Gents, As I have done for the past few years, I've reviewed every team and offer up my (almost bankable) predictions for this season. The big story this year is that the NFC is finally beginning to catch up to the AFC. The average power ranking for the NFC has increased three points to 24 while the AFC weighs in with a slight(er) advantage at 25, largely due to the fact that 4 of the top 5 QBs can be found in the right hand column. Go parity! This year's teams to beat are Atlanta, Bensalem, and Barcelona on the left, and Cleveland, Crown City, and the league's best team on paper, Las Vegas, on the right. Save your ammo for them.
NFC
NFC Landry The Bobcats are poised to pounce upon and surpass perennial playoff team Penn State. If Tony Romo can throw enough td passes to his talented receiving group, Bensalem could win the division over a diminished squad of Nittany Lions still licking their wounds after their surprise exit from the playoffs last year. The regrouping Lions will be a run first, tough defense kind of team and it will be interesting to see how they fare in the current pass happy age of the KRFL. Kutztown will improve but still hasn't provided Big Ben with enough offensive weapons. There's not a lot to get excited about in Warrington when their biggest free agent acquisition is an oft-injured Darren McFadden.
TEAM (POWER*) PREDICTED FINISH (LAST YEAR) WAR (21) 5-11 (7-9) IN:Darren McFadden,RB OUT:DeAngelo Hall,CB PST (23) 9-7 (15-1) IN:Steve Smith Sr.,WR OUT:Andre Johnson,WR KUT (23) 7-9 (4-12) IN:Alfred Blue,RB OUT:William Moore,S BEN (26) 11-5 (10-6) IN:Andre Johnson,WR OUT:D'Qwell Jackson LB
NFC Lombardi Kentucky is going to throw the ball and then throw it some more. The newly minted Jazz will have to put up gobs of points to cover for a shaky defense. Good luck to them trying to hold off two teams with the league's best defensive front sevens. Southwest Florida and Carolina each boast a combined total of 54 sacks (you read that right). If defense wins games, expect them to flourish. Lakeland, recently relocated and re-named the Brick Dragons, looks to be a contender with an improved offensive line built around all-pro tackle Joe Thomas. This division is wide open and while I don't expect a Super Bowl winner to emerge from the pack, I do anticipate an exciting and closely fought battle for the division crown.
NFC Brown Atlanta should be the team everyone is chasing in the NFC if Russell Wilson can manage a talented offense. Barcelona should be one of the top 4 teams in the conference and could win the division if they can sweep the two game series against the Alligators. Bay City is still rebuilding and Bronx is treading water.
AFC Madden Major improvement from the Seattle teams could throw this projection out of whack. This division is a toss-up with strong teams from top to bottom but I expect that this is the year that Crown City might finally take the crown they're named after if the lesser Manning performs above expectations. Never count out Salem who always gets more out of their team than what we see on paper. The winner of this year's toughest division could go deep into the playoffs.
AFC Halas Last season's powerhouse, the Grimps, tumble back to the middle of the pack after losing QB Drew Brees and three of the league's top defensive free agents (Mario Williams, Derrick Morgan, and Kareem Jackson). Las Vegas gets even better as QB Aaron Rodgers wins the 2014 NFL MVP award. Vancouver has the best OL in the league but doesn't have the offensive skill players to take advantage. Inverness has an outside chance at a wildcard slot if they can squeeze anything extra out of a poor receiving group.
AFC Shula The city of Cleveland has more to be excited about than the return of LeBron James. After trading up to draft QB Drew Brees, the Rocks should have the league's most potent offense with WR's Antonio Brown, DeSean Jackson and RB LeVeon Bell. New York can never be counted out with Peyton Manning directing their offense, but might not have the defense to back him up. It's doubtful that either Waunakee or Alabama will match last year's success but I greatly underestimated both of them last season.
* Power Rankings 1-5 scale with 5 the best. Scores take into account injuries and depth. You'll note that most teams have an improved score this season. I'm not sure if I've been more generous in my scoring or if the league is generally moving towards greater parity.
Nice write up, Steve. After a very disappointing 2014 season which saw what I thought was a top flight defense have wildly erratic performances, I'm looking forward to a different scenario this coming season. The Crown City defense looks only average, sporting 7s at most every starting position, but for the first time in a while I'm very excited about my offense. After two years of sub-par O-lines, I have a decent one this year. That, coupled with an improved Eli, one of the best receiving cores in the league, and a legitimate running attack led by rookie sensation Jeremy Hill, I feel like we could make a good run this year.
Always underestimating my Lions. I didn't think you were gonna let me use your predictions as bulletin board material 2 straight years(see last years prediction). lol. Honestly I love this kind of stuff.
