Predictions

[Deus Irae]

Thanks for the welcome...

My pleasure, and I hope you enjoy it here.

 

[Kontradiction]

Thanks for the welcome...

As far as the Pack at #1... if you read the comment, I did admit that it is somewhat of a homer pick, but would have a hard time not putting them in the top 5. And as far as picking the Packers in front of the Vikings, I'm not the only one:
Peter King at Sports Illustrated
Whatif Sports Simulation
The football Expert
Pete Prisco at CBSsports.com
Jason La Canfora at NFL.com
Some other guy at NFL.com
Las Vegas Odds makers have Pack with edge on Vikes

I'm not even the only one with Green Bay #1 (again, I admit I'm a homer, but I'm not far off of reality). Not that I like having my team be the popular pick to win the superbowl, as it can become a distraction for the team. Its practically a jinx to top Peter King's ranking. All teams have questions, but there seems to be very few for the Pack this offseason. IMO, they are easy to defend as the best team in the NFC North:

-One of the best defenses in the league. #1 run defense last year, #2 overall. Woodson is top dog in a ball-hawking D-backfield. Expect INT's galore as usual. Very good depth at all positions.

-One of the best offenses in the league (#6 in 2009). Make no mistake that Aaron Rodgers is an elite QB. And they are 4-deep at WR. They answered most the O-line questions they had at the beginning of 2009 and ended the season 7-1 after getting both starting tackles back from injury.

-Fantasy owners take note: Jermichael Finley at TE is a matchup nightmare. He broke out the 2nd half of 2009 after he came back from his knee sprain. Will be one of the top TE's in the league in 2010.

Viking though having a good team, have many questions:

-Peterson's fumbling problem. And they lost the #2 RB (Chester Taylor).

-Favre: Will he be able to compete at 41 years old? (he did become a grandpa this offseason) Will the lack of any training camp time impact his performance or his timing with the WR's? Will the favoritism that the coaches/front office show towards Favre affect the chemistry of the team? Has it already with both Adrian Peterson and Sidney Rice skipping out of mandatory mini-camp without permission? Can Favre come back after the 3rd preseason game and "Say, I'll do everything within my power to win the superbowl" and have a single teammate believe him? (if he was serious he would have been there for all of training camp)

-Vikings secondary has plenty of questions with mediocre safeties and injury problems at CB. Doesn't really strike fear in any offense.

The Cardinals game was just one of a few games last year that showed the Packers defensive ranking to be a product of facing some easier offensive competition. It was certainly an improvement over 2008 for you guys, but it isn't a defense that puts the fear of God into me at this point.

 

[Coach42]

Thanks for the welcome...

As far as the Pack at #1... if you read the comment, I did admit that it is somewhat of a homer pick, but would have a hard time not putting them in the top 5. And as far as picking the Packers in front of the Vikings, I'm not the only one:
Peter King at Sports Illustrated
Whatif Sports Simulation
The football Expert
Pete Prisco at CBSsports.com
Jason La Canfora at NFL.com
Some other guy at NFL.com
Las Vegas Odds makers have Pack with edge on Vikes

I'm not even the only one with Green Bay #1 (again, I admit I'm a homer, but I'm not far off of reality). Not that I like having my team be the popular pick to win the superbowl, as it can become a distraction for the team. Its practically a jinx to top Peter King's ranking. All teams have questions, but there seems to be very few for the Pack this offseason. IMO, they are easy to defend as the best team in the NFC North:

-One of the best defenses in the league. #1 run defense last year, #2 overall. Woodson is top dog in a ball-hawking D-backfield. Expect INT's galore as usual. Very good depth at all positions.

-One of the best offenses in the league (#6 in 2009). Make no mistake that Aaron Rodgers is an elite QB. And they are 4-deep at WR. They answered most the O-line questions they had at the beginning of 2009 and ended the season 7-1 after getting both starting tackles back from injury.

-Fantasy owners take note: Jermichael Finley at TE is a matchup nightmare. He broke out the 2nd half of 2009 after he came back from his knee sprain. Will be one of the top TE's in the league in 2010.

Viking though having a good team, have many questions:

-Peterson's fumbling problem. And they lost the #2 RB (Chester Taylor).

-Favre: Will he be able to compete at 41 years old? (he did become a grandpa this offseason) Will the lack of any training camp time impact his performance or his timing with the WR's? Will the favoritism that the coaches/front office show towards Favre affect the chemistry of the team? Has it already with both Adrian Peterson and Sidney Rice skipping out of mandatory mini-camp without permission? Can Favre come back after the 3rd preseason game and "Say, I'll do everything within my power to win the superbowl" and have a single teammate believe him? (if he was serious he would have been there for all of training camp)

-Vikings secondary has plenty of questions with mediocre safeties and injury problems at CB. Doesn't really strike fear in any offense.

Much like the Pats the Packs season ended with a LOUD thud. I'm not sure how everyone shakes off the memory of the double nickel that Cards hung on them in their last game. Certainly there is reason to be optimistic but number 1#? Call me old school but the Saints have that title until proven otherwise.

 

[ahmed]

13-3 at worst

 

[jmt57]

Don Shula thinks the Pats will once again win the AFC East.

Don Sula chimes in on Miami Dolphins by Armando Salguero for the Miami Herald.

Shula hasn't watched tape or reached out to contacts he still has in the coaching community. But he knows a little something about the teams the Dolphins will compete against in the AFC East. And in sizing up the division, Shula does not allow his heart to rule his head.

``New England,'' he answers without hesitation when I ask which team he is picking to win the division.

``The Jets are getting better. They felt they added some reliable pieces. They have the experienced running in [LaDainian] Tomlinson in case the youngster [Shonn Greene] can't do it. And I'm a big Jason Taylor fan. They went on that roll at the end of last year, and I don't think that was a fluke. They played well at the right time. So the Jets are good, too.''

But for all the praise Shula heaps on New York and the Miami team he roots for, he cannot dismiss the critical factor that points him to New England.

``New England has the best quarterback in the division,'' Shula says.
``They won it last year, and it's hard to pick against Tom Brady.''​

​

 

[MoneyFX]

10 or 11 wins seems like a very comfortable prediction for this team. People forget the fact that the Pats had a defense that was younger and was stripped of nearly all the remnants of their glory years' defense due to retirement and release/trades and that their offense was very predictable because they didn't have any other reliable targets besides Wes Welker and Randy Moss. And when Welker went down, who else does Brady have? That and a horrible defense = a disastrous home playoff loss.

Brady should be better this year and the WR and TE units have been drastically improved, these units went from being so short to so deep suddenly. The new TE's Gronkowski and Hernandez should be good red-zone targets and can be mismatches, especially Gronk. Holt, Tate, Edelman and Price with Wes and Randy should make a dangerous WR corps especially if they all produce especially if Torry Holt won't be this year's Joey Galloway. Defense is younger of course and this unit with time can be one of the best defenses in years to come.