As for each team, here is a breakdown of what I think happens in the AFC this year.
South
The AFC South has been a battle for second ever since Peyton was drafted out of Tennessee by Indy. The AFC south boists the best QB of the last decade in Manning, the best receiver in football in Andre Johnson and the biggest head scratcher move in quite some time. We will explore...
Divisions Champs - Indianapolis Colts (11-5). Probably the biggest story in this preseason has been the health of Peyton Manning. Manning has been a stud running the offense his way and is coming off a season with over 4,000 yards. However with neck issues (and trust me, they aren't quick fixes), Manning starts the season on the sidelines. The Colts brought in Kerry Collins to fill the void and to increase DUI charges in Indy I presume. I still like this team and think if Collins can give Peyton a 2-2 start, Manning comes back by week 5 and leads this team to their umpteenth division title.
2nd - Houston Texans (9-7). Houston is an interesting team and man, this might be the scariest offense in the league. Arian Foster is arguably the league's best back and it doesn't get any better than Andre Johnson in terms of wideouts. Throw in a serviceable QB in Matt Schuab and you have an offense that can put up 40 against any NFL defense. The big question for this team is inexperience - especially playoff experience - and the defense. The Texans are so close to be a playoff team - just not this year. Unless Peyton is out for a while that is.
3rd - Tennessee Titans (7-9). I really like what Tennessee did this offseason by bringing in Matt Hasselback - a highly underrated vet with playoff experience - to fill the void left by Kerry Collins and Vince Young. Whether he will fill the hole at the ABC Store and Shrink's office is yet to be seen. Tennessee also got Chris Johnson happy again and if Kenny Britt can keep his hands out of handcuffs, this offense could put up some points. The big question is defense. An improved team, but not quite back in the "Music City Miracle" days yet.
4th - Jacksonville Jaguars (4-12). No David Garrard? huh? No David Garrard? I'm still shocked. It won't be long until rookie Blaine Gabbert get's the start and Jack Del Rio may be the casuality in all this. Despite his rediculous hyphanated last name, Maurice Jones-Drew is a stud at RB and Marcades "don't call me Mercades" Lewis is quietly one of the best Tight Ends in the league. But no QB with any experience leads to a frustrating year for the Jags.
East
One of the best divisions in football, the AFC East has the perinall class of the league with the Patriots, the bad boys everyone loves (except Pats fans) with the Jets and then a lot of question marks. These division has consistently put two teams in the playoffs and it looks like it might be that way again. However, there is no bigger disparity between teams in any division in football like there is in the AFC East.
Division Champs - New England Patriots (14-2). With all the talk about the Jets, the Steelers, the Eagles, and the Colts this off season, we all keep forgetting about the boys from Boston. Tom Brady is coming off perhaps the best year of his career where he threw 36 touchdowns, ran for another and only threw 4 interceptions. That stat still makes me drool. The Pats are the real deal and adding Ochocinco to the mix makes this the best team in the league. However what is the biggest flaw on the Pats? Simple. The dumbest name known to man. Benjarvis Green-Ellis. Not only the silly hyphen, but a double name first name? Holy smokes...
2nd - New York Jets (11-5). The last time a guy missed two years of play because of incarceration, he almost won the MVP. I guess the Jets saw Plaxico Burress as the next Michael Vick signing the ex-convict to a deal to replace Braylan Edwards. So their top wideout hasn't played a down in 2 years and has a self inflicted gun shot wound, Mark Sanchez is awful, their coach is a fat slob who likes feet, and one of their corners, Antonio Cromartie has 5 4 year olds without any sets of twins (think about it....). Despite all this, this team wins. And wins a lot. Another wild card birth for the men in green.
3rd - Buffalo Bills (5-11). The Bills have without a doubt the most underrated player in the league in wideout Steve Johnson - that is of course unless God doesn't want him to be good. The Bills really have no defense but obviously I like Johnson and I think CJ Spiller will have a breakout year. Count the automatic 4 losses to the Jets and Pats and you have a team already in the whole. The Bills will be better and have the ability to put points on the board, but they aren't close to being back to a super bowl five time runner up yet.
4th - Miami Dolphins (3-13). The Dolphins will win 4 things this year. 3 football games and the number one overall pick in next year's draft. The Dolphins lost Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams and replaced them with the most overrated player in football not named Tony Romo in Reggie Bush. Speaking of which, remember when everyone laughed at the Texans for picking Mario Williams instead of Bush? Now they have Williams, who is one of the best defensive linemen in the league AND Arian Foster. Gee, how did that work out? The Dolphins have no quarterback and will struggle this season until Chad Heinne is finally replaced by, you guessed it, Andrew "I don't want to be a Carolina Panther so I'm staying in school" Luck.
