are the Pats. But the guy can ball.

[jshawaii22]

It helps to have that wide-body TE, Gronk on your side.

[obiken]

Only Division winners for me.
NFC West
Hawks

NFC North
GB

NFC East
Eagles

NFC South
Atlanta

AFC West
Chargers

AFC North
Ravens

AFC East
NE

AFC South
Colts
Big Zipper we give the ball to Lynch this time.

Hawks vs Pats
Hawks 28 Pats 24