Official NFL 2007 Thread

[Maxx]

His attorney is trying to make it clear to the judge that Vick's role in it was different than everyone else's. Yeah, he financied it and without him, it wouldn't have happened.

[MSC]

His attorney is trying to make it clear to the judge that Vick's role in it was different than everyone else's. Yeah, he financied it and without him, it wouldn't have happened.

[Guest starsaligned916]

My predictions:

AFC Playoff Seeds

1. New England

2. San Diego

3. Indianapolis

4. Baltimore

5. New York

6. Tennessee

NFC Playoff Seeds

1. New Orleans

2. New York

3. Chicago

4. Arizona

5. Dallas

6. San Francisco

Super Bowl

New England def. New Orleans

The NFC is wacky, but I think Arizona and San Francisco are talented enough to make it in this weaker conference. New Orleans is the best team, New York is good but underachieving, Chicago will make it with their defence. Dallas is more of a toss-in, but the Seahawks, Rams, or Panthers could also be there.

The AFC is more clear-cut, in my opinion. I don't think Indy has slipped enough to fall to fourth seed or Wildcard, but they won't get a bye. San Diego will be a great team, but I think a new coach and all the additions the Pats made gives them the advantage. However, the Pats will also have to play the newly-tough Jets twice. I see a 14-2 New England beating a 12-4 New Orleans in the Super Bowl. Probably something like 24-14 or 31-17. Shot in the dark of course, but it'd be cool if I was right.

[alldaws1]

The Giants won't win the division, especially if Strahan doesn't come back and Burress continues to be hampered by injuries. They released two or three veteran players shortly after last season and haven't really done anything to replace them. I see them going 8-8 at best which I don't think will be enough to win the East.

My predictions:

NFC

Division Champs: Cowboys, Bears, Saints, Rams

Wildcard: Eagles, Seahawks

I think the Bears and Saints are the only legitimate contenders from their divisions and I think the West is a toss up between the Rams and Seahawks, but I think they'll both make it in. I think the other wildcard will come from the East and out of the Eagles, Giants & 'Skins, I think the Eagles are the better side (providing McNabb doesn't go down early... we know he will at some point ¬_¬).

While the 49ers, Redskins and Lions all look improved I still see them coming up short on the playoff side of things. Cardinals have the talent but they also had it last year. They always seem to be people's sleeper picks, but I don't see them improving enough to make the post-season.

AFC

Division Champs: Steelers, Colts, Patriots, Chargers

Wildcard: Broncos, Ravens

I really like the Steelers under Tomlin from what I've seen so far and the new intensity the defense brings will make up for the loss of Joey Porter. I don't think anyone can see the Colts not winning their division. Patriots have improved with the off-season signings and again, I just can't see anyone else winning that division - same thing with the West although the Broncos should provide a legit threat.

I see the Bengals being close to a Wildcard spot but their defense is still missing some key players and I think the better defenses of the Ravens and Broncos will edge them out. Jags will be their usual almost-but-not-quite selves and if Vince Young stays healthy the Titans may have a shot at a wildcard but I'm a believer in the curse! While I think the Jets can provide an outside threat I don't see them getting in, and I'm not convinced on anything about the Dolphins at the moment. Chiefs could sneak in but in the end, I give them the same disadvantage as the Bengals in that I don't think their defense is good enough to match the Ravens or Broncos.

[JStarr]

Division Winners:

AFC: Ravens, Colts, Patriots, Chargers

NFC: Bears, Saints, Eagles, Seahawks

Wild Cards:

AFC: Bengals, Broncos

NFC: Panthers, Rams

AFC Championship: Chargers over Patriots

NFC Championship: Saints over Seahawks

Super Bowl: Saints over Chargers

AFC North looks like a fucking dogfight this year. Pardon the pun. The Bengals are a poor man's Colts, with a killer offense and nearly a roadkill defense. The Steelers might actually *GASP* use this newfangled forward pass thing that everyone's been talking about, and use it well. And the Ravens will have everyone in a seven-point hole before the game even starts. By the end of the year, even Cleveland might be spoiling things for a few teams. (Jets week 14, Cincinnati week 16, for example.)

