trip around the nfl and other observations

americas favorite sport never takes a break. heres a look at the AFCs east and north 2010 outlook along with some stone cold, freezer burn inducing locks. oh yea and other observations.

AFC

EAST

1 tied, own tiebreaker) Rex's Jets - unlike last year they are sneaking up on NO ONE this time around. having said that they are a better team all around. the jets had the best offseason in my opinion and the best free agent was CB antonio cromartie. flanking revis with another elite talent creates the top corner tandem in the game. that is if revis is used only as a corner, some reports have rex using revis everywhere. this is scary. 20 INT for the combo.
dont sleep on the offense either, adding LT to spell greene solidifies thier bread and butter running game. WR santonio holmes walks into the number one WR role after the suspension which makes it easier on everyone. braylon instantly is improved by facing the number 2 corner of every opponent. the field is opened up for post bust TE dustin keller and assures that opposing DEF cant throw 8 or 9 in the box and slow down the run game. mark sanchez should have a better stat season with the improved squad.
2010: slow start going 3-3 into the bye week, finishing the year with a 9-7 overall. good enough for a playoff berth where thier style flourishes. this team plays for a conference title again and falls short again.

1 tied, w/o tie breaker) New England Paits-1st off they will sign brady. there should be no drama here. after they do this i see good things for the recovering former champs. never has brady and bill beeeeeelichcik had as little hype going into a season. this is a good thing for one of the nfl's most hated teams. they can cruise under the radar, bring wes welker back up to speed and give edleman a chance to take a bigger step in the offense. moss is moss, enough said. the trio could give brady a chance to recapture some of his magic from the undefeated reagular season where he had a weekly video game stat line.
the run game was where the paits used to hang their hat, but with brady doing his best joe montana impression the run game suffered. this year they are not going to go back to clock managment offense but the run game should be better. faulk is back (2010: 45 rec, i promise) and fred taylor should be good enough around the goal line to where the paits are not hampered by the run, but supplimented by it.
the D is recovering from a non patriot effort last year. i like them better this year against the run. big vince wilfork will slow down opponents run game forcing throws. i see teams throwing more on the paits. look for more shootout type wins like last year (often the game of the week).
2010: starting off hot, 3-1 going into week 5 bye. finishing 9-7. good enough for the playoffs, but i see only one playoff win.

3) Miami Dolphins- finally the offense has something looking like a passing game. this is nice for the teams meal ticket ronnie brown and sticky williams. they off line and the run game are this teams MO. adding marshall and the possible career year for henne will result in a more traditional looking offense with the wildcat prolly only used in 3 or 4 downs a game. the D is younger and better with karlos dansby and they are always tough to play in miami (ask new england). however, they are in a hell division.
2010: slow start 1-3 before the bye week, finishing 7-9. they can start getting excited about lebron, no playoffs for the fish.

4) Buffalo Bills- last time i checked they dont have thomas coming out of the backfield. long year in buffalo again in 2010. good RB stable supplimented by pop gun passing attack makes this OFF atleast ok. the D isnt. with the exception of Paul Pasluszny the D is young or bad. look for a weekly highlight from spliller though. hes sick.
2010: 1-4 into break, finishing 5-11. the bills suck.

NORTH

1) Baltimore Ravens- complete team. no real weakness. boldin opens the field for everyone. 1000 yd WR d. mason is bumped to the support role where he will kill it. boldin's presence makes ray rice a 3 yd screen pass away from a 78 yd TD catch on every drive. flacco can sit back and read options more with boldin in the lineup. look for 2 1000 yd WR from this team and rice having 60 catchs. this is flaccos big step year. goal line situations should be no real problem with the stable of rice, mcgahee, and mcclain. boldin, also a beast in the red zone. boldin was the perfect signing for this squad.
the D is always there. they seem to sandbag in the first month or so and turn it on as the weather gets colder. ngata, reed, and lewis are still dominant and should push this team through december and the playoffs. i like this team for the super bowl and a close super bowl win. giving it to you now. the ravens are the champs next year.

2) Cincinnati Bengals- disagree with rich on this one. i like the bengals to make the playoffs 2 years in a row. the offense is actually the hinderence of this team from being better. carson has a better year with the addition of bryant to flank ocho and gresham should camp out in the middle and be the release valve (70 rec for gresham). bensen is better then i though but i dont think he is as good as last year. he doesnt get 1200 yd again. more of a 850, 6 TD year i think.
the D is good and are made up of ball hawks. joseph and hall are young and usually unknown CB that swarm. maualuga and odom are stars in the making. i really like cincy's D. this DEF will finish in the top ten in the league.
2010: 2-3 into the break, 8-8 squeaking into the playoffs as the last team in.

3) Pittsburgh Steelers- big ben is a registered sex offender. they lost holmes. and hines is another year older. not excited about the steelers 2010. all this shakes out to mean that mendenhall will be the show. i like him alot this year and you can almost pencil him in for the MVP of the first 6 weeks. mike wallace could take a real big step this year and prove me wrong but i think the steelers will be slower and more predictable w/o holmes.
the DEF goes as polamalu goes and i think it will be a great unit this year. smith is back and woodley and harrison are among the greats. look for low scoring affairs next year but unlike in the super bowl years the steelers coming up short on alot of those contests.
2010: 1-3 into the break, 7-9 overall. big ben creeps the hell out of me. i bet he had a boner during those appoligy interviews.

4) Cleveland Frowns- this team is awful. adding delhome makes them almost worse. holmgren is the answer but not this year. weekly highlights from cribbs will be the season highlights for the team.
2010: 2-5 into the break, 4-12 overall.


other observations...

tiger woods is the most popular athlete again... although i think he has different fans now.

the cubs are primed for a run but sadly i think they fall short of playoffs. i am excited about 2011 tho.

t.o. will go somewhere in the nfl. if your the saints i go after him and let him know that he is the number 2 and if he shuts up they could go after a ring again. also if im the bengals, rams, redskins, chargers, or 49ers i go after him.

the astros suck.

james shields comes to the ufc. strikeforce loses one of thier 11 top 50 fighters. the clock is ticking.

machita over rampage easily at the ppv in november. goes to a decision.

fitch v. alves for fight of the night. fitch KO 3rd rd. 2:03

its pete roses fault hes not in the hall.