Your very late NFL Season Preview: AFC
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by Suckatsports
Just like when I was back in school, I like waiting till the very last moment to get something done. Everyone's already posted their NFL previews. Some go team by team in a very detailed fashion. As I've already stated, I'm much too lazy for that, so we'll go division by division. That of course leads right into the playoffs - and your Superbowl winner. What, too early? Some picked the winner a week after the last Superbowl was finished. I think I'm late on this!
It would be too long to do everything, so here's your AFC playoff roster.
AFC East: Is this easy or what? Patriots run away with this division in the first four weeks. They're strong everywhere now: offense, defense, special teams. For a team that nearly reached the Superbowl for the fourth time in five years, they went gangbusters in the off-season signing big names. Then there's this Bill guy, who while dressed like a homeless person, has the NFL mind equivalent to Hawking - and the same social skills. Too much?
AFC North: A little tougher, but I'll go with the Ravens. Their defense is nasty, and the good kind of nasty, this is the bad kind of nasty. This is break-your-leg-in-a-pile nasty defense - and they look even more intimidating in their full black uniforms. Bengals obviously have the better offense, but I'll pick a dominating defense over an offense any day. This should be a close race throughout, but as long as McNair stays healthy, he's solid if not flashy, and that offense should hum along.
AFC South: An easy one again: Colts. I give you, they're hurting on defense, losing some corners, some linebackers, and Booger. Most of those losses were to free agency, and thus were replaced, this isn't college where you have to rebuild after losses. That being said, they might still give up 400 yards rushing in a game. There's just no one that can challenge them in this division, they might go 5-1, and no matter how fun Vince Young is to watch, he's light years behind what a real NFL Quarterback is like.
AFC West: This is going to, once again, be the toughest division in football - I'll take the Chargers to narrowly edge the Broncos for the win. I'm still not in love with Jay Cutler just because he has no one to throw too, Jevon Walker just isn't enough. Chargers on the other hand have the best all-around weapon in the game in LaDanian Tomlinson, and are completely loaded on both sides of the ball. If Marty and Philips stays this is a slam dunk, but replacing your coach and defensive coordinator in one year is really tough.
AFC Wildcards: Cincinnati Bengals - They have an explosive offense, especially in a weak division. Carson Palmer is finally fully healthy, and he's throwing to possibly the best 1-2 combination of wide receivers in the league. Running back is a little thin, but Rudy Johnson is durable and productive. Defense has struggled as of late and was their Achilles last year, but the lesson's learned will help them this year.
New York Jets - I don't like anything specific about this team, except for the fact that they're scrappy. Mangina has the pressure on him now to duplicate the success they had last year, and hopefully build on it, but he's not flying under anyone's radar this year. He brings a complicated defense and an efficient offense to the table, and they play fairly weak and anemic offenses in the AFC North. They get in by a hair.
Long offseason: Denver Broncos. I have them just missing the playoffs because I think their schedule doesn't pan out as easy as the NYJ or Bengals. They'll always have a running game with their offensive line, but another season without a playoff berth may get the "Genius" tag stripped from Shannahan.
Like what you read? This post is cross-published from We Suck at Sports.
