Official 2010-11 NFL thread
First things first: The Orgahs have a little competition going about who can pick the games best. Last year, the title came down to three people for the very final game. If you'd like to get in on the (100% free) action, simply follow these instructions: Create an account (or login if you remember your old account info) at PoolHost.com and click "Join Private Pool".
Pool name: totalwar
Password: totalwar
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Well, here we go again folks. With the inaugural Thursday game drawing near, it's time that we dive deeply into the weekly glory that is professional football. A few storylines that stacked up over the offseason were the Raiders' release of one of the biggest busts in draft history, the Redskins and their little drama with Albert Haynesworth, the Jets seemingly signing every single free agent out on the market, and *insert obligatory Brett Favre comment*. It's shaping up to be a very interesting season, and quite possibly the last one we'll have until 2012 if the labor dispute doesn't get settled. Here are my divisional picks, plus comments:
NFC East: My home division is shaping up to be tougher than ever with its weakest team - the Redskins - getting a legitimate head coach in Mike Shanahan and upgrading its QB from Jason Campbell to Donovan McNabb. I still don't think they have enough to contend though, and McNabb will be missing the O-line he had in Philly before long. Dallas looks great on paper this year, and following logic of the past years, they're going to underachieve. The Eagles are retooling with Kevin Kolb and one of the youngest teams in the league, which means the Giants win the division by default. I don't think any team in the division will have more than 9 losses though.
Giants
Cowboys (wild card)
Eagles
Redskins
NFC North: As with the last few years, this division is going to come down to Packers vs. Vikings, with the Lions still rebuilding and Da Bears still denying that they have to rebuild and adding overpriced "talent" such as Julius Peppers. As with a lot of people, I'm skeptical that the Vikes will be able to repeat what they pulled off last year, with Favre and his receivers both looking fragile. Despite this, they still have a great O-line, RB, and a decent defense, and as long as that holds up they won't fall out of contention. However, the Packers have been doing the right things for a few years now and Aaron Rodgers is primed to have a monster season.
Packers
Vikings (wild card)
Lions
Bears
NFC South: A lot of people are picking the Falcons to overtake the Saints, considering the Falcons *did* make the playoffs two years ago and finished with a winning record, and Matt Ryan's been growing ever since. I don't see it happening, though. The Saints won the Super Bowl last year and have pretty much the same team coming back. I don't know if they'll repeat or not, but they will have enough to squeak by in the division. Bringing up the rear are the Panthers who could be dangerous if everything clicks right, and the Bucs who are in full rebuilding mode.
Saints
Falcons
Panthers
Buccaneers
NFC West: Just an all-around bad division. The Seahawks have finally bit the bullet and are starting over, and they won't be much of a threat. The Rams obviously have been horrible for years, and while they'll start to turn it around this year, these things take time. This leaves the 49ers and the Cardinals. The Cards, while having done well in the playoffs the past two years, will soon find out that the loss of Kurt Warner makes them pedestrian once again. Will this be enough for the 49ers to finally ascend to the top? I don't know, but since they seem to be on the rise and the Cards don't, I'm going to follow the trends.
49ers
Cardinals
Seahawks
Rams
AFC East: Popular wisdom has this division going to either the NFL-royalty Patriots or this year's official "sexy pick", the Jets. I don't see either, however. People seem to forget that Randy Moss is getting up there in years and Wes Welker is coming off major knee surgery, and the Patriots have simply been bleeding out too many guys over the years. Likewise, the "sexy pick" almost never ends up actually following through, no matter how stacked the Jets appear to be. Therefore, my pick for this division is the Miami Dolphins, who quietly had a good year last year with a ridiculous schedule plus they added Brandon Marshall. Don't count out Bill Parcells for long. Do count out the Buffalo Bills though.
Dolphins
Jets (wild card)
Patriots
Bills
AFC North: Nobody knows what's really going on in this division. The Bengals won it last year, but then completely folded in the playoffs which makes people think it was a fluke. Likewise with the Steelers, who are down Ben Roethlisberger for the first four games and missed the playoffs last year anyway. The Ravens have made all of the right moves in the offseason, finally giving Joe Flacco a legitimate receiving corps, but nobody still knows if Flacco can get it done in pressure situations or not. Lastly, there's the Browns, who... have Jake Delhomme as their starter. 'nuff said.
Ravens
Steelers
Bengals
Browns
AFC South: Essentially the same team last year that, led by the best player in the league, started the year 14-0 and made it to the Super Bowl. As tough as this division is, the Colts are still the clear favorites. Their main competition this year appears to come from the Houston Texans, who have been on the brink for a couple of years now but still haven't managed to break through. It's worthy to note that the Texans finally got a full year from Matt Schaub this year, who is pretty injury-prone. I doubt this will happen again, and thus my pick for second place will go to the Tennessee Titans, who a rejuvenated Vince Young will lead to 9 or 10 victories simply because that's what he does. Bringing up the rear is the Jacksonville Jaguars, who will continue to tread water.
Colts
Titans (wild card)
Texans
Jaguars
AFC West: The Chargers are starting to show some cracks this year, with Phillip Rivers's best receiver MIA and having no running game to speak of, but they're still the Chargers and the rest of this division sucks anyway. The Chiefs will close the gap a little bit and claim a clean second, but they'll need to seriously overachieve if they want to catch San Diego. I don't think Denver has enough weapons to challenge for anything, and while the Raiders will finally *not* be horrible, they still won't be good, either. Basically, this division as a whole has improved from "terrible" to "mediocre".
Chargers
Chiefs
Raiders
Broncos
Final predictions:
NFC: Packers over Saints
AFC: Colts over Ravens
Super Bowl: Packers over Colts
Good luck to all and let's have a great season!If you're in for the pool, your predictions are due by the Thursday game.
Originally Posted by TosaInu
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They have some problems with their secondary though.
Jets just had to lose to the Ravens! Now I have to share first place with that los- uh, I mean, that most noble gentleman Sasaki. 
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