What we think - NFL 2006

With the month of September here and the NFL season opener just days away, sports journalists from Foxborough to San Diego suddenly feel the need to make their 2006 NFL season predictions known to the masses.

We tend to question the validity of some of these so-called expert predictions. After all, if these sports journalists were so intelligent and accurate with their calculations, why are they working in the press instead of making a living off their prognosticatory prowess at the sports books in Las Vegas?

Nevertheless, the peer pressure from fellow sports journalists to join the fraternity of fearless prognosticators is great.

Alas, we’ll fulfill our journalistic responsibility and clutter your mind with useless facts and speculatory figures in this edition of Lull on Sports.

We’ll call this our “2006 NFL We Thinks.”

Perhaps by changing our “predictions” to “we thinks” we may strip some of the accompanying arrogance off of our thoughts. Then when the style editor from Teen Magazine obliterates us with her regular season predictions, we can simply chalk it up to thinking wrong – not being wrong.

After all, nobody knows what will happen this season.

They simply think they know.

Here’s what we think…

The Browns will finish 9-7. Optimistic? Maybe a little. But we feel pretty good about this one. In the NFL, a team's level of success hinges on many variables – one of the major ones being strength of schedule. We don’t find the Browns schedule to be overly difficult. We think the Browns can split with all three division foes (Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Cincinnati) and then register wins against the New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home. We’ve got them beating Oakland and Houston on the road. When it comes to losses, we can’t see the Browns beating Carolina, Denver, San Diego or Atlanta. That is a final record of 9-7 folks.

The New England Patriots will once again win the AFC East. Although the Miami Dolphins are a trendy pick, we think the Patriots have one more year in the tank. We like Miami to win 10 games and squeak into the playoffs as the second AFC Wild Card. Meanwhile, we’d be shocked if the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets won more than five games apiece.

Despite a horrific schedule, the Cincinnati Bengals will win the AFC North for the second consecutive year. In what may be shocking to some, due to a difficult schedule and the pressure that comes with being the defending Super Bowl Champion, we see the Pittsburgh Steelers missing the playoffs by one game, as will the Browns (both finishing at 9-7). The Baltimore Ravens, one of the most over hyped teams entering the 2006 season, should win eight games.

The Indianapolis Colts should win the AFC South again, with the Jacksonville Jaguars winning 10 games and clinching the AFC’s first Wild Card. Although the Colts lost Edgerrin James via free agency (to Arizona) we think they have a capable replacement in Joseph Addai (we always thought James was overrated anyways). The Houston Texans could surprise some by more than doubling their win total from last year by walking away victorious five times. Meanwhile, we think another trendy pick, the Tennessee Titans, could lose 14 games and be looking at the first pick in the draft next April.

The AFC West will produce three teams with winning records, although only one will make the playoffs. Surprisingly, the San Diego Chargers gain admittance into the postseason via a better conference record after winning 10 games. The Kansas City Chiefs (10-6) and Denver Broncos (9-7) are rewarded for their successful seasons by getting to watch San Diego lose to Miami on television in the first round of the playoffs. The Oakland Raiders are one of the worst teams in football and should count their blessings after winning five games.

The NFC East will be the most interesting race to watch in football. While many have picked the Dallas Cowboys to win the division, we can’t ignore the difficult schedule America’s Team is facing or the potential powder keg that exists with Bill Parcells and Terrell Owens sharing a locker room. We think Dallas will finish 8-8. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles, although not significantly improved, should benefit from A) an easier schedule B) a healthy Donovan McNabb and C) the subtraction of Terrell Owens and finish 9-7 with a Wild Card spot. No team in league history has ever gone winless in the preseason and made the postseason, which bodes well for our call of the Washington Redskins finishing 7-9. Finally, after an anticipated 2-4 start, we like Tom Coughlin’s New York Giants to rally to win 8 of their last 10 games and finish the season with a 10-6 record and NFC East division crown.

The NFC North sucks (outside of Chicago). The Chicago Bears should cruise to their second consecutive division crown by winning 11 games. At the same time, we think the Minnesota Vikings are in a similar transitional situation as the Browns were last season. Like the Browns of 2005, we have the Vikings finishing 6-10. The Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers should both finish 5-11, although one team (Detroit) is poised to turn things around next season while the other (Green Bay) could be looking at a couple losing seasons in a row.

The Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will once again both make the postseason out of the NFC South. We like Carolina to win 12 games and the division, while Tampa Bay should register nine victories and lock up the NFC’s other Wild Card. The Atlanta Falcons, although improved, will fall victim to a difficult schedule and finish 8-8. The New Orleans Saints will be energized by the emergence of Reggie Bush and steady leadership of Drew Brees, but will still only win four games.

The Seattle Seahawks (11-5) will once again win the NFC West while the Arizona Cardinals begin to turn the corner by finishing 8-8. The St. Louis Rams are in a transitional phase and should feel lucky to win six games, while the San Francisco 49ers are looking at one more tough season (5-11) before beginning to turn the corner.

In the postseason, Miami shocks San Diego on the road but then falls to the Colts in Indianapolis.

The Cincinnati Bengals advance one round further than last season by beating Jacksonville at home, only to lose to New England in Foxborough.

The Seattle Seahawks defeat the Philadelphia Eagles at home in the first round, only to fall to the Chicago Bears in Chicago.

The New York Giants drop Tampa Bay at the Meadowlands, and then shock the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte.

In the AFC Championship Game, Peyton Manning finally gets his revenge. At last, the Colts drop the Patriots in the AFC Championship.

In the NFC Championship, the New York Giants make executives at CBS Sports (the television home of Super Bowl XLI) do cartwheels in the hallways. By defeating the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, the G-men advance to Super Bowl XLI, or shall we say, the Manning Bowl.

Peyton and Eli. Eli and Peyton. By the time the game rolls around, just about every one of the 130 million Americans who plan on watching the Super Bowl will want the Manning family to just go away.

Colts 35 – Giants 27

We think.

OTHER BITS:

While Ohio State is certainly a popular pick to win the National Championship this season, we’re not so sure. Although many of the Buckeyes’ offensive stars are now one year older and one year more mature, we’re not sure if an increase in age and maturity on offense can make up for the losses endured on defense and special teams. After losing 9 of 11 starters on defense, the Bucks are surely going to experience some growing pains on the defensive side of the ball. More importantly, the ever-so-consistent kicking game that Jim Tressel has enjoyed since arriving in Columbus could become a troublesome area this season…

The Indians may make a run at signing perennial All-Star second baseman/outfielder Alfonso Soriano in free agency this off-season. We’ll tell you why and how in the coming weeks…

While the Indians front office continues to defend Andy Marte, Kevin Kouzmanoff continues to simply play better. Kouzmanoff put up superior numbers to Marte all season long in the minor leagues while Marte received all the hype. Now after two games in the big leagues, Kouzmanoff already has two home runs (including a grand slam on the first pitch he saw in the big leagues). Meanwhile, Marte has been in Cleveland for a month and is hitting .215 and stuck on one home run…

Popular former Cleveland Cavaliers’ television play-by-play man Michael Reghi is keeping busy. Since being removed from Cavaliers telecasts by owner Dan Gilbert, Reghi has been doing work for FSN Ohio on Browns programming and did some play-by-play of the Cal Ripken World Series in August. Reghi will still be seen and heard into the winter months, as he will continue working MAC basketball games for FSN as well as various college basketball assignments with ESPN…