By Mike
NFC EAST
· It looks like another fight for the beast right up until week 17. The Redskins started strong but with Rex Grossman showing why he’s not a starting QB and John Beck taking over the starting snaps, the Redskins are quickly putting the 11’ season behind them already. Losing 4 out of their last 5 games with 2 of them being divisional rivals (cowboys and eagles), the Redskins need to muster up a quick turnaround to stand a chance, and I don’t think they can do that with Beck behind center. Factor in the season-ending injury to Tim Hightower and an extended injury break for Santana Moss, and this team has little chance of pulling any Aces from their depleted deck.
Who are the real cowboys? You get John Wayne one week and The Three Amigos the next. I really can’t figure this team out, they have plenty of offensive fire power even with an inconsistent Tony Romo. The injury to Felix Jones didn’t help their cause but they got an unexpected boost from rookie Demarco Murray who put up record setting numbers in his first NFL start. From here on out the Cowboys need one thing….CONSISTENCY! The only the shot they have is to put the ball in Tony Romo’s hands and let him win them football games, scary I know.
The Eagles started their 2011 NFL season as the “dream team.” We’re now half way through and the birds have been more of a nightmare. I know I know, they are heating up as of late, and came off the bye week putting a hurting on the unstable Cowboys. My issue is this, can the offensive line protect Vick going forward and can the defensive line apply pressure while stopping the run game? The eagles have been mediocre at best against the run, ranking 18th in rushing defense. By all means Philly is the strongest team in the division on paper; if they can continue to translate this to the field they have every chance to make a legitimate run for first place.
Finally there are the New York Giants. At 5-2 they sit atop the NFC East with a 2 game lead. Coming into the season it was hard to see the Giants finishing .500 as they got hit hard by the preseason injury bug and let free-agents Kevin Boss and Steve Smith walk.. With the Patriots, Packers, Saints, and 49’s still looming on the horizon Big Blue has their work cut out for them. Eli Manning is hushing critics with elite play and continues to lead the giants to 4th quarter comebacks. As great as this is, it could also be their downfall. Teams like the Patriots and Packers will dominate the Giants if they cannot put up early points and keep the score in reach. Add in the Ahmad Bradshaw injury to an already 30th ranked rushing game and the road only gets harder. It’s going to take 2 things, the Giants league leading pass rush (26 sacks) and tight coverage from a depleted secondary to win these games.PREDICTIONS
I see the Giants winning the division at 11-5, with the Eagles at 10-6, Cowboys at 9-7, and Redskins bringing up the rear at 7-9. The Giants will undoubtedly lose a couple of their last games, but if they can manage a win this weekend against New England they should be able to keep the hype up through to the Packers. The Eagles have a chance of winning this division, I have them at 10-6 but that number could easily swing either way and with a long shot at a wild-card spot coming from the East, they will need to play like crazy to take 1st place. The cowboys and redskins are long shots and I emphasize LONG SHOTS. Cowboy’s fans will argue this tooth and nail but let’s face it, with the level of inconsistency they are playing with right now, they will be lucky to finish the season above .500. I will by all means count the redskins out of division race.
NFC SOUTH
The south is a tight race with New Orleans currently sitting on top at 5-3 with a bye coming in week 11. Marching in right behind them is Tampa Bay and Atlanta both at 4-3, with Carolina bringing up the rear at 2-6. Let’s start with New Orleans. The 62-7 win against Indianapolis was impressive…..sort of. Indy is obviously struggling and is regarded by most as the worst team in the league this season, so of greater note are the 26-20 and 31-21 losses to the Bucs and at the time winless Rams. Let’s face it, the Saints are not the team they were last year. They lead the league in passing yds per game at 326.8 but something seems a little off this year. Drew Brees is known for putting risky passes where they need to be usually resulting in big plays. However with 10 interceptions so far this season he is behind only 1 other QB, the struggling Phillip Rivers. This is nothing new to Brees, last year he finished the season with 22 INT’s, second in the league to only Eli Manning. The difference this year is his INT’s are coming at crucial times and he’s been struggling to put up numbers early in games.
