Way too early 2012 season prediction

making the playoffs. Also, I think next year is the year we win the North. We were close to beating the Packers twice this year, and we might have been able to sweep the Bears had Staff not broken his finger. If we can keep our backs healthy next year, and improve a few spots, I say we win the North.

Packers coaching staff is gonna be dismantled. This is a great year for us to catch them. Detroit might win the divison or atleast keep it tight.

Schuab will be healthy again, and will hopefully play more than six quarters with both Arian Foster and Andre Johnson. If that happens, expect Houston in the playoffs.

I’d also watch the Indy QB situation carefully, if they go with Luck, they may decide to rebuild. San Diego will not return to the playoffs as long as Norv Turner is their head coach, bookmark this page if you want, but I stand by this statement. I also don’t think Philadelphia makes it past 9-7 with Mike Vick as their QB, if that’s enough to win the East, good on them, otherwise, give Young the starting job.

I’ll just toss out my list for comparison:

NFC:
East- Cowboys
North- Detroit
South- New Orleans
West- 49ers
Wildcards- Seattle, Green Bay

AFC:
East- New England
North- Baltimore
South- Houston
West- Oakland
Wildcards- Cincinnati, Buffalo

Tough call going Bufflo over Pittsburgh, but of all the teams I see falling out of the playoffs, they seem more likely than a rising Cinci, or a Ravens team that’s found itself.

NFC:
North- Detroit
South- New Orleans
East- Giants
West- Saints
Wildcards- Packers, Panthers

AFC
North- Baltimore
South- Houston
East- New England
West- Chargers

I think the Packers will have a falling out with a decimated coaching staff. I kind of feel like Matt Flynn proved that the Packers have a great offensive scheme, and if that were to change then I could see even Aaron Rodgers having issues in a new scheme. Therefore Detroit will have a golden opportunity to finally become the dominant NFCN team. The other division leaders would remain the same, and the Packers will squeak in with a 9-7 Wild Card. The Panthers would get a 10-6 5th seed. I feel like the Panthers are a healthy defense and a productive offseason away from becoming a contender. Newton was amazing with no offseason, and Rivera didn’t have much time to implement their plan. They went from 2-14 to 6-10, 10-6 is a real possibility IMO.

The only real difference with the AFC that i have is the Chargers winning the west next year. They’re a good team, and if they get their act together they can beat out the Tebows, the new-coach Raiders, and new-coach Chiefs.

Seattle being in 3rd place has Dallas who is falling apart IMHO and Carolina with no defense and it will take a lot of work to get Carolina’s D up to snuff. Then you have the fact that they play the AFC East next year and should be able to win a couple from them just by having them home plus one away game. So I see 10 to 11 victories for them after everything is done. Now if they fall apart I will say the coaches are gone IMHO. Next up is the reasoning for Indy and Houston switch. First is Manning you can not discount him. He is the best QB when he is playing. Plus he is going to be in the process of teaching and coaching at the same time which will keep him more than busy enough to focus just on football. Plus their schedule is a cake walk with who they have to play. Houston on the other hand has both NE and Baltimore to deal with not any teams they will get by next year. Plus with Indy back that is 4 losses right there. Not to mention the aspect that the Jets are going to be firing on all cylinders to save Rex and that will push the Jets over Houston for the Wildcard. I also think most can agree that Oakland with the firing is screwed, Denver is not going to be good enough with their WRs, KC is like big brother and has no way of being creative so who is left but SD so they get in by default. I do not see any changes for Baltimore or Pittsburgh except for the aspect that with Baltimore winning the SB they are going to have an off year with everybody trying to knock them off the pedestal.

A further thought on Indy and the coaching change. Think about Manning, he is sitting there seeing his team just fall apart because the coaches could not change the offense to suit the QB. Manning was calling the play at the Line for every play the past 10 years. When he goes down the coaches could not figure out how to operate a decent game plan. Would you want to play for coaches like that. Look at Denver, they changed the offense to use Tebow’s strengths and not try to shove an offense that is not geared towards his skill set to him. That is the sign of good coaching IMHO. And I think Peyton was thinking the same thing.

NFC
North – Minnesota
East – Washington
South – Tampa Bay
West – Arizona

AFC
North – Cleveland
East – Miami
South – Jacksonville
West – Kansas City

I think it’s more fun picking the least likely outcome.

NFC:
North: Packers
East: Cowboys
South: Saints
West: 49er’s
Wildcard: Lions, Cardinals

AFC:
North: Bengals
East: Patriots
South: Houston
West: Kansas City
Wildcard: Ravens, Chargers

NFC:
East – Giants

North – Detroit

South – Carolina

West – St Louis

Wildcards – GB, Philly

AFC:
East – New England

North – Cinci

South – Houston

West – Kansas City

Wildcards – Baltimore, Pittsburgh