Before the season starts I thought I'd post my thoughts on how the division races will go.

AFC East

Who I think will win: NE Patriots
Who I want to win: Buff. Bills
The Skinny: Brady is still awesome and now he has weapons. Their defense will be tough too. The Jets may make a run which would be nice. The Patriots have had a free ride in this division for too long.

AFC North

Who I think will win: Cincinnati Bengals
Who I want to win: Bengals
The Skinny: I know Baltimore is the better pick here with a defense that never seems to decline but Billick has never recreated the offensive magic he had in Minnesota. Can you imagine how many games the Ravens would have won if they had the Bengals offense of the past two years. I like the Bengals to score a ton of points this year and hang on.

AFC South

Who I think will win: Ind. Colts
Who I want to win: Ind. Colts
Skinny: As long as Manning is running the ship they should be fine. The rest of this division is an enigma.


AFC West

Who I think will win: S.D. Chargers
Who I want to win: S. D. Chargers
Skinny: The Chargers may not win as many games as last year, but they should still take this division handily. Denver may chase them but I think Cutler is still a year or two shy of being ready for the big time

NFC East

Who I think will win: Phil. Eagles
Who I want to win: Phil. Eagles
Skinny: If McNabb can stay healthy I think they edge the Cowboys. If he goes down though all bets are off. I know Garcia led them last year to success but Kevin Kolb is a rookie and I wouldn't want to bet my life savings on him doing the same thing.

NFC West

Who I think will win: Seattle Seahawks (dammit)
Who I want to win: St. Louis Rams
Skinny: My Rams need some serious improvement on defense and I hope the rookie Carriker can help out with that. Their offense should be fine but I've seen too many games that they should have won the past couple of years to pick them first. Seattle just does enough to handle this division. It's scary for me that the Cardinals and 49ers are getting better as well. Its been nice the past few years to count them out before they even played.

---Quinn, Quinn, Quinnn.....I wonder if JaMarcus Russell is pissed that even though he was the number one pick, Brady Quinn still managed to steal his thunder on draft day. Russell got his 15 minutes on the clock and then it was the Quinn show the rest of the day. I guess I'll chime in with my two cents and it probably echoes what other people have said. I don't know if Brady Quinn is going to be a bust or a star. I mean he's going to be playing the toughest position in all of sports so how can anyone really know. But what I do know is that Miami, Tampa, Washington, Minnesota, Houston, Buffalo, NY Jets, Green Bay, and Jacksonville, and yes even the Lions, are all going to feel pretty silly if he turns out to be a Pro-Bowler in the next couple of years and they are still searching for somebody that can hit a crossing pattern.

----The Patriots finally figured out they can't rely solely on Tom Brady anymore and subsequently they loaded their team up for next season. Meanwhile with the Colts losing defensive players at the same rate my hairline is receding (hyperspeed), why the hell did they use their first two picks on offensive players and ignore the defense? Maybe they really love the guys they got in the later rounds. Or maybe they have been suckered in by the fact that even though their defense sucked donkeys the entire 2006 season somehow they managed to pull it together for the post-season. I can't help but think they are fooling themselves.