Atlanta’s QB Matt Ryan has taken a step back this year. With the gutsy move to add Julio Jones to the receiving core, Ryan was by all accounts poised to have a tremendous year. Poor pass protection and a weaker than usual Roddy White has limited Ryan’s production. Look for the Falcons to get more aggressive down field as the second half of the season continues.
Tampa Bay is another team whose QB was set to have a strong season after a breakout year in 2010. While Josh Freeman hasn’t played awful, he hasn’t played great either. Take into account the injured backfield and Tampa has had some real struggles to deal with. If the Bucs can start playing some stiffer defense down the stretch, they still have a shot.
Last place in South so far this season, the rookie Cam Newton and his Carolina Panthers. Cam has been nothing short of incredible and although this might not be their year, look for the panthers to win a few more games and give the Bucs a run for third place.
PREDICTIONS
The way I see it, the Saints have some tough games ahead. The Giants in week 12 will be a good test for Brees, and they still must face Atlanta twice and Detroit. I’ll take the Saints winning the division at 11-5, Atlanta at 11-5(wildcard), Tampa at 9-7, and Carolina 6-10.
NFC WEST
The NFC west is once again the worst division in the NFL. There is however one shining star in the West and that is Jim Harbaugh’s San Francisco 49’s. Notice I intentionally referred to them as Harbaugh’s team……..because they are. Alex smith is nothing but a game manager, and he would barely qualify to manage a McDonalds at that. This team’s success is far and away the result of Harbough’s appointment as head coach, a strong defense, and Frank Gore. That being said, I see the 49’s one loss away from watching their season unravel. The remainder of the division is a joke with Seattle being the only other team to win more than 1 game……they won 2.
Arizona and St. Louis are both 1-6 and offer no competition. Worthy of note is the horrific game play from the highly touted off-season acquisition Kevin Kolb. I must say I’m not a huge fan of Andy Reid or the Eagles’ front office, but they played the Kolb card perfectly and Arizona is stuck with yet another back-up QB.
PREDICTIONS
San Fran will run away this division, in fact they already have. As mentioned above, they WILL lose games, and for that reason I have them finishing 12-4, a vast improvement from last year but let’s not forget this is the NFC West. Seattle will win one or two more games, Tavaris Jackson will undoubtedly pull another one out of his hat, they finish 3-13 with the cards and St. Louis both mopping up the mess at 2-14. Sorry NFC West but you stink.
NFC NORTH
The final division to look at is the NFC North, home of the great Green Bay Packers. Undefeated and lead by runaway MVP QB Aaron Rogers, the Packers look to be third team in NFL history to finish a regular season undefeated. They won’t…….and my reason is this. The Packers are a great team but they are not perfect. Aaron Rogers is playing out of his mind but they haven’t been blowing teams away like the 2007 New England Patriots did on their road to an undefeated season. In fact, the packers have had very close games with much weaker teams like Minnesota and Carolina. Look for Green Bay to be handed back to back losses in weeks 12 and 13 from the Lions and the Giants. Both teams have a strong pass rush which is exactly what it takes to force some mistakes from the freakishly consistent Rogers. The north also features another stand out team this year in the Detroit Lions. Holding steady at 6-2, the Lions are playing good football but with a fragile Matt Stafford at the helm they are an injury away from missing out on a wild-card spot. Calvin Johnson is a monster and he is undoubtedly the most talented player on the team, but without the chemistry that he and Stafford share, the team would not survive. Detroit fans, you better start sending Stafford bubble wrap by the box full, you need him desperately.
The remaining teams are the 4-3 Chicago Bears and the 2-6 Minnesota Vikings. The bears are playing decent football but will be the victims of a strong division. The Vikings are showing new life with their rookie QB Christian Ponder but still have some bugs to work out and won’t be a contender this year.
PREDICTIONS
As mentioned above I do not foresee the Packers remaining undefeated. I called losses to the Lions and Giants and I stick by it, the Packers finish 14-2. At 6-2 and playing good, the lions have a tough but not ridiculous second half schedule. I see them finishing 12-4 with losses to the Saints and Packers. Chicago will finish with a decent record of 10-6 and the Vikings will bring up the rear at 4-12. 
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