the AFC IMO

[Brady#12]

AFC West

Denver - Uncle Rico makes Pay-me-a-ton look like a clutch performer, I just heard a rumor that they may go after Cutler in the draft . A contedah, but flawed.

KC - Another flawed team, now with the immortal Herm Edwards as coach - Pretendah

San Diego - Dump a very good young QB - brilliant move, a Front Office purge upcoming - Pretendah

Raiders - Fuggetaboutit

AFC North
Steelers - A few losses but in my opininon the same team that just won the championship - The Team to Beat

Bengals - The Bungholes no longer - a good up and coming team but unlikely to see Palmer until mid-season. Contendah but teetering

Browns - Up and Comer, but a ways to go - Pretendah

Ravens - fuggetaboutit, more probelms than I can mention

AFC South
Colts - Losses James, Tripplett and Thorton, gain a better kicker. Net loss for now but still time to fill the holes - Pretendah IMO

Jaguars - I thought this team was ready to step up last year, but Leftwich injury slowed progress - Pretendah until proven otherwise

Titans - Could be a mover if MacNair has anything left in the tank - I don't think he does - Pretendah

Texans - On the clock for the Brady Quinn sweepstakes? fuggetaboutit

AFC East

Bills - Sorry they were terrible last year and are now rebuilding - fugettaboutit

Jets - lots of bad news in Jetsland - Rookie coach, no QB - veteran losses, not good fuggetaboutit

Dolphins - improving, a legitimate threat, but Culpepper is unlikely to start the season and even healthy is an exploitable commodity - Maybe a contendah but a pretendah until proven otherwise

Pats - Take a breath folks. There are certainly areas of concern. 1 real WR on the roster at the moment, LBs are a year older and RB questions need to be answerered. We still have TB and a good young O-line which is a year more experienced. Returning players in the secondary are better than we think and the D-Line is still as good as any in football. - Contendah T

 

[BelichickFan]

I agree that there's not a team out there that looks scary and dominant. Despite all the teeth grinding this week we're still in really good shape.

 

[Brady#12]

but we might have the Fins snapping at our ankles this year.....................

Always good to have a bit of a challange

 

[BelichickFan]

but we might have the Fins snapping at our ankles this year.....................

Always good to have a bit of a challange

I think the Dolphins were a little overrated at the end of last year but if Culpepper is healthy and returns to 2005 form they could be very competive.

 

[Brady#12]

young and gaining experiance on the offensive side of the ball..

but ageing and lacking a bit on the defensive side... IMO

 

[ClosingTime]

Mark my words - KC will win the AFC West and be the team to beat. I know you guys like to dog Edwards but he did a lot with not that much talent with the Jets. KC has by far the most dominant line, a top 3 RB, above average QB and receivers. Edwards will improve their defense. REmember it took quite a collosal implosion last year for them to miss the playoffs.
Denver will be solid but can't match KC's firepower. SD will have growing pains with Rivers.

 

[patpatriot]

Really? Who thinks that?

AFC West

Returning players in the secondary are better than we think and the D-Line is still as good as any in football. - Contendah T

No they're not. When they were foirced to play without the best DL in football (due to injuries) they were badly exposed. With a healthy Rodney they are good at safety and mediocre to below average at CB.

Other than that I agree with your view. Outside of Pittburg and Indy, the Pats are unchallenged. Miami and Jacksonville are the dark horses.

 

[Brady#12]

the Jags will be very strong this year IMO

 

[mgteich]

I think the same nine will be in the hunt as was the case last year: the playoff teams, plus KC, SD and Miami.

Yes, the steelers are the team to beat.

Yes, we are the most likely to beat them.

And, Miami is likelyto be the most improved team.

 

[Warhorse]

So you have the Colts as a pretender even though we only have one hole to fill in at running back that we have shown that we can throw a rookie into the fray for that spot. We have every other spot wrapped up and the draft will give up depth at any necessary spots. And we have been to the playoffs six out of seven years.

The Patriots have a broken running back, a plethira of mediocre WRs, starters missing from the offensive line, holes in the secondary that has been injury prone the past 2 years and no kicker. And they are a contender. At least give the post some respect and don't go overboard on the homerism.

If every division gets a team into the playoffs then you should at least name the team that you think is the best in the division as a contender.

 

[T-ShirtDynasty]

Mark my words - KC will win the AFC West and be the team to beat. I know you guys like to dog Edwards but he did a lot with not that much talent with the Jets. KC has by far the most dominant line, a top 3 RB, above average QB and receivers. Edwards will improve their defense. REmember it took quite a collosal implosion last year for them to miss the playoffs.

Somewhat agree.. I think Herm floats on the talent there for a while, he won't screw the pooch in the first year, it will take a while, maybe a year before seeds of his infestation begin to show.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

RE: The Dolphins

Quick, name me the 4 DB's in the Dolphins secondary? I'll spot ya the overpriced Will Allen.

If the Pats had the Dolphins secondary this place would be going ballistic and they'd have committed 100's of us to institutions because of manic depression concerns.

The Dolphins just signed LJ Shelton to be their savious at LT people. Rex Hadnot is their RG. Committ 50 more of us.

And how many more of us would be institutionalized if our QB was a serious headcase outfit who was coming off major knee surgery? At least they have Ricky!

