The SCU 2009 NFL Preview, Or Why I Suck At Prognosticating

Finally, after a wasteland of boringness, football is back and raring to go. Kickoff is less than a week from today, and I am ready to jump out of my chair and start running crazy go nuts down the aisles here at work. Saturday is going to be much worse for me than any other day, you know, just like the kid who knows that the next day is his birthday. This year should be one of the more interesting years of football in recent memory, mainly because of a few factors that seem to be snowballing in awesomeness for the 2009 season.

First we have Favre-o-mania, again, only this time he is playing for my team. I don’t think he is going to go crazy like a few sportscasters would like him to, but he should add a few wins to the team if he manages to stay healthy. I hear while rehabbing his shoulder, he delivered twins from a woman at the gym, saved the life of his personal trainer with the heimlich maneuver, and still had time to shoot three wrangler jeans commercials. Wow, Derek Jeter eat your heart out!

We also have the Motor City Kitties coming off the worst season in NFL history. They have a new rookie QB starting for them, a few new weapons to play with, but most likely are just going to be another crappy team in a very tough division. They shouldn’t lose all their games again this year, obviously, but it could still be quite tough for them to break 4 wins while playing the AFC North for the non-conference games this year.

Of course, wunderkind Tom Brady is back from his week one destruction last year, and looks to be like he is on track for a normal season. He had a scare during pre-season, but should be close 100% when everything gets going. I don’t think he is going to be breaking any records this year, but the Pats should have ANOTHER contender this year.

Im going to make a few predictions, but don’t think of me as a person who knows anything about forecasting the NFL. Plus, when all it takes is one injury to ruin a season, anything is possible.

AFC East Champs: Patriots
AFC North Champs: Steelers
AFC South Champs: Colts
AFC West Champs: Chargers
AFC Wild Card: Ravens
AFC Wild Card: Dolphins
AFC Super Bowl: Chargers

NFC East Champs: Eagles
NFC North Champs: Vikings
NFC South Champs: Falcons
NFC West Champs: Cardinals
NFC Wild Card: Packers
NFC Wild Card: Cowboys
NFC Super Bowl: Eagles

Super Bowl Champs: Chargers

NFL MVP: Peyton Manning

NFL OFF ROY: Mark Sanchez
NFL DEF ROY: Curry

Im sure that come January, im going to look like as much of an NFL idiot as I usually do, but its still fun to guess. I think that the rookies should have one of the most productive years of the past few drafts, especially with two starting rookie QBs from week one, and a crop of RBs and WRs that should be pretty involved in this year's offensive schemes.

I think Sanchez will have the best year for the rookies, only because he has a better offensive line than Stafford and the lions. I think the Jets defense will win them some games, so Sanchez will look better than he actually is - a la Flacco last year. The only wild card in all of this is Percy Harvin, as he seems like the Vikings will give him a lot of looks as a Wildcat/RB/Slot Receiver type guy. He will also be returning some kicks, so he could have a big impact. The odd thing is, there hasn’t been a WR ROY since Boldin in 2003, so its not likely that he can put up numbers to eclipse people like Sanchez who are on a nationwide stage.

As for the NFL MVP, I think Manning should be at the top of everyone's list, every year. He has a great crop of guys surrounding him, and he is back at 100% this year after playing hurt last year. Again, like Brady, I don’t think he will be setting any records, but he has potential to put up staggering numbers as usual. Plus, with Donald Brown in the backfield to compliment Addai, he may not have to throw as much to be effective.

When it comes to the Super Bowl, I think a lot of people are picking the Chargers, and I am on that bandwagon. I think this is Rivers' year, and now that Chokey McMerriman is back and rallying the troops, the defense should be back on track, especially with the addition of Larry English. The only piece that the chargers may be missing is a big name receiver who draws the game to himself, but that could develop in Vincent Jackson, building on the framework from last year.

Overall, I am just hoping for the Vikings to not fall on their face as they usually do when the pressure of being a contender looms. I think Adrian Peterson should have a good season again, but I don’t think that its going to be enough to go deep into the playoffs again. Even though Favre should add a few wins, I am not confident he will last, let alone make it into weeks 17 and 18 of the season. Therefore they had better hope that Sage or TJack are ready to step up. That scares me.

To answer the one question that is asked each year, you can bet your ass that I am ready for some football.