Today marks the first day of regular season play in the NFL. The Saints and Vikings will replay last year’s NFC Championship. Personally, I like the Vikes tonight.
As for the other 30 teams, here is where I think they end up in order of division finish.
AFC East
New England Patriots: Tom Brady has had over a year of recovery time, apparently Wes Welker has Wolverine’s healing powers (or HGH) and the Pats continue to carry 4,569 running backs. The defense isn’t pretty but Bill Belichick will find a way to get the group in the top-10.
New York Jets: I think Mark Sanchez is still too shaky as a starter in the NFL. Maybe he will prove me wrong and blow up for 5,000 yards. Or maybe he and LaDanian Tomlinson will have sub-par years that don’t live up to their hype. Either way, the Jets ‘D’ will carry them. If Dustin Keller can be an adequate security valve for Sanchez and Shonn Green runs for a million yards, the Jets will do fine.
Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins did quite a bit of retooling in the offseason. However, I don’t think they are good enough to top New York and New England. That’s ok, they will improve. Especially Chad Henne, his career arc is key for the long-term viability of this franchise.
Buffalo Bills: I love this team. Unfortunately, they aren’t going to be very good. No matter how much time he gets, Trent Edwards will just be o.k. Add to that the fact that his line isn’t much better than last year – yeah, I figured you could do the math. C.J. Spiller is exciting and the secondary is sick. I still think they will yield a lot of rushing yards but that is to be expected with the change in scheme. I just hope to God they are willing to spend the money on Jake Locker next summer. Continue reading
Two in the Box 