 

[pats1]

...who of course won't even play in 2006!

Going on, their OL consists of Shelton, Jeno James, Seth McKinney, Rex Hadnot, and Vernon Carney.

Kevin Carter will be 33, Keith Traylor will be 37, and Vonnie Holliday will be 31. Zach Thomas will be 33 himself.

Tavares Tillman and Yeremiah Bell are their starting safeties, with Norman LeJeune and Jack Hunt as backups. That's absoutely pitiful.

 

[DaBruinz]

No they're not. When they were foirced to play without the best DL in football (due to injuries) they were badly exposed. With a healthy Rodney they are good at safety and mediocre to below average at CB.

Other than that I agree with your view. Outside of Pittburg and Indy, the Pats are unchallenged. Miami and Jacksonville are the dark horses.

Sorry, Pat, but your reasoning has some major holes in it.

The fact of the matter is that the secondary was exposed for numerous reasons, but mainly the poor play of the front 7.

Even before Harrison was hurt, the secondary wasn't doing great. That is becasue the front 7 wasn't getting pressure on the QB and the oppoing QBs had time to pick the defense apart. Wilfork was playing poorly, while Brown and Beisel hadn't acclimated to their new positions. Not to mention the fact that Vrabel wasn't in game shape yet after being injured the entire TC. Add to that, the merry go round we had at the CB position opposite Samuel because of injuries and its easy to understand why the secondary had problems.

Its a proven fact that CBs can only cover receivers for so long until they get open. Rule of thumb is 5-7 seconds. If the rushers haven't gotten to the QB by then, then he will have plenty of time to get the ball to a receiver.

If the front 7 had being getting to the QB like it had in previous years, then the secondary would look a lot better. However, with the front 7 playing as poorly as it was, you could have put a secondary of Michael Haynes, Ty Law, Ronnie Lott and Rodney Harrison back there and they still would have had the same problems.

 

[patpatriot]

yeah but...

So you have the Colts as a pretender even though we only have one hole to fill in at running back that we have shown that we can throw a rookie into the fray for that spot. We have every other spot wrapped up and the draft will give up depth at any necessary spots. And we have been to the playoffs six out of seven years.

...the QB? You know the "Protection Problem" guy? He's still there. and you know the "2-time SB MVP" guy? He's still here. Adam helps you no doubt. But he ain't the difference maker.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Go gently on dogging Mangini's J E T S too soon.

1. He may not have a QB, but he has given himself options and an OC who did okay turning Brees into a contendah.

2. Take a second look at the defensive line - Kimo von Kneemo is a pretty good 3-4 DE. They have two guys on the roster who can plug in at NT (and Herm had some 3-4 sets so this isn't a new thing for them). And they currently pick No. 4 in the draft with two top 10 rated DL who can be plugged in at DE. What is interesting is the options they get out of that duo - If they take Mario Williams, they can use him as the Elephant OLB and stick one of their current DL at DE to be a run stopper on the strong side. That would put Kimo and tentatively Matt Chatham on the weak side, not bad. If they take Haloti Ngata, he becomes the run stopping DE in the Ty Warren mold, and they put Chatham there and draft a speed rusher like Gocong or Dumervil in the 3rd round to pair with Kimo. Vilma may stay at ILB, then again, Mangini was in on BB's game plan for the kid and may use him differently - as long as he can avoid blockers he will be a force.

3. O-line: In addition to No. 4, they also pick at 29 and 35 - that is a LT and RT or C if they want Nick Mangold - the smart thing is take a C like Ross of BC late and grab that RT. Sure they're rookies and will get beat up some the first year, but rookies are a major improvement over what they got from Herm.

4. EM is a secondary magician and Herm did leave him a few tools despite the Ty Law experiment. Vilma at SS anyone?

5. ILB - what if they took A.J. Hawk at No. 4? Brown and Myers can plug in there off the current roster. I'd bet Cox can teach those LBs a trick or two, even if he is a rookie coach.

Just like Miami last year, the Jets are rebuilding and dangerous. Miami gave the Pats some trouble in the first game, Mangini is in a position to put together a stubborn defense and decent O-line with his picks, even Penny could give the Pats some trouble with that kind of help.

 

[InBillITrust]

As much as people hate the Colts on this board, they have to be a contender. C'mon people, if they weren't a contender, posters wouldn't be knashing their teeth that AV went to them. I know everyone thinks Manning is going to choke again, but even Denver was a pseudo-contender here even w/ Plummer's playoff history.

 

[Warhorse]

I understand the sentiment here about Manning and his problems in the postseason but they are still a perrenial playoff team. Whatever the breakdown was in the Pittsburgh game, the colts still have to be considered a contender. If the Patriots are a contender after getting beat by the Superbowl champs then the colts should considering the team will be basically the same excluding Edgerrin James and including whoever will take his spot. At least make the prediction respectable.

 

[PATSNUTme]

A little early for these types of evaluations,IMO. FA is not over and we haven't had the draft. I'll wait a little to see how things shape up.

 

[Brady#12]

A little early for these types of evaluations,IMO. FA is not over and we haven't had the draft. I'll wait a little to see how things shape up.

got bored soid thought id make a valuable post for onece