Nfl 2006

[Red Door]

The Eagles and Jets open rookie training camp today. You know what that means, it's football time!

Anyways, we use this thread to discuss the season with news and results.

Let's get rolling.

BTW, we all know the 'Skins are the best team in the league.

 

[El Justo]

ha - silly rabbit!

trix are for kids!

i expect the Eagles to improve on the d-line, have more depth on the o-line, to entegrate some of the younger players on defense more, mcnabb to bounce back after last yr, and the running game to return.

 

[Dreadnought]

Good luck Pittsburgh, with the motorcycle accident!

The team I'm rooting for this year is the Buccaneers. Why? I googled "NFL team" and they came up first... but my all time favorite team is the eagles

 

[Mojotronica]

The Seahawk's schedule is comparable to last years -- which is a good thing! They face the NFC-North and AFC-West this time around, in addition to the NY Giants and TB. And of course the otherwise weak AFC-West.

The Cards and Rams might be tougher competition this year, but I think that the 'Hawks will win the AFC-West and return to the playoffs for the fourth year in a row. They have a good shot at winning the most games in the NFC and repeating last year's HF and Bye week advantages in the post-season, but the NFC as a whole is stronger this year -- the road to the SB is less certain.

Offensively the Hawks have held on to most of the core that gave them the best overall offense in the NFL last season. The loss of Guard Hutchison to Minnesota sucks but when all is said and done Guards aren't crucial to success. The Vikings overpaid for him. Jurevicius' move to Cleveland may hurt worse -- he was a real stabilizing force on the team and a true clutch player. But their offense should be tough enough to win.

On Defense the Seahawks are said to have improved. Picking up OLB Julian Peterson is considered a major coup, bolstering an already very capable D.

With it's powerful offense intact and improvements on the defense, Seattle could.go.all.the.way. The Carolina Panthers are seemingly the greatest threat (yet again) and the improved NFC-East teams are scary good. But I know that the Seahawks can hold their own. A team that dismisses them as still being the weak team of 90s is a team that will lose to them.

If Seattle makes it back into the Super Bowl they have the added incentive of the perceived unfairness of the refs. That's a powerful motivator in and of itself.

Against it are two big trends of the past decade -- the Madden curse (since Alexander made the cover of Madden 07) and the curse of the Super Bowl runner-up (seven seasons and running.) If they lose, or if anything goes wrong for them this season, you know I'll be blaming those curses for it.

 

[RameNoodle]

The NFC Central is weak. Weak, I tell you. The Bears will go 11-5, and win the division, maybe a playoff game, but thats it.
And, oh yeah, good luck, Alexander, since everyone else before you has had an injury, thanks to... Boom!

 

[Red Door]

My fearless playoff predictions.

NFC
NFC East - New York Giants (12-4)
NFC Central - Chicago Bears (10-6)
NFC South - Carolina Panthers (10-6)
NFC West - Arizona Cardinals (11-5)
Wild Card 1 - Seattle Seahawks (11-5)
Wild Card 2 - Washington Redskins (10-6)

AFC
AFC East - New England Patriots (12-4)
AFC South - Indianapilos Colts (13-3)
AFC North - Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5)
AFC West - San Diego Chargers (11-5)
Wild Card 1 - Cincinnati Bengals (11-5)
Wild Card 2 - Miami Dolphins (10-6)

Wild Card Round
AFC-Miami 17 at Pittsburgh 30
AFC-Cincinnati 35 at San Diego 10

NFC-Chicago 10 at Seattle 21
NFC-Washington 17 at Carolina 14

Divisional Round
AFC-Pittsburgh 13 at New England 17
AFC-Cincinnati 28 at Indianapilos 41

NFC-Seattle 27 at Arizona 10
NFC-Washington 13 at New York 21

NFC/AFC Championship
AFC-New England 24 at Indianapilos 34

NFC-Seattle 28 at New York 17

Super Bowl
Seattle 16 at Indianapilos 24


MVP
Tiki Barber - New York Giants - 1,800 Rush Yards - 21 Touchdowns

Coach of the Year
Dennis Green - Arizona Cardinals

Just some predictions from me.

 

[pawpaw]

My fearless predictions.
Coach of the Year
Dennis Green - New York Giants

<scratches head>

 

[El Justo]

i think Al meant that Green is w/ Ariz.

 

[Red Door]

Yeah, I did mean Arizona Cardinals, I was typing as I was debating over the MVP and Tiki Barber.

 

[Mojotronica]

Ballsy and awesome of you to post your predictions, btw. Thanks, Al!

