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i have joined a fantasy league and my team is wonderfully bad i am projected to finish last(by some distance) out of 12 people...

i do have calvin johnson and tony romo tohugh :S
 
Season predictions later today or tomorrow. I won't go every team, but will give some general predictions for playoffs, SB, and some other things.

But since you started week 1, I'll chime in with the same.

Dallas at NY Giants - Both overrated, but NYG should start season well.
Indianapolis at Chicago
Philadelphia at Cleveland
New England at Tennessee
Atlanta at Kansas City - I like KC, but maybe late in the season, or 2013
Jacksonville at Minnesota - Two weak teams
Washington at New Orleans
Buffalo at NY Jets - NYJ may fail to score
St. Louis at Detroit
Miami at Houston
San Francisco at Green Bay - GB D still needs work, but SF overrated
Seattle at Arizona - Rough day for Ari offense
Carolina at Tampa Bay - I like Carolina, period.
Pittsburgh at Denver - Very hard pick. Maybe PM on fire, maybe he has a rough day.
Cincinnati at Baltimore - Could be close, a 13-9 type game.
San Diego at Oakland - Raiders a mess, but at home, healthy.

Here are the ESPN NFL Expert Picks.

Here is the USA Today NFL Expert Picks.

Here are Bleacher Report's Expert Picks.
 
Okay, here are some fearless predictions. I'm going to be specific in some areas, and skim over some others. After all, it's all in fun, right? :)

AFC East - Patriots will finish about 12-4. Defense improves throughout the year, offense down a small notch, but Brady still pours it on. The other teams will be average, Tannehill struggle in Miami, the Jets will finish last.
AFC North - Same as last year. Ravens lost some players, and Lewis and Reed getting old, but offense improving. Cincy misses playoffs. Poor Browns, stuck in this division.
AFC South - I can't imagine Houston not being very good. About 11-5. With Locker at QB Titans step back to about 7-9. Indy and Luck will show signs of hope, and plenty of losses.
AFC West - Denver and Manning will look hot the first half of the season, but sputter late. Weak OL hurts. Look for KC to contend late in the year, lots of young talent there across the whole roster, both OL and DL very solid. SD has worst coach in NFL (history?). Oakland rebuilding, could be decent late.

NFC East - Eagles to finish about 11-5 and look good. But Vick won't take them to the SB. Dallas, NYG will be average. Giants may start good, fade to reality with average Eli. RG3 may lead Skins to about 7-9, if lucky.
NFC North - Like the Pats, the Packers D will improve, but not to 2010 levels. Benson helps offense. I see an 11-5 finish. Chicago and Detroit two very good teams fighting for wildcard spots.
NFC South - Despite their problems, I like the Saints to finish about 11-5. Loads of talent. Atlanta and Carolina both contend for division, or at least spots. TB and Freeman will still stink.
NFC West - SF still wins, but around 10-6. Defense steps down a bit, though still good. Offense a little better passing, weaker running, but I just don't see Alex Smith taking them deep. Seattle improves, great defense, but around 9-7 miss playoffs while looking like a team for 2013 and beyond. StL needs time, help, Arizona a mess on offense.

I know, pretty conservative, but that's my guess.

Playoffs and SB
AFC - If New England's defense can improve at all, they'll go to the SB. I mean, if Welker catches the ball, they win last year with a terrible defense, and Gronk hurt. But if they are wound too tight, like 2011, they'll falter. Baltimore could be very good in December and beyond. Houston still a bit of a question mark deep. Pittsburgh old, but very well run team with a great defense still. Denver one and done in post season, Manning average in playoff game. I know they looked weak in the preseason, but I really think KC could contend late in the year. If they get on a roll, and IF Cassell doesn't botch things, they could be dangerous.
NFC Like the Pats, if the Packers defense improves at all noticeably, even to average, that offense is so potent they could run the table. But they won't. I see some tough losses to hungry Bears and Lions. Eagles will impress, but Vick simply not consistent enough or good enough in important games. SF, even with the addition of receivers, takes one step back to reality.

Thus, I like the Pats over the Packers in the SB. It's a conservative pick, but I'll stick with it. Last year it should have been NO (or GB or even SF) vs. Baltimore. But because of near flukes, it wasn't.

Individual info in a moment.
 
For MVP, I like Tom Brady. He will break the record for passing attempts with 700 throws. I also like him to maybe throw for close to 6,000 yards, 500 completions, and 50 TDs this year. Impossible numbers? Maybe, but this could be Brady's last year of absolute greatness, and this is a passing league more than ever before. Brady, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rogers, Drew Brees all throw for over 5,000 yards. Romo, Ryan, Rivers, Eli and maybe Newton will come close.

Calvin Johnson will actually approach Jerry Rice record of 1,848 receiving yards in a season, maybe top it and reach the impossible 2,000. He'll also have at least two games with 15 receptions. Remember, this is a passing league folks.

ROY I like Andrew Luck, mostly because of popularity (and it's a passing league).

Defensive POY will be Patrick Willis, SF's tackling, blitzing LB machine, surround by other solid players.

Week 1 with replacement refs will start okay but be a near disaster. One bad key call will send fans, and teams, into a frenzy and Goddell will get on the phone and finally fix the problem before week 2.

The following players will get injured and miss several games this year: Adrien Peterson, Chris Johnson, Frank Gore, Michael Vick, Jamaal Charles OR Peyton Hillis (both on KC, both will run a lot), DeSean Jackson, Ben Roethlisberger, Jerod Mayo, Patrick Chung, Mario Williams, LaMichael James. If the Eagles start flat, Vick misses more than five games, and Nick Foles looks good, that will leave the team in a quandary. I left out several linemen, which are harder to predict.

Implosion of the year will be the Jets. Sanchez will falter, Tebow won't have the magic, the wildcat won't work, and the team will finish dead last in offense. Both will be gone next year and in 2013 Jets look to get Matt Barkley or Tyler Wilson in the draft, to compete with Greg McElroy at QB.

In 2013 (yes, I said 2013!) I like Kansas City, Detroit, Houston, Seattle, Cincinnati and Philadelphia (with Foles, not Vick), to all break through to playoff wins and look seriously good. Look for them to show flashes of that this year (barring injuries), especially late in the season.
 
On your divisional, playoff, and SB picks... pretty good there. I can't disagree too much with that. OFC except for SF and Seattle, but not because I'm biased. SF is a bit overrated for one. Secondly, last year SF blew Hawks away 33-17 in their first meeting in week 1 at SF. But Seattle was starting 2 rookies on the OL (Carpenter, Moffitt) in the strike shortened preseason, and the Hawk defense was starting 2 NFL rookies in the secondary (Sherman, Browner). Plus last year saw a new system introduced by coach Cable. Seattle ended the last 8 games going 5-3, the next to last game a 19-17 loss to SF in Seattle. So from start of season to end of season, Seattle improved greatly, and now they have had a full year under the new offensive line scheme. I don't know if Seattle can win the NFC West, but they should give SF a real run for it. So I'm predicting an upset with Seattle taking the NFC West.

Norv could be the worst presently, and maybe even in history. Barry Switzer anyone?

Radio talk in these parts has included Hawks resigning Winslow next week. Don't think that will happen though after just signing Moore to replace him.
 
My contrarian picks:

Green Bay will NOT win the NFC North. The Bears will (Eddie George agrees with me). Sure, the Packers will score a lot of points. But they give up a lot, too. They’ll win their share of games and contend for the playoffs, but I like Chicago to win this division with a better balance of offense and defense. They would have been a wild card last year if not for injuries.

The Saints will NOT win the NFC South. This is not really such a risky prediction. The Falcons hung close last year and if Smith hadn’t made a crazy gamble on 4th down, who knows? The Saints’ problems won’t wound them mortally, but even when Vilma returns, the defense is vulnerable. I’m not even sure they’ll finish second (now that is a risky prediction). All Carolina needs to contend is an average defense (which is about what the Saints have). And btw, don’t think the Saints opening game vs. Washington is a lock or a blow-out. Griffin will exploit their secondary. Could be the high-scoring game of the week.

The Chargers WILL win the AFC West. Just like they should have every season for the past I don’t know how many years. Sure, they have the NFL’s worst coach. But even Turner can screw up a team this talented only so much.

The Ravens will NOT win the AFC North. Not such an off-beat prediction. But they might not make even make the playoffs. They played some BAD games last year. When the defense plays lights out, they’re fine. But when it doesn’t, look out.

The 49ers will win the NFC West EASILY. A lot of talk about how their schedule is so much harder this year, had all those lucky breaks last year, etc. They play only three games where they should be underdogs—Green Bay, New England, New Orleans—and I’ll be surprised if they don’t win at least one of those games. They play several other games that look to be tough—Chicago, Detroit, New York Giants. No way they lose all three of those. They should be clearly favored in all their other games. Not to say they will win them all, but overall, I see 10-6 as the worst case scenario, not the best.

Brady will not pass for 6000 yards, come on. He’s aging, and NE knows they need to run more. If someone told Bellichick that, he would get very concerned about an offense that is already too unbalanced. Doubt very much Brady passes for 5000 again.

Midway through the season, Foxxy will be down on his knees begging Andrew Luck for forgiveness for suggesting he would flop.

And while I’m at it, how in the world could you guys have a discussion a while back about players who should be in the HOF and not mention Cris Carter? One of the very worst travesties in all of sports. When he retired, his numbers were second only to Jerry Rice, and he didn’t have two of the best QBs of all time throwing to him. I have no idea what’s going on in the minds of the people who vote for these things, but it really, really stinks. I heard one argument that he was the no. 2 receiver on his team for most of his career. Yeah, and Lou Gehrig was the second best hitter on the Yankees for most of his career. BFD. (Or as Pete Carroll likes to say, what's the deal?)

Forgot SuperBowl picks, which are worth about as much as most recent TDF titles...

In the AFC, I like Houston. I thought they were the most complete team in the NFL last year, before Schaub went down. They play in a pretty soft division, and so should have a good chance of getting homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. I saw a little of their preseason game with the 49ers (SB preview?), and with the usual caveats of games that don't count, was impressed with the way they moved the ball against the 49er defensive starters.

In the NFC I will go with Philly. They have the talent and the coaching to get it done. But I think the NFC is wide open, I see at least two teams in every division but the NFC West with legitimate SB aspirations.
 
on3m@n@rmy said:
Norv could be the worst presently, and maybe even in history. Barry Switzer anyone?
Lest ye forget, Switzer won a Superbowl! (With Jimmy Johnson's team).

Merckx index said:
My contrarian picks:
The Bears could win the NFC North. So could the Lions. That will be one tough division. But I just think the Packers will improve enough on defense and still have a stellar offense.

I still like the Saints. We'll see how well the Falcons are late in the year. But as I said, all three teams in that division (except TB) should be good.

The Chargers did NOT win the AFC West last year, and won't this year either. They don't have the same team they did five years ago, and Turner is terrible. They may even finish in last.

The Ravens are aging, and missing players. But they looked very good in big games last year, and I expect more of the same. Pittsburgh isn't done just yet, and Cincy is improving, so who knows.

I'll let you guys debate the 49ers. I think they'll still win the NFC West, and still be good, but not like last year. Defense will be good, but not quite as good, and offense will be better, but not that much better. But they are not likely to go +24 in turnovers either.

I don't think Brady is done yet. Not sure why you think he is. It's a passing league, and while they will run some, every team will, the Pats, especially with Josh McDaniels as OC/QB coach they will throw a LOT, and a lot of those will be mid-level passes, not screens. Will it be 6000 yards? Probably not. But he could very well break Brees 1-year old record the way the league is going. So could Stafford for that matter.

Midway through the season, Foxxy will be down on his knees begging Andrew Luck for forgiveness for suggesting he would flop.
I'm going to bookmark this. It should be fun to revisit. :)

And while I’m at it, how in the world could you guys have a discussion a while back about players who should be in the HOF and not mention Cris Carter?
The "missing" HOF player talk has come up a few times here, and his name does get mentioned. He will get in. Quite possibly next year. Without some sort of campaign, old guys like Jerry Kramer, Ray Guy, Ken Stabler, Cliff Branch, Mike Curtis, etc. will never get in, and that's a shame. That's why their names come up more than Cris, that's all.
 
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QB: Tony Romo
RB: maurice jones drew
RB: Frank Gore
WR: Terrel Owens
WR: Calvin johnson
WR: Randy Moss
TE: Moeki
K: randy bulloch
DEF: Baltimore

QB: RG 3
RB: David Wilson
WR: Stephan Hill
TE: Ladarius Green
WR: Ryan Broyles
WR: Lance Moore

this is my wonderfull team.. i found out that randy bulloch tore a muscle near his groin shortly after the draft and is out for the year.. so i am down a kicker just now... no idea if any of these fellows are any good but i read the running back was refusing to play for jacksonville or something
 
@Alpe: Won a SB yes, and actually had 3 good years with Jimmy's players, but was not a smart NFL coach and the team fell apart thereafter (resigned in 1997 as Cowboys' HC after a 6–10 season). I do give him credit for shutting Jerry Jones up in the last 2 minutes of a preseason game in Mexico City. Jerry was wanting to Yuk it up with Barry, who's Cowboys were walloping whoever, and Barry would have none of it as he was trying to evaluate talent. Barry turned his back to the camera, faced Jerry, and I don't know what was said, but Jerry's smile just evaporated into a frown and Jerry walked off like a dog with his tail tucked between his legs. Satisfied, Barry resumed where he left off.

@palmerq: Sorry you have Romo and TO, who's not employed at the moment.

Here is link listing 50 predictions by the Bleacher Report: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1320664-50-nfl-predictions-for-the-upcoming-2012-season
There are some interesting ones there, like:
- Jake Locker Will Be an MVP Candidate (not)
- The San Francisco 49ers Will Stumble to 9-7
- Problems on the Offensive Line Will Cost Norv Turner His Job
- Randy Moss Will Make a Positive Impact on the San Francisco 49ers (but still stumble to 9-7?)
- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Will Be the NFL’s Surprise Team
- A Record 11 Quarterbacks Will Pass for 4,000 Yards (including Philip Rivers, yet the OL costs Norv his job?)

Playoff predictions start on page 46, and end with the Pats and Brady as SB champs and SB MVP... now that's not too surprising.
 
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well to was just a joke for my friends... i forgot to re write who i actually play at wr in that post i think i will be playing broyles or lance moore..

to is a joke because last season i picked him and then he got cut from whoever he was at and i looked stupid, so i took him with my last pick this time for fun


but really what is wrong with romo his stats look good ????? please tell me.. and is rg 3 going to be good
 
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Nothing wrong with Romo. People tend to remember the latest and/or most devastating events.

And since Romo had his share of late season flaws, people think he is a "bad" QB (just wonder why this same fans don´t think the same of Playoff-Nervous & Greed Peyton).

Whatever. Romo is a good choice. The real mistake was RG3. Never pick a rookie QB. There is only a handful who shone from the start (Marino and healthy McMahon for example), but hundreds of hundreds failed. Many never came back to start a successful career or even make the 2nd year as starter.

We´ll see how RG3 works out. Will he be the next Russell or Moon? I don´t know. The only prediction i do is this:

Luck will suck. :D
 
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FoxxyBrown1111 said:
Nothing wrong with Romo. People tend to remember the latest and/or most devastating events.

And since Romo had his share of late season flaws, people think he is a "bad" QB (just wonder why this same fans don´t think the same of Playoff-Nervous & Greed Peyton).

Whatever. Romo is a good choice. The real mistake was RG3. Never pick a rookie QB. There is only a handful who shone from the start (Marino and healthy McMahon for example), but hundreds of hundreds failed. Many never came back to start a successful career or even make the 2nd year as starter.

