FCA
East: The AFC East, in my opinion, will be the most competitive division in the NFL this year.
WHY? Because…

Dolphins – Miami is coming off a very frustrating year. Once they lost Ronnie Brown and Chad Pennington, fans lost hope in Miami. Now remember, three years ago, the Dolphins were one of the worst teams in the NFL, if not the worst. They narrowly missed becoming the first team in NFL history to go 0-16, but defeated the Baltimore Ravens, who went 5-11 that year, on the final day of the regular season. The following year they went 11-5, and then last year’s upset. This year, they have two powerful running backs, a young quarterback who has experience and now a star wide receiver, which they were missing last year. I have no doubts about the offense, but I’m not so sure about the defense. We’ll see how it develops.

* Patriots- New England could be one of the best teams in the NFL (again). They have Tom Brady in full health, they have star wide receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker, and their defense is ready for any type of offense. This could lead to yet another Super Bowl ring for Tom Brady.

* Jets – Jets are overrated. Let me remind you who led the team last year; It wasn’t Mark Sanchez, it wasn’t Jerricho Cotchery or Braylon Edwards, it wasn’t Shonn Greene. Thomas Jones was the only reason the Jets came close to entering the Super Bowl. He had 14 touchdowns, 1402 yards and tripled Shonn Greene’s stats in almost every category! Here are the “amazing” stats the Jets posted in 2009 (the following are averages): 12.5 points (31st), 237 yards (30th), 147 passing yards (29th) and 89.5 rushing yards (22nd). Unless the offense can turn it around, I don’t think the Jets are going anywhere.

* Bills- Once again, the Bills are bottom of the list in the East … and they’re not going to surprise anyone. They’ll have another great season on the ground, but his passing really needs to fuel him. I think they should have taken a quarterback in the first round instead of CJ Spiller. Trent Edwards just isn’t the right guy for the job. A rookie quarterback with a good arm who doesn’t need the ball all the time. Tim Tebow is a guy who would have fit in.

* Permanent after 2010:
x-Patriots: 12-4
x-Miami: 10-7
Jets: 9-7
Tickets: 3-14
North: This division will also come down to the last game.
WHY? Because…

* Bengals: The Bengals could be the most powerful teams they’ve ever had in franchise history, but they could also be a BIG surprise. Carson Palmer will have three top wide receivers to throw to, Ochocinco, Bryant and Owens, and Cedric Benson is coming off probably the best year of his career. His defense will be a mystery every week, as will tight end Jermaine Gresham.

* Ravens- The Baltimore Ravens had a great year last year…and they’re about to have an even better year. Anquan Boldin will help Joe Flacco a lot. Last year, Flacco had a top receiver to go to, Derrick Mason. Todd Heap was the other main target at the start of the season, but it turned out to be a disappointing year. Now, with Heap hoping to have a breakout year to add to his big career stats, Anquan Boldin poised to finally win the big one and Derrick Mason in one of the last few years, he’d say they’re going all out.

* Browns – The Browns, sadly, could be a good team to watch this year. Jake Delhomme doesn’t have a Steve Smith to pitch this year, but Mohamed Massaquoi will be a great substitute. Jerome Harrison could be a top 10 running back this year, which will open up the passing game. The only thing a Browns fan should worry about is defense. Now that Jake Delhomme is helping the offense, the defense will probably be off the field longer.

* Pittsburgh-Where should I start? Obviously, Big-Ben will be out for the first four or six weeks, Rashard Mendenhall is coming off a great season and they lost Santonio Holmes. Hines Ward should have another good season, and the loss of Santonio Holmes will open up slots for Mike Wallace and Antwan Randle El. My predictions for this year’s top players are: Roethlisberger- 17 TD, 56.8 Perc., 3467 yards, Mendenhall – 276 ATT, 11 TD, 12,889 yds, Ward-78 Rec., 5 TD, 879 yds.

* Permanent after 2010:
y-Ravens: 12-4
Bengals: 9-7
Steelers: 8-8
Browns: 4-12

South: The AFC South is going to be a pretty competitive division, again, but I think it’s going to come down to the Colts and Texans. WHY? Because…

* Colts- The Colts won’t be much different than last year. Peyton Manning will have another big year, Reggie Wayne will have 1,000-plus yards, Joseph Addai won’t have many carries and Pierre Garcon will have to play a big role if the Colts want to get to the Super Bowl again. Dallas Clark is healthy and this could be the year.

* Jaguars- Jacksonville needs a quarterback and wide receivers. David Garrard might make the playoffs, but he wasn’t going anywhere. If you want to make the playoffs in this division, you’re going to have to work. Jones-Drew can’t carry the entire team alone. If they had a good passing game to rely on, there would be nothing to worry about. Mike Sims-Walker isn’t enough to fill out a wide receiver roster; they need another target to throw at. Aaron Hernandez would have been a great draft pick for the Jags.

* Titans: Once again, one running back won’t get the entire team to the playoffs. There just isn’t enough talent on this team to go anywhere. The defense could use some work, Vince Young would probably appreciate another receiving target, and Chris Johnson won’t be able to run the ball if the passing game doesn’t work. I don’t see any playoffs on the Titans the next two years.

* Texans-Houston is a top contender this year. Matt Schaub has Andre Johnson as his primary target, and together they could total more than 1,500 yards this year. Kevin Walter is an underrated fantasy player. He is the second stringer, and could 100 to 150 points this year. Arian Foster has taken on the role of running back this year. Steve Slaton worked hard, but he didn’t make it. His tight end, Owen Daniels, will likely get five to 10 touchdowns and more than 600 yards. If the defense can keep the score under 20 almost every game, the Texans will be a tag team to beat.

* Permanent after 2010:
y-Colts: 14-2
x-Texans 11-5
Jaguars 7-9
titans 6-10

West: The AFC West will not be a very competitive season. I don’t think it will take the winning team more than ten wins to get into the playoffs.
WHY? Because…

* Raiders- Oakland has a better team than last year, but not good enough to make the playoffs. Jason Campbell has Heyward-Bay and Schilens as his primary targets. Zach Miller could also be one of the greats. Defense is terrible and running backs aren’t that good either. The only thing the Raiders are good at this year is knocking out other teams.

* Chargers- San Diego is going to make the playoffs, no question about it. Philip Rivers could top 4,000 yards again this season, but without Vincent Jackson, he’d say maybe 3,500. Malcolm Floyd is a question mark. He could do very well or very badly. The defense doesn’t look too bad and Ryan Matthews will be a great addition.

* Chiefs-Kansas City has one more year to improve. I don’t think they have a chance this year, but maybe next year. Once these two years are up, they are going to lose a lot of their good players. Jamaal Charles won’t have much of a problem if Matt Cassel can find Dwayne Bowe and Chris Chambers. The defense is not the best, and that is the main thing that is going to irritate them.

* Broncos- With the mystery of who will be the starting quarterback and a lack of talent at wide receiver, Denver doesn’t have much of a chance. McDaniels is trying to use what he can with Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter, while the defense only has a couple of problems to work out. Eric Decker will likely end up as one of the three starting wide receivers by the end of the year, if he stays healthy.

* Permanent after 2010:
x-chargers 11-5
Broncos- 8-8
Chiefs- 5-11
Raiders- 2-12