I'm just not seeing where all the optimism is coming from about the Titans this year. Vince is good, but he ain't Superman. His running backs are injury-prone, underachievers, or workout wonders, and he's praying someone steps up at wideout. 6-10. Really, I'll be surprised if the Colts haven't clinched shortly after Thanksgiving.

In the East, I'm kind of in the boat with AD as far as the Jets not quite having enough to get in. The AFC's just too loaded this year. I see the Jets, Steelers, and Jags all having .500 or better seasons and coming nowhere near the playoffs. Somebody's gonna have to pry that division out of New England's clutches, and I'm not sure the Jets have the muscle to do it just yet. And they may never as long as Pennington's making the throws. And I'm just saying right now, we likely shouldn't sleep on Buffalo. If their defense can recover from losing Clements, they'll be in quite a few games late.

Out west, the Chiefs are gonna be closer to the Raiders than they are to the Chargers or Broncos. Huard and Croyle just aren't feared enough to keep a defense from sticking nine guys on the line to wait for Larry. The Broncos might knock off the Bolts if the new SD coaching staff has some hiccups AND if Travis Henry can have Terrell Davis-like impact in Denver. If.

NFC North, I still think the Bears are easy winners, but not as easy as they should be. The pressure's looking like it might be getting to Grossman, and as long as the Packers have #4, they can't be counted out, especially if Brandon Jackson ends up being the real thing for them at RB. Hell, Detroit might go 6-10, but they'll likely be a very entertaining 6-10, with muchos points scored each week.

In the NFC South, I see Carolina sneaking in for a wild card. Because they're that good? Not really, more because they get to feast on Atlanta and Tampa twice. Chucky's starting to remind me of a guy who burns his house down, stands there admiring the pretty flames for too long, and has the whole thing fall on his head. Either way, none of these teams is touching New Orleans.

NFC East was looking like the toughest division in the game, but I still can't throw big support behind the Redskins, and the Giants still have a lot of headcases to contend with. That leaves the Eagles and Cowboys, and for some reason, I get the funny feeling that Donovan might actually survive this season. Hell if I know why. Romo's got a better supporting cast on offense, but I expect he'll still have some weeks where nothing goes right.

And I like the NFC West a lot this year. The Rams and Seahawks are still the cream, but SF can't be counted out after dropping some coin on defense. If Gore stays healthy again and Smith meshes well with Darrell Jackson, they might actually catch St. Loo. Arizona's starting their second decade of being a hip sleeper pick, aren't they? They'd be a lot easier to pick if they weren't so easy to throw over.

[Toe]

I think the Bronco's are going to do really well. A solid defence is in place, and they have a good passing game with Cutler throwing to Walker and Smith. And now with a running back who has already been proven to be a good starter in the league entering into that running system they have there, they should be able to go far.

[naiwf]

AFC Championship: Patriots over Chargers (I don't believe in Norv just like I didn't believe in Shittenheimer)

NFC Championship: Saints over Da Bears

Super Bowl: Brady gets # 4 as The Pats def. The Saints 24-21 when they win by, you guessed it, a late FG.

It's gonna be a bad season at Giants Stadium as my team could lose 10 games and The Jets could win 10 and still miss the playoffs.

[ACCBiggz]

Division Winners:

AFC: Bengals, Colts, Patriots, Chargers

NFC: Bears, Panthers, Cowboys, 49ers

Wild Cards:

AFC: Ravens, Broncos

NFC: Eagles, Seahawks

AFC Championship: Patriots over Colts

NFC Championship: Bears over 49ers

Super Bowl: Patriots over Bears

That's just guess work. NFL is too hard to predict week in and week out, I figure Patriots are just the best team and will win it all. I think the Niners will take the division this year, they were a game a way last year and vastly improved their defense.

[ROC]

God, all this early hype for the Saints scares me. Remember when everyone said they were a good Super Bowl contender with a great running back and awesome quarterback? It was around 2001, and then we know what happened after that.

That said, it does feel like a better Saints team is going out there this year. Reggie Bush is a lot more interesting a player than Ricky Williams was in '01, and certainly we don't even need to go into the difference between Aaron Brooks and Drew Brees.