We´ll see how RG3 works out. Will he be the next Russell or Moon? I don´t know. The only prediction i do is this:

Luck will suck. :D
well rg3 was a later pick and he is back up for romo... so i think it is an acceptable gamble.. vick was available at that time, but i had him last year and it did not go well :S so I decided I would chance it on rg 3 and i could also use him to fool peoples in trades


i am worried abotucalvin johnson, he is highly rated everywhere but he is on the cover of madden :S
 
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OK. Still better have stuck to Vick. Once teams are out of contention, the moral goes down team wide. A QB can do only so much...

So let me predict some more: Vick will have a better season than RG3. He is just amazing (as athlete, not as person).

There might be some players who got injured when on the cover of Madden. But there is no higher risks than for any other player. The rest of the "curse" can easily be explained with "regression to the mean". Normally players appear on the cover who had monster seasons, and then of course declined to the "normal". So there is no reason to not think thatz Calvin Johnson will have an at least "normal" season. Which means, he´ll be one of the best (wow, that´s my 3rd prediction now. And i thougfht i only will make one :rolleyes:).
 
palmerq said:
well to was just a joke for my friends... i forgot to re write who i actually play at wr in that post i think i will be playing broyles or lance moore..

to is a joke because last season i picked him and then he got cut from whoever he was at and i looked stupid, so i took him with my last pick this time for fun


but really what is wrong with romo his stats look good ????? please tell me.. and is rg 3 going to be good

FoxxyBrown1111 said:
Nothing wrong with Romo. People tend to remember the latest and/or most devastating events.

And since Romo had his share of late season flaws, people think he is a "bad" QB (just wonder why this same fans don´t think the same of Playoff-Nervous & Greed Peyton).

TO joke was a good one.

FoxxyBrown1111 hints at what's wrong with Romo (in the real game as opposed to fantasy league), but I put it a bit different. Instead of late season flaws, I call him a choker, pulls a boner in a critical situation, unreliable when needed, one critical error in a game at the wrong time. The errors are often not all his fault, and they don't hurt his stats much. He has great stats, but his stats don't often show what happens when the game is on the line. Cowboy fans I know get nervous when the game is on the line and Romo has to do something. That's more of a rare feeling for Giants, Pats, Packers, Steelers, Saints, and old Colts fans who feel pretty good when their team needs a score and time is running out.
 
on3m@n@rmy said:
Here is link listing 50 predictions by the Bleacher Report:
Jake Locker Will Be an MVP Candidate - He has promise, but MVP??
The San Francisco 49ers Will Stumble to 9-7 I predict 10-6, like previous posts.
Problems on the Offensive Line Will Cost Norv Turner His Job Poor coaching will cost him his job.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Will Be the NFL’s Surprise Team Don't see it. Not impressed by Freeman. Weak offense. Tough division.
A Record 11 Quarterbacks Will Pass for 4,000 Yards Agree

Some more from that article:

- Michael Vick Will Stay Healthy and Have a Career Year - In another article BR guys were saying he'd bust. I'll repeat what I said. He has rarely strung together two great games in a row, and rarely plays well against top defenses.
- 5 Quarterbacks Will Get Benched This Season - They list Palmer, Gabbert, Skelton, Weeden and Tannehill. Agree on all, maybe more. Possibly, maybe Wilson in Seattle at some point. But the red flag is Palmer. The Raiders way overpaid for him, and he was outplayed by Pryor in the pre-season. Pryor had issues in college, but has worked very hard to get to where he is, and shown a very positive attitude. I can easily see a 2-5 Raiders benching Palmer and giving him a shot.
- Sam Bradford Will Show Signs That He Is the Next David Carr Wow! Ouch! But "show signs", yes.
- Peyton Manning Won’t Be as Good as People Think - Agree. He'll have some good games, and great drives, especially early in the season, but he won't be the 2005 Manning.
- The Detroit Lions Will Miss the Playoffs - In another article BR predicted them going to the SB. Could be either in that tough NFC North division.
- Ryan Tannehill Will Have a Truly Miserable Season Yep. Threw some nice seam passes in pre-season, but unlike Russell Wilson I never saw (or read) about him stringing together key drives. On that team, he'll be miserable.
- Matt Ryan Will Be the NFL's Fourth-Best Quarterback by the End of the Season Very possible. Atlanta could be quite good, and on his arm.
- Six Coaches Will Be Fired After the Season - Agree it's possible. Jimmy Johnson was right, this is a business.

