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| Drew Brees- QB New Orleans Saints |
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| Chris Johnson- RB Tennessee Titans |
2010 NFL Standings-
(*- Denotes Playoff Team)
NFC
East-
1. Cowboys* ('boys play well, but the pressure to play the Super Bowl at home is too much to handle)
2. Redskins (McNabb makes Eagles pay for trading him, and Shanahan builds his 3-4 toward a 2011 playoff berth)
3. Eagles (Vick and Kolb do their best, but it isn't enough to make the playoffs)
4. Giants (Too many injuries and losses mount for the once strong N.Y. Football Giants. Sorry, Eli)
South-
1. Saints* (Brees and Co. return to the big game behind high powered 'O', opportunistic 'D' and Sean Peyton's great coaching)
2. Falcons* (Ryan leads his team back to the playoffs, and maybe the birds even win a game as a Wild Card)
3. Buccaneers (Improvements abound for the Bucs, but there's too much competition in this division)
4. Panthers (Jimmy Clausen takes over at QB mid-season for this rebuilding bunch)
North-
1. Packers* (Rodgers gets the Pack to the NFC Championship, but the Super Bowl will have to wait 'til 2011)
2. Vikings* (Whether Favre plays or not, this team is loaded, and will be a Wild Card at worst)
3. Bears (Cutler and the defense improve, but not enough to save Lovie Smith's job)
4. Lions (Lions keep moving forward, but it's too tough in this division to be any better than 6-10)
West-
1. 49ers* (Niners get back to the playoffs behind Gore, Smith and Coach Singletary's punishing Defense)
2. Seahawks (Carroll's first year is semi-successful, but not like he is used to- let's say 7-9)
3. Cardinals (Leinart ain't Warner, and it shows as Arizona goes backward)
4. Rams (St. Louis shows signs of future greatness with some surprising wins behind rookie Bradford)
AFC
East-
1. Jets* (Rex's kids get it done, despite high expectations, but have some work to do to go all the way)
2. Patriots* (Tom looks strong, but the no-name defense lets the Pats down in the playoffs)
3. Dolphins (Henne is a star in the making, but the fish need some more help to win in this division)
4. Bills (Buffalo isn't going to do much. Did anybody think they would?)
South-
1. Colts* (Playoffs prove to be the Colts undoing again, as Manning struggles without a running game)
2. Texans (Houston just misses the playoffs again, 8-8 is becoming a habit)
3. Titans (Vince Young and Chris Johnson are studs, but there's not much else there)
4. Jaguars (Maurice Jones-Drew is a great fantasy pick, but sadly these guys are playing in the reality of the NFL)
North-
1. Ravens* (Flacco, Rice and the defense are at that critical point to make the leap to the top of the league)
2. Bengals* (The T.O. experiment works until the Bengals fold in the playoffs)
3. Steelers (Big Ben's 4-6 game absence hurts Pittsburgh and they never recover)
4. Browns (Cleveland is better in 2010 under Holmgren, but it's a long road back for the nation's most depressing sports town)
West-
1. Chiefs* (I'm being bold and saying upstart Kansas City dethrones the Chargers as the class of the West)
2. Chargers (Injuries and Norv Turner's milquetoast coaching doom the Bolts chances, despite the arm of Philip Rivers)
3. Broncos (Tebow ends up starting by week 10 when the Broncos season is mathematically over)
4. Raiders (Al Davis' team gets better, but it's pretty hard to polish a turd)
NFC Championship- SAINTS over PACKERS
AFC Championship- RAVENS over JETS
Super Bowl XLV- RAVENS over SAINTS
There you have it, kids. I welcome any comments about my picks. Discussion is good. Football is good. Discussions about football are great.