I'll put something together this weekend. Probably won't attempt MVP or Coach of the Year though... That's above and beyond.

 

[pawpaw]

Yeah, I did mean Arizona Cardinals, I was typing as I was debating over the MVP and Tiki Barber.

I know, just being a smart _ss

 

[pawpaw]

NFC EAST--Washington
NFC NORTH--Minnesota
NFC SOUTH--Carolina
NFC WEST--Seattle
WILD CARD--Tampa Bay
WILD CARD--Chicago

AFC EAST--Miami
AFC NORTH-- Cincinnati
AFC SOUTH--Indianapolis
AFC WEST--Denver
WILD CARD--New England
WILD CARD--Jacksonville

SUPER BOWL-- Indianapolis VS Carolina

 

[Red Door]

I can't see Tampa Bay winning the division. I think they were quite lucky last year, and I don't see them going above .500 this year.

 

[Serutan]

NFC East - Dallas
NFC North - Chicago (by default)
NFC South - Tampa Bay; I don't think Carolina's RBs are good enough).
NFC West - Seattle
#5 seed - Carolina
#6 seed - Giants

AFC East - New England
AFC North - Pittsburgh
AFC South - Indy
AFC West - Denver
#5 seed - San Diego
#6 seed - Nevermores

SB - Tampa Bay v. New England

 

[Azale]

I like the Cards and Dennis Green, but to go 11-5 they are going to need some serious defensive improvement...I dont know if they upgraded it enough.

Tiki Barber going over 1800 yards would be insane, like my Madden file currently is Especially since he is over 30, and has had alot of carries the last two years for a smaller back. Still, maybe he has a Curtis Martin 2004 season in him.

Here be the law of the land, Azale's predictions:

NFC
NFC East - Dallas Cowboys
NFC North - Chicago Bears
NFC South - Carolina Panthers
NFC West - Seattle Seahawks
Wild Card 1 - New York Giants
Wild Card 2 - Green Bay Packers

AFC
AFC East - Miami Dolphins
AFC North - Cincinnati Bengals
AFC South - Indianapolis Colts
AFC West - Kansas City Chiefs
Wild Card 1 - Denver Broncos
Wild Card 2 - Tennessee Titans

Super Bowl
Indianapolis Colts vs. Dallas Cowboys

Coach of the Year
Jeff Fisher - Tennessee Titans


I like the Packers more than I used too for several reasons.

1. This is probably Brett Favre's last season. He is not the MVP player he used to be, but he still is the best quaterback in the division.

2. The offense is still very solid with Favre, Franks, Driver, Green/Gado/Davenport, some good support wide recievers (Ferguson, Boerigter, Gardner).

3. They signed Charles Woodson and drafted AJ Hawk & Abdul Hodge.

I think they make the playoffs and give Chicago a serious run, but Chicago's young and dominant defense carry thier offense once again to a division title (hopefully Benson does something this year)

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

NFC
NFC East - Giants
NFC North - Lions
NFC South - Panthers
NFC West - Seahawks
Wild Card 1 -Green Bay
Wild Card 2 - Dallas

AFC
AFC East - Patriots
AFC North - Steelers
AFC South - Colts
AFC West - Chiefs
Wild Card 1 - Broncos
Wild Card 2 - Bengals

Super Bowl

Lions vs. Steelers


SB XLI Champions : Detroit Lions

 

[Red Door]

At first I thought you were serious.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

It could happen......




Well.. maybe not...

 

[Mojotronica]

AFC East - New England: On the one hand, their talent is slowly bleeding away. On the other hand it's likely they'll be less injured this season. Only Miami is a serious competitor. NE has to be the favorite to win the Div title. Buffalo and especially the New York Jets are basket-cases, still rebuilding.

AFC North - Cincinnati: This is one of the toughest Divs to analyze -- so many questions. I think Cincy is the most proven, most intact of the teams. Pittsburgh lost a lot of talent in the off-season -- they are depending on the system to make up for it. I think they have been long-shot contenders for two years running and this is the year it catches up with them. Part of the reason for that is the ascension of Baltimore, who will finally deliver on their promise. Cleveland should play better too, although they have so far to go I don't see them being a real contender this season.

All that said -- if Carson Palmer doesn't bounce back from his injury like I think he's going to, I'll be dead wrong on this pick. Cincy faces a brutal schedule this season. If Palmer doesn't play, Pittsburgh will likely take the Div.