I think their playoff pics are solid, except I don't see NYG going 12-4. They will be good early, fade late. I do like his pick of KC winning the division, Atlanta doing well in the playoffs, and agree NE should win the SB.

BTW. Agree Romo is pretty good, stat wise, but not a 2 minute drill QB. Game on the line you completely trust Brady, Brees, Roethlesberger, heck even Eli more than Romo.
 
That was a great win for the Cowboys. They (finally?) looked like the team everyone expects them to be, the team they appear to be on paper. They were very workmanlike, and didn't make costly blunders like in the past. They actually made the Giants look average, which is how they played with overthrown throws, dropped balls adding to it.

"Experts" were 29-2 saying the Giants would win:

The Bleacher Report experts were 10-1 Giants.

The ESPN experts a unanimous 14-0.

The USA Today guys were 5-1.
 
palmerq said:
bloody romo threw an interception... booooooooo

You must be Big D fan, and if so, you commented too early ;). I mean, I'm going to have to eat my first plate of crow and humble pie, and we just played game 1 of week 1 :eek:. Because Romo just went 22 completions in 29 attempts, 307 yds, 3 TDs, and 1 INT for a 129.5 rating to lead the Big D to a win. (But then he did not have to bring them back in the last 2 minutes!) If the improved Dallas defense plays well enough in the future, as they did tonight, so Romo does not have to pull off a miracle in the last 2 minutes, then Dallas could do well this year.

@Alpe: I don't know if this was part of your intent, but I noticed that there are a lot of inconsistencies presented in Bleacher's articles. Some of those I pointed out earlier, some you just pointed out. But I think those are different opinions by different media people, so I should expect that. Pretty much agreed with everything you mentioned above, including the Norv job.
 
The thing with Bleacher Report is that they have about 10 employees, and the rest are freelance, probably 100 writers. (I applied to be a writer covering cycling there, but didn't hear back from them). As a result, you will get very differing opinions from different writers. I don't mean so much to point a finger at them for hypocrisy, just saying take some of "their" predictions with a grain of salt.

Looking at the Giants schedule, here is why I see them finishing 9-7, and not 12-4. The first seven games are this: Loss to Dal, TB, @CAR, @PHI, CLE, @SF, WAS.

This looks like 5-2 or 4-3. Then things get interesting: @DAL, PITT, @CINN, GB, @WAS, NO, @ATL, @BAL, PHI

They could actually lose eight of those games and end up 5-11. It's more likely they'll lose five of them though and end up 9-7. I'd be curious to know which four games overall Bleacher Report thinks they'll lose?

In other news, former Browns (and Ravens) owner Art Modell has passed away.
 
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on3m@n@rmy said:
You must be Big D fan, and if so, you commented too early ;). I mean, I'm going to have to eat my first plate of crow and humble pie, and we just played game 1 of week 1 :eek:. Because Romo just went 22 completions in 29 attempts, 307 yds, 3 TDs, and 1 INT for a 129.5 rating to lead the Big D to a win. (But then he did not have to bring them back in the last 2 minutes!) If the improved Dallas defense plays well enough in the future, as they did tonight, so Romo does not have to pull off a miracle in the last 2 minutes, then Dallas could do well this year.

@Alpe: I don't know if this was part of your intent, but I noticed that there are a lot of inconsistencies presented in Bleacher's articles. Some of those I pointed out earlier, some you just pointed out. But I think those are different opinions by different media people, so I should expect that. Pretty much agreed with everything you mentioned above, including the Norv job.
no I am an nfl fantasy players and I picked romo for my starting quarterback, so I was watching the game and was a bit dissapointed with his start but he lit it up in the end, a wonderful performance stats wise for my team !


I dont really have an nfl team, i quite like the panthers and chiefs but i am closest to seattle and I hope i will manage to go and see them live, so maybe they will be my team, but just now i only care for my fantasy players
 

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