Here's how I think the NFL will pan out this upcoming season:

AFC East
NE
Mia
Buf
NYJ

AFC North
Pit
Cin
Bal
Cle

AFC South
Ind
Ten
Jax
Hou

AFC West
SD
Den
Oak
KC

AFC Seeding:
1) NE
2) Pit
3) Ind
4) SD
5) Ten
6) Mia

AFC Playoffs:
(Wildcard)
Ind over Mia
SD over Ten
(Divisional)
NE over SD
Pit over Ind
(Championship)
NE over Pit

NFC East
NYG
Phi
Was
Dal

NFC North
Min
GB
Chi
Det

NFC South
Car
Atl
NO
TB

NFC West
Arz
Sea
SF
StL

NFC Seeding:
1) NYG
2) Car
3) Arz
4) Min
5) Phi
6) Atl

NFC Playoffs:
(Wildcard)
Atl over Arz
Phi over Min
(Divisional)
NYG over Atl
Phi over Car
(Championship)
NYG over Phi

SUPER BOWL
NE over NYG

Wow...Minnesota and Green Bay over the Bears in the North? I could see the Vikings winning the division, but the Packers in second? What have they done that would make them that much improved?????

Giants in the Super Bowl? They are really going to miss Plaxico and Toomer on offense. Eli Manning has been improving, but their receiving core is lacking from their last super bowl run.

IMHO...

The WR position is probably the only weak spot the Giants have. Everything else looks stellar - offensive backfield, offensive line, defense, special teams... Even Kevin Boss looks like a potential breakout candidate at TE.

RE: the WR corps - there is no proven veteran production here, but a group made up of Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham, Steve Smith, Domenik Hixon, Sinorice Moss, Ramses Barden, and David Tyree just brims with potential.

As far as the Bears go, they look a lot like the Giants to me, with their receivers being the only glaring Achilles' heel, but their talent level at all the other positions is not as high as the Giants. You could make an argument for Cutler over Manning at QB and Olsen over Boss at TE, I suppose, but... And the Bears' OL is nowhere near as good as the Giants'. The Bears' "D" doesn't compare to New York's, either, though their special teams are better.

What excites me with GB is the talent at the offensive skill positions - as long as an average-looking offensive line doesn't hamstring them - and the potential on defense. I fully expect B.J. Raji to win the starting NT job and Clay Matthews, Jr. to take the starting OLB spot across from Aaron Kampman. Nick Barnett and A. J. Hawk scream potential at the ILB positions. The depth a LB is excellent, as well. In the secondary, the Pack is getting old at CB (Woodson is 33 and Harris is 35), but the depth is young and talented at both CB and safety, and the tandem of Nick Collins and Atari Bigby is one of the top S duos in the league.

I agree tha this could be a drop off year for the G-Men, they look like 9-7 or 10-6 to me with the Eagles or perhaps my 2010 darkhorse/sleeper in Washington jumping over them. The NFC Central will be very tightly packed 2 or the wins may stand between top and bottom, I'd put Chicago 2nd, narrowly ahead of Green Bay but I think they'll likely have the same record. I think Chicago will take both of the head to head meetings. Overall very solid work I think you nailed the AFC.

I think you misunderstood my argument. I wasn't comparing the Giants and the Bears. I basically had two big disagreements. The first one was that the Packers would finish higher than the Bears. You listed a lot of people, but you kept mentioning potential. Lets look at the facts. Their offensive line is poor and they did little to solidify it. Their defense wasn't very good last year and now they have changed to the 3-4 and are plugging guys into spots that they are either unfamiliar with or not suited for (Aaron Kampman). While the Bears have solidified their offensive line, added a franchise quarterback, hired the best defensive line coach in football, added veterans at linebacker and the secondary. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that they are going to win the super bowl. I'm not even saying that they'll for sure get to the playoffs. I'm just saying they are in a much better position to do better than the Packers.

As for my second argument. I think that the NFC East will come down to the Giants and the Eagles. The Giants are a good team, but their receiving core is suspect. Armani Toomer and Plaxico Burris did a lot for that offense. Look at Eli once Plaxico was gone. It wasn't the same. Hakeem Nicks is a very good prospect, but he hasn't proved anything in the NFL yet. He came to the combine overweight and not in the best shape. Ramses Barden is very raw and probably two years away from really contributing. They will make the playoffs, but to pick them to go to the super bowl is premature.

All valid opinions, and things may very well fall the way you forsee them.

I understood you weren't comparing the Giants and the Bears, Johanns. It's just that as I was forming my arguments in my head I could see someone saying "Hey, wait a minute, you're saying that WR is the Giants only weakness and you're picking them for the Super Bowl, but the Bears only weakness is WR and they're gonna finish behind GB and not even make the playoffs?! Huh?!"

For the Packers to do what I'm predicting them to do - and understand that I'm thinking 9-7 at best and that they won't make the playoffs - I admit that their O-line is going to have to overachieve and potential on defense is going to have to turn into production "toot sweet."

I just have a hunch that those things will happen, that's all.

Though God knows I've been wrong before...

what is this coach tony sparano doing?. Is he an idiot all together?. Last meeting miami steam rolled the jets with the wild cat. Now this idiot ran just a few wild cat plays, and played just an nfl set offense.the jets lost jenkins on defense in the middle of the line, but yet no wild cat. The score is 3-3, and if this idiot coach contimues to think that his rookie qb is going to win this game on his own, this idiot is sadly mistaken. Big tuna lets this coach get away with this?. If the dolphins dont break out with the wild cat offense, they deserve to lose.

The ny giants, watching this game closely, and it appears to me that the eagles are one play ahead in the giant playbook, like they know whats coming. I said that last week when the giants lost to the cardinals. Is somebody selling the plays, all of a sudden eli manning is that predictable?. After that big loss to the saints, something happened to this team. One thing for sure, the saints exposed the giant weakness in their secondary strong safety position. I really need to get on this next week, and give you an updated scouting report.

Good luck
bw