AFC North
The AFC North, also known as the place where the Steelers hang out, is known for two things. Lack of scoring and defense. Even though one causes the other, I do list these two differently intentionally because the AFC North, even when playing against teams with bad defenses, still don't score. But no one scores on them!
Division Champs - Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4). It's just too easy. You pick the Steelers and you move on. I've always like Rashad Mendinghall simply because the place that kept me alive in college was Mendinghall Dinning at East Carolina University. He's a hard nosed runner and get's lots of chances to run when the Steelers play their clock game. Big Ben wins but I've never been sold on him being an elite QB. The steel cities finest comes off an AFC championship and nothing should stop them from being in the hunt once again.
2nd - Baltimore Ravens (11-5). November 6th. Baltimore Pittsburgh. Pretty much the AFC North championship game. Oh yeah, they open their season against each other too. Baltimore starts and ends with defense and Ray Lewis is the unquestioned leader and without a doubt the best player in NFL history.......to not get convicted of murder...wait, neither did OJ. Ok, to not get convicted of murder AND not get convicted of kidnapping! I like Ray Rice in the backfield and I think Joe Flacco is a better version of Mark Sanchez and Big Ben. The Ravens don't quite win the division but clearly the 2nd wild card team from the AFC.
3rd - Cleveland Browns (8-8). The success of this team depends on exactly one thing. Colt McCoy. Without a doubt the story ON the field in the preseason was McCoy blossoming into what looks like a top 15 NFL Quarterback. Peyton Hillis was one of the best stories in the NFL last season going from "who the hell is that?" to winning the Madden cover contest. The big question for me on this team is the wideouts. Cleveland is a better team and certainly close to making it, but tough division leads to an average 500 season for the Browns version 2.
4th - Cincinnati Bengals (5-11). Carson Palmer decided the best team to be a part of was the AARP and that opened the door for the only guy I've ever seen that has Bengal orange hair without any die, Andy Dalton. This team was a wreck last year WITH Palmer, I don't expect too much more this year. The one highlight will be AJ Green who should have a pro bowl year.....that is if Chris Gamble covers him every week. Cedric Benson is a good back but not enough to carry this team towards another top 5 pick.
AFC West
You know why I love the AFC West? It's like reality TV non stop. You have Rivers arguing with fans. Fans willing to murder anyone who says a bad thing about Tim Tebow. Al Davis and the craziness he does. And the Chiefs always are up to something.
Division Winner - San Diego Chargers (10-6). I'll never forget a conversation I had in the shower in college with a guy. Heck of a start to a story, I get it. I remember saying Phillip Rivers would be an NFL bust. Oops. Not quite. Rivers has consistently been the best of second tier quarterbacks in the NFL and puts up numbers every week. Vincent Jackson in powder blue for an entire season should help and a stable of good running backs brings this team to an AFC west title.
2nd - Kansas City Chiefs - (9-7). The best team that won't make the playoffs in the AFC, the Chiefs have a very balanced offensive attack. Matt Cassell is a solid QB and he has a fantastic duo of Jamal Charles and Thomas Jones and not to mention the speedy Dexter McAllister if things get really bad. Dwayne Bowe and Steve Breston is quietly one of the best 1-2 punches in the league. All this combined makes up a solid NFL team. Just not quite there. However, a major injury in San Diego and the Chiefs are representing the west come January.
3rd - Oakland Raiders (6-10). Jason Campbell is awful. I mean awful. That really will be this teams setback. Darren McFadden and Michael Bush will get the brunt of the work on the offense thanks to well, Campbell not being good. And since it's been mention on other teams, I gave this team one less win than I think because they start a hyphenated name at wideout in Darius Haywood-Bay. I like bringing in Kevin Boss and they still have Richard Seymour up front, but it will come down to the QB and the Raiders haven't been able to fill that slot since Rich Gannon.
4th - Denver Broncos - (5-11). Let's get it out of the way. Not only will Tim Tebow not start, he won't play should Kyle Orton get hurt. The most celebrated back up's back up in the free world - and that includes when Speaker of the House Lyndon Johnson got vaulted to President - Tebow garnered more headlines than the hiring of John Fox as head coach. As we saw in Carolina, the super conservative offense of Fox should be the case and expect Knoshawn Marino to get lots of carriers. The defense is awful and will be downfall of the team.
Playoff Predictions
Wildcard weekend - Baltimore over Indianapolis, NY Jets over San Diego
Second Round - New England over Baltimore, Pittsburgh over NY Jets
AFC Championship - New England over Pittsburgh
SUPER BOWL!!
Atlanta over New England
There ya go folks. The Atlanta Falcons. YOUR 2012 Super Bowl Champions.
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