2003 NFL Preview
AFC East -
Bills
Pats
Dolphins
Jets
The Bills are a bit of a homer pick, and a bit out of character for me since
I tend to disparage teams that make a load of offseason additions, but I
expect the Bills to overcome a slow start and really take advantage of the
sheer talent they have stockpiled for the stretch run to outlast the
Patriots. In New England, I expect the Patriots to be solid, but lacking
a bit of offensive explosiveness and depth in the secondary to win the
division. Playing a tough schedule causes them to miss the Wild Card. In
Miami, I don't think that Jay Fiedler is the answer at QB, nor do I see
Junior Seau as the answer on defense - combine that with a very rough
December schedule, and the annual late-season swoon of the Fish should occur
again. The Jets, meanwhile, while they could rally 'round Coach Edwards,
the loss of Pennington is just one loss of a good player too many this
offeseason
for this team to overcome in a tough division.
AFC North
Steelers
Bengals
Browns
Ravens
I fully expect this to be one of the weaker divisions in football this
year. The Steelers win by default, thanks to great coaching and far and
away the best talent in the division. The shocking pick is the Bengals
making the move into second place. I like what this team is doing under
new head coach Marvin Lewis, especially now that he is calling the
personnel shots.
The Browns I see as being one of the League's most disappointing teams as
the running game never gets going, and the pass rush is even worse. The
Ravens, meanwhile, kept it going with
smoke and mirrors last year, but I expect that the lack of an effective QB
or effective WR's
is simply too much to overcome, even in the Conference's weakest division.
AFC South
Colts
Titans
Texans
Jaguars
With RB Edgerrin James healthy, I see this as being Tony Dungy's year, as the
Colts finally win a playoff game. The Titans, meanwhile, take second
simply because the Jags and Texans are either totally rebuilding or just
plain building. Given the injury and suspension troubles in Jax, I'll give
Houston a slight nod
into third place here.
AFC West
Chargers
*Chiefs
*Raiders
Broncos
This figures to be the League's best division by any measure, but the effect
will be all the more pronounced simply because these teams will benefit from
playing two of the NFL's weakest divisions, the AFC and NFC North. If San
Diego's young secondary can play up to potential, David Boston returns to
form, and Drew Brees becomes the real deal, and I think they will - then
Marty Schottenheimer
will lead the Chargers to the division title. If not,Dick Vermeil's
Chiefs and their
always-explosive offense will be right behind them, as will the Raiders in
their last hurrah.... for the new "Over the Hill Gang." The odd-team out,
I think will be the
Broncos, who should score a ton of points, but will suffer from Jake
Plummer's turnovers
and a defense that looks very suspect to me.
NFC East
Giants
Eagles
Cowboys
Redskins
It will be interesting to see how the Eagles regroup this season, after
blowing the NFC Championship game at home, in the final game at the Vet, to a
team from Florida, in the middle of January. I think that the hangover from
this, plus the loss of Hugh Douglass and a few key injuries causes them to
slip a notch, and opens the door for the Giants to regain the
division title behind a rejuvenated passing offense. As it did for the
Patriots, the tough
schedules causes them to miss the Wild Card. In Dallas, the Cowboys simply
don't have enough talent for Bill Parcells to work a miracle, and in
Washington I look at all the acquisitions and remain unimpressed. Look for
Daniel Snyder's Redskins to again fall flat on their faces.
NFC North
Packers
Lions
Vikings
Bears
This is another very weak division, with the Packers looking like the best
of the bunch to me. Its hard for a Brett Favre-led team to truly be
*bad.* In another surprise, I see the Lions rising up under Coach
Mariucci with a lot of young
talent, although the Vikings could do this as well. I don't see Kordell
Stewart as the answer in Chicago, and I expect them to make an early switch
to Rex Grossman
to see what he can do, which causes the Bears to slip into last place.
NFC South
Buccaneers
*Falcons
Panthers
Saints
The Bucs are the returning champs, and are incredibly in only the second
year of Gruden's system. Losing Vick for a few games really kills Atlanta's
chances of unseating them, but they should still be good enough for a wild
card. At the bottom, I see the Panthers edging out the Saints in a very
competitive division. The pass rush of the Panthers should be the
difference for them.
NFC West
Seahawks
*49ers
Rams
Cardinals
Well, somebody has to win this division, even though I think all of the
teams have serious question marks. Even worse, thanks to a favorable
schedule alignment, I fully expect that whatever team emerges from this
division will have the gaudy record to secure the #1 seed in the Conference.
I'm guessing that the Seahawks have the most continuity, and thus will be
that team. I'll give the 49ers the #2 slot, so long as Jeff Garcia stays
healthy... without him they could easily fall to last. The Rams seem too
injury prone, and absolutely empty on defense to contend this year... and
speaking of empty, there seems little reason for hope in Arizona this year.
Final Four:
San Diego over Buffalo
Seattle over New York
I can't see a Wild Card team running the table in the playoffs without a
home playoff game, so I'll take the division winners of those divisions as I
see having the most favorable schedules into Championship Weekend, with the
slight exception of New York over Tampa Bay in the NFC.
Super Bowl:
Tested by the fire of a solid division, a young San Diego team upends Mike
Holmgren and
Seattle.... and so Marty Schottenheimer finally gets his ring.
Crazy? Maybe.... but mark my words that the winners of the West divisions
will rack up gaudy records this year, which will give them an advantage
come playoff time....
_______________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world,
it is God's gift to humanity." - George W. Bush 1/29/03
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