NFL preview

It's finally here.  We weren't sure if there was actually going to be an NFL season but now it's here.  And so is our NFL preview, albeit a few weeks late.  The Philadelphia Eagles are going to win not one, but two, three, four titles with this team.  Or like the Miami Heat, they may be exposed for neglecting to bolster important positions that they were weak at, like middle linebacker.  Your usual contenders are primed for a championship run, save one.  New England has reloaded again.  The Saints look to come back strong from a disappointing season last year.  Rex Ryan has again guaranteed a championship for his J-E-T-S and will again fail on the big stage.  San Diego will be looking to add special teams to it's league-leading offense and defense.  Maybe they'll even make the playoffs this year.  It looks like the run is over for the Indianapolis Colts, however.  Peyton Manning is going to miss extended time due to his third neck surgery.  That is a 5-11 team with a 15-1 quarterback.  Without him they are nothing

Lets take a look at how each division shapes up this year.  After reading this section, you should book a flight to Vegas and bet on the exact opposite from every pick in this article.

NFC East

The Philadelphia Eagles are the easy pick here (other than Eli Manning.)  They have the best all-around team starters.  They are a little weak in a few areas and their depth isn't spectacular, but otherwise the easy favorite in this division.  The Dallas Cowboys will win the division however, because Unconfirmed Reports hates the Eagles.  Actually, this is a defining year for the Cowboys.  They still have a ton of talent especially at the skill offensive positions.  The defense will hope to lock in with the new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.  They have a chance to go deep in the playoffs or stumble horribly.  We have no idea what to expect of the New York Giants.  Eli Manning is going to throw some touchdowns but he's going to throw quite a few intercptions as well.  They're still talented in the defensive front seven but Osi Umenyiora is likely to miss some significant time due to nagging injuries.  There is a fourth team in the division but it's the Washington Redskins.  They will be on the field every Sunday but they may not be playing the same game as the other teams.  Division Winner:  Dallas Cowboys

NFC West

Unconfirmed Reports doesn't understand this conference.  Seattle won the division with a losing record, yet still won a playoff game.  The Seahawks may end up last in the division this year.  I'm not sure that they improved the team enough to keep up with the what the other teams in the division did.  St. Louis is growing into a decent team.  They have the right pieces at some important positions, including Sam Bradford at QB.  He will be an elite quarterback in this league fairly soon.  This may be the year the Rams take the next step.  The Arizona Cardinals got quite a bit better in the shortened off-season through free agency.  They picked up the quarterback Kevin Kolb from the Eagles as well as some other key players.  Signing Kevin Kolb may single-handedly move them from last to first in the division.  If anyone in the division plays halfway decent defense this year then that will be enough to put them on top at the end of the year.  Alex Smith is amazingly still the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.  Maybe their planning on tanking the season and drafting Andrew Luck with the first overall pick.  They hired a great new coach in Jim Harbaugh, but they just don't have the talent to compete, even in this division.  Division Winner:  Arizona Cardinals

NFC North

There are two teams we have our eye on in this division.  The first is of course the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers.  Aaron Rodgers is amazing and only getting better.  The receiving corps gets better with every snap.  They continue to be one of the best defensive teams in the league.  If they don't have the injury issues that plagued them last year, then they should breeze into the playoffs, unlike last year when they had to win their last two games just to get the #6 seed.  Our other intriguing team in the division is the Detroit Lions.  Yes, those Detroit Lions.  Is this the year when they finally stop looking like they are run by a front office filled with chimpanzees?  We think so.  At the end of the year, we may be saying that the Detroit Lions have the best defensive front in all of football.  They have a great opportunity to put the fear of God into other teams and perhaps win a wild card.  Chicago won this division last year, but as we all know they are only good every other year.  Therefore they win eight games this year.  It seemed like the Bears picked up every player that the cowboys released.  We'll see if scavenging from a 6-10 team works for them.  The Vikings will be bad, maybe very bad.  Brett Favre is finally gone. Unless of course he decides to come back later this season.  They have a few players with great individual talent but as a whole the team is sub-par.  Division Winner:  Green Bay Packers

NFC South

This is the most intriguing division to Unconfirmed Reports.  Atlanta will keep doing what they do, which is win.  Their young offense should continue to gel and they should have another great year.  They traded nearly their entire draft for Julio Jones.  They now have one of the best receiving corps in the league.  The front office took the "win now" approach and went out and got the one piece they thought they needed.  Lets see if that's enough to put them over the top this year.  New Orleans is awesome again.  Their offense is hitting on all cylinders.  They rid themselves of the cancer in the clubhouse that was Reggie Bush.  They seem to be a happier and more efficient team now that they don't have to try to get him his touches.  Last year Tampa Bay took some big strides forward and they hope to build on that this year.  Two young players, in Josh Freeman and LeGarrette Blount, lead the offense this year.  Freeman is a respectable quarterback, but he doesn't win them games.  He just makes sure that he doesn't personally lose games.  We don't think they quite get there this year but they are moving in the right direction.  And then there are the Carolina Panthers.  They went with Cam Newton with the first overall pick in the draft.  I wonder if they've thought who they would pick with the first pick in next year's draft.  They might want to think about it.  They've got a long climb ahead of them.  Division Winner:  Atlanta Falcons