Oh, and Sean Payton is a lot more awesome a coach than Haslett ever was. But I don't know, I'll wait to believe the Saints are in the Super Bowl when they're actually in the Super Bowl.

Edited August 25, 2007 by ROC

[JStarr]

I'm not a big fan of the RB-by-committee approach, but I think the thing that makes the Saints SO much better than the 2001 vintage is the fact that Bush and Deuce are both there to play off of each other, and neither one's likely to burn out. It's always hard to expect good things from them (they're sort of like the Cardinals in that respect), but unlike the Cards, they've actually already done something. Now the trick is to improve.

[Trey]

Everyone seems to think that the Bears aren't going to beat the Saints, even though they did so rather convincingly last year. Add in there's a healthy Mike Brown and Tommie Harris, Adam A. joined up, Olson joining up and Hester moving to offense and I think that the Bears improved much more then the Saints did.

[naiwf]

Everyone seems to think that the Bears aren't going to beat the Saints, even though they did so rather convincingly last year. Add in there's a healthy Mike Brown and Tommie Harris, Adam A. joined up, Olson joining up and Hester moving to offense and I think that the Bears improved much more then the Saints did.

[alldaws1]

Everyone seems to think that the Bears aren't going to beat the Saints, even though they did so rather convincingly last year. Add in there's a healthy Mike Brown and Tommie Harris, Adam A. joined up, Olson joining up and Hester moving to offense and I think that the Bears improved much more then the Saints did.

They still have Sexy Rexy at QB. I don't see them escaping the NFC this year.

They had Rex at QB last season as well... and they got to the Super Bowl.

[naiwf]

The Colts won it last year and no one here is picking them to repeat because other teams made up ground on them. The assumption that the Saints will beat the Bears this year has a lot to do with the Bears' QB position. If they had a competent QB they would have a better chance to make it back in a stronger NFC, and likely would have won the title last year.

[Cactus Drags]

The NFC isn't any stronger. And the Bears beat the Saints with Rex at QB. No one's picking the Colts to repeat because yes, the rest of the conference has made up ground on them, but also because they've had several key personnel losses.

[Trey]

Yeah, I agree that the Colts lost a lot of ground, but the Bears gained even more space from the Saints in my opinion. Grossman has started 24 games instead of 8 and has another healthy pre-season to learn plus Hester/Olsen/Adam A/Harris/Brown are all big gains in my opinion. What have the Saints done to improve? Bush has more experience, Brees seems to be fine from his Pro Bowl injury, and that's all I've heard.

[naiwf]

Yeah, I agree that the Colts lost a lot of ground, but the Bears gained even more space from the Saints in my opinion. Grossman has started 24 games instead of 8 and has another healthy pre-season to learn plus Hester/Olsen/Adam A/Harris/Brown are all big gains in my opinion. What have the Saints done to improve? Bush has more experience, Brees seems to be fine from his Pro Bowl injury, and that's all I've heard.

[Trey]

The Bucs have Garcia now at QB and the Panthers are almost always talented, I wouldn't call their division soft. And as for the Saints getting time to learn, of course that's important, but Grossman getting that extra time to learn is going to help him a lot more then Drew Brees getting the time rehabbing his arm and whatnot.

[JStarr]

But thus far, Grossman seems to be regressing, if anything. I mean, did he have that much problem last year with the damn snap? Not that I saw.

As for Garcia, he's solid, but he's not a god. Tampa's looking more and more like 4-12, could be worse if Cadillac gets dinged up again. They might be one where the D keeps them in it just long enough for Garcia to make a play, but if it doesn't, they're looking at another top-5 draft pick.

[Cactus Drags]

Grossman has to be on a shorter leash this season, if the problem persists, I'm sure he'll get yanked, and if Griese or '07 Orton can be like '05 Orton and just manage the offense, there won't be a problem.

And it's hard not to be a homer as a Bears fan, looking at the state of the NFC. The only serious contenders I can see are Dallas and New Orleans. And we beat New Orleans quite convincingly. The Dallas game in September should be a pretty good indication of who's representing the NFC in the Super Bowl.