AFC South - Indianapolis: Indy must be the favorite here, although they've lost a lot of strength in the off-season. Rather than being unstoppable they'll merely be a sure thing for the playoffs, and probably claim HFA and the WC Bye week again. Jacksonville should be about the same -- a solid, playoff-worthy team. Houston should improve to become a mediocre team. Tennessee is going to fall hard this year.

AFC West - Denver: Another tough one to predict. KC is the most likely to rival Denver's high quality performance, but I think Denver has held it's team together sufficiently to win the Division again. SD will likely be a weaker team than last year, Oakland should be about the same.

AFC Wildcards - Miami (5th) and Jacksonville (6th.) Weaker divisions help these strengthening and solid teams to make the playoffs, although neither has a great shot at getting through the first couple of games.

NFC East - Dallas: This Div is over-powered -- lots of potential Super Bowl champs have emerged in the last season. Dallas was a real contender to make the playoffs last year and I think they've improved the most in the off-season. Washington is good but lack depth -- any significant injuries and they'll be struggling. The New York Giants should play about as well as last season which unfortunately won't be good enough to carry them to the Div title. Philly should be vastly improved -- injuries won't be holding them back anymore -- but their window of opportunity for football greatness has closed.

NFC North - Chicago: Their elite Defense should be even stronger this year. In a weak Division that should be enough to win. Minnesota shed many of it's most talented players in the off-season so they are no longer fearsome, although they'll be a stable performer this year. They'll give Chicago a good run, but Chicago should win. Detroit is just starting rebuilding. Green Bay is putting off rebuilding until Favre retires. Both should have more consistent seasons but they are likely to end the year with losing records.

NFC South - Carolina: Sports intelligensia loves this team and who am I to argue? They have a balanced team and they held it together in the off-season -- I think they'll maintain a respectable lead in the Div all season long instead of struggling for a Wild Card slot. Tampa Bay's great season was a bit of a fluke -- they have the elements of greatness but are not yet fully mature. Atlanta is too one-dimensional. New Orleans should do a lot better this year but they aren't a playoff team.

NFC West - Seattle: What's not to love? The best Offense in football and their Defense should be much improved this year. They are in one of the weakest Divisions in the League. They should dominate, if not for bad luck. They are likely to do the best in the NFC and claim HFA and the WC Bye week. Arizona will emerge from it's perennial suckness to win a decent number of games and the Rams will be more consistent and challenging -- but neither team is playoff-worthy yet. SF is right at the beginning of the process of rebuilding from scratch. They need time to develop Alex Smith and pick up more talent before they'll be competitive again.

NFC Wildcards - Minnesota (5th) and Washington (6th.) Minnesota's weak division gives it the edge to score a WC slot. Washington must be the favorite for the sixth slot, unless they suffer a serious injury. A lot of talent on that team.

Super Bowl - Seattle beats Indy. Gotta back the best teams in their Conferences, although it's far from clear-cut. Seattle's toughest rival is Carolina. Indy faces lots of challenging opponents, but the toughest is Denver. Or Pittsburgh. Or Cincinnati.

 

[Mojotronica]

This time instead of listing my picks to win I'll list probabilities for each team to win it's Division:

AFC East - New England (45%), Miami (37.5%), Buffalo (10%), New York Jets (7.5%)
AFC North - Cincinnati (30%), Pittsburgh (30%), Baltimore (25%), Cleveland (15%)
AFC South - Indianapolis (45%), Jacksonville (35%), Houston (15%), Tennessee (5%)
AFC West - Denver (35%), Kansas City (30%), San Diego (25%), Oakland (10%)

Best of the runners up: Miami and Jacksonville. This is because they are in relatively weak Divs, rather than the strongest remaining teams in the conference.

NFC East - Dallas (30%), Washington (25%), New York Giants (25%), Philadelphia (20%)
NFC North - Chicago (40%), Minnesota (30%), Green Bay (15%), Detroit (15%)
NFC South - Carolina (35%), Tampa Bay (27.5%), Atlanta (22.5%), New Orleans (15%)
NFC West - Seattle (45%), Arizona (25%), St. Louis (20%), San Francisco (10%)

Best of the runners up: Minnesota and Tampa Bay. Hmm. My gut feeling is that an NFC-East team is going to take a WC slot this year, so I'll stick with my Washington pick.

Major injuries and unforeseen strengths and weaknesses are bound to crop up, shifting the probabilities as the year progresses. This projection is heavily influenced by last year's performances and there are always surprises in NFL Football.

EDIT: fixed spelling error, probability weirdness.