NFC Wild Cards:  Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints

AFC East

We have another great two-team race in the AFC East.  The Jets have gone the furthest out of this division the past couple of years.  Two straight trips to the AFC championship game says a lot about where a team is.  The defense keeps carrying this team.  If they get a lead and force you to throw the ball then you are in trouble.  If they get a lead....  This team would be incredibly dominant if they could score more.  Watch out for the Patriots this year though.  Tom Brady may have another record-breaking year.  The thing to watch with New England this year is if their two "problem children," Albert Haynesworth and Chad Ochocinco, create problems in the locker room.  It appears, at this point, that their roles will be so limited that they may not have much of a locker room presence at all.  If they lose a couple of games early keep your ears open for some choice soundbites.  The Buffalo Bills are another up-and-coming team with a no-name quarterback (his name is Ryan Fitzpatrick by the way).  They're making the right decisions but it's still early in the process and playing New England and New York twice a year certainly doesn't help.  Also, the team owner, Ralph Wilson, seems to care more about the bottom line than the quality of the team.  Unless that changes soon, then the Bills have no chance in this division.  The Miami Dolphins are also in this division.  Division Winner:  New England Patriots

AFC West

What to say about this conference?  It's ugly.  San Diego led the entire NFL in total offense and total defense last year yet couldn't even win this awful division.  How does this happen?  Could it all be special teams?  If that's the case then they should sweep this division after the NFL basically took away kickoff returns and the team picked up some players that should boost their special teams.  Kansas City won this division last year but may need to take another step forward to repeat.  They've got three young stars at skill positions, in Matt Cassel, Jamaal Charles, and Dwayne Bowe.  This division is still ripe for the picking, so this could be the Chiefs time.  Oakland won every division game they played last year.  Yes, they won all six division games yet finished the season with a 8-8 record.  That's how bad this conference was last year.  Oakland swept it.  The Denver Tebows will give it another go this year.  What?  Tim Tebow is not the Broncos starting quarterback? It's Kyle Orton?  Why is it that the only player we hear about on this team is the third string quarterback?  Well, good luck Denver.  At least being a mile up in the air gives you a good home-field advantage.  Division Winner:  San Diego Chargers

AFC North

There are two good teams in this division and there are two teams from Ohio.  We have to sit through two games of Cleveland vs. Cincinnati but luckily we also get two games from the best rivalry in the NFL currently.  Pittsburgh and Baltimore will be battling each other all year to see who comes out on top of this division.  The division winner may be decided by which team whoops up on the other two teams in the division the most.  The Steelers look like they are going to be good forever.  We know they must get old at some point but they are incredibly consistent.  We don't expect anything different this year.  When you see the Baltimore Ravens on your team schedule, you look at the previous week and the next week to see if you have a bye week somewhere near that game.  They play the most physical game in the NFL.  That's something that you can't prepare for.  You just have to get back up after you get hit in the mouth.  Is Colt McCoy the answer in Cleveland?  Probably not, but he's got a better chance of staying alive this year than his counterpart Andy Dalton does in Cincinnati.  The Browns and Bengals are going to get punished.  At least they will be rewarded with a top draft pick.  Division Winner:  Pittsburgh Steelers

AFC South

This has to be the year the Texans finally make it to the playoffs.  Matt Schaub is the longest-tenured starting quarterback in that division now.  Arian Foster came out of nowhere last year and ran all over the league.  He comes into this season banged up, and defenses will be game-planning for him more, so don't expect the same gaudy numbers he put up last year.  The Texans aren't spectacular (see: secondary) but they should easily win this division because the other teams are awful.  Kerry Collins is the starting quarterback in Indianapolis now.  The last QB to start in Indy that wasn't named Peyton Manning was Jim Harbaugh.  Harbaugh is back in the league as the head coach in San Francisco and Peyton is out again.  Coincidence?  It's going to be a long, trying year for the Colts if Manning doesn't come back quickly.  Both Jacksonville and Tennessee are without their starting quarterbacks from last year as well.  Jacksonville inexplicably waived Garrard a week before the season started.  We get the feeling that upper management sensed that the season was going to go in the wrong direction and decided to save some money by letting him go.  Tennessee took care of last year's quarterback controversy between Kerry Collins and Vince Young by letting both of them go.  Now they will start the season with Matt Hasselbeck at the helm and Jake Locker in the wings.  I smell another quarterback controversy brewing.  Division Winner:  Houston Texans

AFC Wild Cards:  New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens