Bold NFL Predictions

It is time for sports fans to argue and debate on who will be in Indianapolis this February for Super Bowl 46.

Will the Packers repeat? Will the Saints' offseason workouts really payoff? Are the Lions for real? And how much has the free agency changed the landscape of the season?

AFC EAST:

1. New England Patriots
They are the Patriots. They acquired two of the most scrutinized players in the league in Chad Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth but they know what they're doing and I don't doubt they will be great.

2. New York Jets
They have been the AFC Championship game the last two years in a row and have failed to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl. They remind me a lot of those Eagles teams a few years back in Donovan McNabb's glory days.

3. Miami Dolphins
They have a big question mark at quarterback, but the defense looks pretty good and I think Reggie Bush is out to prove that he can still be a playmaker.

4. Buffalo Bills
Is this team playing all their home games in Toronto yet? Just a matter of time.

AFC North:

1. Pittsburgh Steelers
Yeah James Harrison ran his mouth this offseason and Hines Ward got a DUI but I think this lockeroom is solid. They survived Roethlisburger's rape charges and a four game suspension that gave the reins to Charlie Batch. They won the AFC Championship last year and they will be in contention again.

2. Baltimore Ravens
Defense is getting old but they are still good. Keep an eye out for those Ravens vs. Steelers games this year, they are sure to be some hard fought games.

3. Cleveland Browns
The Browns weren't great last year but they had some big upsets that caught teams attention. They also have Madden 12 Cover Man Peyton Hillis.

4. Cincinnati Bengals
They have imploded in front of us and really have nothing going for them.

AFC West:

1. San Diego Chargers
This conference is pretty weak and the Chargers wont come out of the gates stumbling this season. Plus they will have Vincent Jackson for the entire season not just the last part.

2. Kansas City Chiefs
They made the playoffs last season, but there is not enough there to take on the Chargers.

3. Denver Broncos
I'm looking for Moreno and Tebow to have breakout seasons. I think Orton will eventually be dealt to the Dolphins were he will prove that he is overrated.

4. Oakland Raiders
They were alright last season and were in the hunt for a playoff spot, but they really haven't done much this offseason except losing their best player.

AFC South:

1. Houston Texans
Matt Schaub is good and has Andre Johnson who might be the best receiver in the league. Arian Foster is becoming a star after his breakout season. The offense is good the defense needed to be helped this offseason and they did just that.

2.Indianapolis Colts
Peyton Manning has a bum neck but I think he will be fine. But it seemed like they started to slow down last season and I think it will catch them this year. They are still good though and I think they will make the wildcard.

3. Tennessee Titans
Adding Matt Hasselbeck was huge the Titans he will be great for Jake Locker and be like a Favre-Rodgers thing. Chris Johnson will eventually be back they would be dumb not give him what he wants. They're defense is down though after losing Stephen Tulloch to the Lions.

4. Jacksonville Jaguars
David Garrad isn't getting better and Maurice Jones-Drew will want out after this season. They too lost their best defensive player in Justin Durant to the Lions.

NFC East:

1. Philadelphia Eagles
They are going to be really good this year, expect to see them vying for the Packers spot in the Super Bowl.

2. Dallas Cowboys
So much hype last year and only to flame out. Tony Romo is back though and this team will be in the hunt for a wildcard spot.

3. New York Giants
They had everything go wrong at the end of last season and it'll carry into this season. They'll be a .500 team this season.

4. Washington Redskins
Rex Grossman is the starter right now. Enough said.

NFC North:

1. Green Bay Packers
They are the defending Super Bowl champs and all of the injuries they last season are healed now. They haven't done anything this free agency but getting Jermichael Finley and Ryan Grant back is kind of like getting a free agent.

2. Detroit Lions
They Lions are going to be good. Fantastic defensive line and a good linebacker crew not to mention Calvin Johnson is still catching passes and Matt Stafford could be really good if he stays healthy.

3. Chicago Bears
I don't expect them to get back to the NFC championship game. The defense is getting old and one injury will blow them up. Jay Cutler is good but not good enough to save that offense. They got Roy Williams and Marion Barber but there is a reason why the Cowboys cut them the first chance they had.

4. Minnesota Vikings
McNabb isn't going to save this team. Adrian Peterson will be good but I don't think McNabb is going to have a '09 Favre season.

NFC West:

1. Arizona Cardinals
Kevin Kolb will have a breakout season and love throwing to Larry Fitzgerald and Braylon Edward when he signs with the Cardinals. Quarterback was their issue last season and they solved the problem. They could run away with this division.

2. St. Louis Rams
Sam Bradford got some help at receiver with Mike Sims-Walker and Steven Jackson is still going to tear up the field.

3. San Francisco 49ers
Alex Smith is new coach Jim Harbaugh's guy. Frank Gore is still in the backfield but that isn't enough to take over the Rams and Cardinals


4. Seattle Seahawks
Tavaris Jackson isn't good enough to help out the Seahawks get back on top of the NFC West. They also got rid of Lofa Tatupu who was the core part of their linebackers.

NFC South:

1. New Orleans Saints
I think they will take back their rightful spot atop the NFC South from the Falcons. Not because of the player workouts but because they have a chip on their shoulder after being embarrassed by the Seahawks.

2. Atlanta Falcons
Despite picking the Saints to win the division I think the Falcons got better. They have another receiver to go along side Roddy White with first round draft pick Julio Jones. I don't their record will reflect that they got better though.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
They were a nice surprise last year but it is up in the air how Talib will come off his rocky offseason if he is even available. Josh Freeman is good young quarterback and this team will contend this year. Their biggest game might come week one against the Lions it could be the tiebreaker for a wildcard spot.

4. Carolina Panthers
They are a lot better then last season but not sure how Cam Newton will fair. Newton will start over Clausen but it never seems to work out when rookie quarterbacks start right away.

Playoffs:

AFC: 1. Patriots 2. Steelers 3.Chargers 4. Texans 5. Jets 6. Colts

-The Colts go into San Diego and takes out the Chargers.
-The Jets dominate the Texans and sets up an AFC Championship rematch with the Steelers for a shot to get back.
-Patriots get it done against the Colts...again.
-Jets get pass the Steelers this time and face sets up a rivalry game in the championship.
-Jets finally get over the hump and make it to the Super Bowl.

NFC: 1. Eagles 2. Packers 3. Saints 4. Cardinals 5. Falcons 6. Lions

-Saints are upset yet again in the wildcard game by the Lions after Suh and the Lions put a ton of pressure on Brees.
-Falcons takes down the Cardinals and the go for payback against the Packers who destroyed them last in the divisional game last year.
-Eagles put the Lions in their place.
-Packers go back to the title game doing the same thing to the Falcons that they did last year.
-It is tough to repeat and I think it will get to the Packers as the Eagles go to the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl:

-Eagles finally get it done and they beat the Jets.

MVP: Aaron Rodgers
Defensive MVP: Ndamakung Suh
Coach of the Year: Jim Swartz
Rookie of the Year: Mark Ingram

Unlocked

Where were you when you heard the lockout was over? Did you scroll by ESPN and it caught your eye, did a friend text you, maybe you saw a status on facebook, or maybe you're like me and saw tweet from Jay Glazer, Adam Shefter and Chris Mortenson.

The voting hasn't happend yet but it seems for all intensive purposes the lockout is over. So the fans can rejoice, because football is back and it's going to come full throtle.

All those free agent signings, the trades, Hard Knocks will hopefully find a home and what season is an NFL season without at least a reporting of Brett Favre.

 The season is back so we can get the predictions out (mine will becoming next week after free agency settles) and over coarse start going over the startegy for out fantasy football teams.

Some people hate it, but I don't mind preseason games. It's a chance to see some lesser known players fight to make a team. I mean without preseason games undrafted Frank Zombo wouldn't have made the Green Bay Packers and would've never brought down Ben Rothlisburger in the first quarter of the Super Bowl.

Do the Packers even make the Super Bowl with all the injuries they suffered during the season without Zombo?

It's good to see that we won't lose all the preseason game, in fact just one single game is lost.

But most of all we can rejoice that the season is going to start on time, and with the short amount of time we have from now to the Sept. 8 kickoff between the Saints and the Packers, it is going to come on fast get ready because the NFL is going to come at us hard.

Underrated

With the NFL lockout about to come to an end there are a few players looking to land in new cities, especially at quarterback. One of those players may be the most underrated player in the entire league.

Many analyst have said that Vince Young should go to Philadelphia or to the Giants in New York and be a third string and try to rebuild a career by winning games when Mike Vick and Eli Manning are down.

Why not start? I would love to see Young suit up for my Miami Dolphins because Chad Henne sure isn't getting it done.

Young is winner, no way around that fact. He won a national championship in his final year at Texas beating the favored USC Trojans and their explosive team of Reggie Bush, Matt Leinhart and LenDale White; not to mention their immovable defense with an outstanding linebacker crew of Brian Cushing, Ray Maualuga and Clay Matthews.

If the NCAA knew about Bush's violations at that time he would even have a Heisman trophy to his name, but that is just college.

In the professional ranks Young has a record of 32-18 as a starter, he was benched by coach Jeff Fisher this last season with a passer rating of 98.6 which was his best ever as a pro, in 2009 he took an 0-6 Titan team and finished the season 8-8, he has passed for 41 touchdowns and thrown 7,764 yards.

Oh and he can run as well. He has 12 rushing touchdowns, 1,380 yards, averages 5.2 yards a carry, he has broken off 20 plus yard rushes 10 times and once for 40 that won the game against the Houston Texans in overtime.

These stats are just when he starts, I didn't even included the number of times he had to come in when he had to clean up Kerry Collins' mess.

Yeah, he had an off field incident last summer but this isn't about that, this is about cold hard stats. Young has been dealt a bad hand stuck on team where his coach didn't appreciate him.

Yes he has had a bad game here and there, I'm not putting him in the ranks of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers but he is better then a lot of guys who are starting today and he is proven.

Young deserves to have a shot at starting, the guy wins, he is young, he is big, strong and he can run just as good as he can throw. He can find a way to win and usually does, not much of risk for a team looking for a quarterback to put at the helm.     

Relax

Flashback to the summer when the Miami Heat had the LeBron's decision and the light show inside American Airlines Arena introducing James, Wade and Bosh for the first time together.

What were the analyst and fans saying? They were saying yes this team will be great but not this year. They need a year to gel and they are going to need role players.

So why is it now the Heat lose the NBA Championship, as expected, that many people want to blow this team up and forget about the entire season and this experiment. 

Fans want to get rid of LeBron and bring in Dwight Howard. Really, you think that the Orlando Magic will give up their best player to their instate rival that is probably the dumbest thing I've heard people jump to such huge conclusions without thinking that these moves effect more then one team.

They need to get rid of Erik Spoelstra and have Pat Riley on the bench some have said. A first year coach who got the most scrutinized team to the NBA Finals and two games from winning it all despite what most people said early on. I'm sorry but that is idiotic, one Riley doesn't want to coach anymore he has said that time and time again and two you can't expect a first year coach to win it all. Yes Rick Carlisle out coached him but Spoelstra will learn from his mistakes in the finals.

Yes there has to be some changes to the team but I don't think anything major, don't take away James, Wade, Bosh or Spoelstra. Maybe take away Mike Miller or Mike Bibby and add a free agent like Chauncey Billups who looks to be available because the Knicks aren't resigning him it seems.

That would be your logical choice, bring in Billups for two years and let Mario Chalmers learn from him and then let Chalmers take over. Billups is a good point guard who can shoot if needed and can make plays, Chalmers is going to be good don't get rid of him bring in Billups to be his mentor.

The Heat are fine, they won the Eastern Conference Championship beating the best team in the regular season the Chicago Bulls and MVP Derrick Rose, they overcame the Boston Celtics who had their number in the regular season. Don't mess with that kind of success. It is an experiment, nobody quits on an experiment if one thing goes wrong. They learn and modify.