Redemption..My 2010 NFL Predictions

It is quickly becoming one of my favourite times on the calendar. The second week/weekend of September is the time when the NFL regular season finally gets underway after a painful 7 month offseason.

It can be painful for the players. They have to sit through memories of lost opportunities or costly mistakes. They have to go through gruelling rehabs after surgeries. They have to participate in training camps usually marred by brutal heat. But when September rolls around, all that pain is set aside and the players are ready and raring to go.

And the offseason can be painful to the fans as well. Maybe your team went through a 4-12 season and everytime you think of the last season, the taste of vomit swarms your taste buds.Or maybe your team had a great season but the playoffs came, and heartbreak ensued. (Vikings, Chargers)

Which brings me to…..well, me.

Not only did my team, San Diego, blow up in the 2nd round after a fabulous 13-3 regular season, but I ended off last year by making some of the worst predictions I ever made during Super Bowl XLIV. In fact, my weekly selections for the entire year were horrific. Week after week of going 8-8, 7-9, etc....

Yep, it’s been a painful offseason. But we can now wipe the slate clean, and fresh predictions can be made. Without further ado, here’s my chance at redemption. It’s time for some of my best predictions heading into the 2010 NFL season.

AFC Playoff teams:

NEW ENGLAND
BALTIMORE
INDIANAPOLIS
SAN DIEGO

Wildcards:

PITTSBURGH
HOUSTON


NFC PLAYOFF TEAMS

DALLAS
GREEN BAY
NEW ORLEANS
SAN FRANCISCO

Wildcards

MINNESOTA
NY GIANTS

AFC Championship: Indianapolis over San Diego
NFC Championship: Green Bay over New Orleans

SUPER BOWL XLIV: INDIANAPOLIS COLTS OVER GREEN BAY PACKERS


The Indianapolis Colts will win the Super Bowl…. Speaking on the topic of painful offseasons, how bad was Peyton Manning’s? He had to wake up every morning thinking to himself, “Wow, I threw one of the worst throws in Super Bowl history to cost our team the game and now there are still people saying that I can’t come through in big games”. He does have that 1 Super Bowl ring (he beat Rex Grossman), but to be the greatest, multiple Super Bowl rings must grace the resume. Manning is still a ring or two away from being mentioned as one of the greats. And he’s running out of time. But not quite yet. Most of his offense is back from last year, and the Colts are locks to win the division. The big question mark is this team’s defense, but as the Saints showed last year, defense doesn’t necessarily win championships. As long as Peyton can outscore the opposition, the Colts should be in fine form. He’s had a long and angry offseason. And an angry Peyton Manning can only mean bad things for the rest of the NFL.

Aaron Rodgers for MVP… The Packers have one of the more lethal offences in the NFL and Aaron Rodgers will have the potential to put up monster numbers in the air. We’re hearing that this offense has 2009 New Orleans Saints written all over them. How did that turn out for the Saints?

The New York Jets will miss the playoffs: People are forgetting that this team was 9-7 last year, and got into the playoffs only because Peyton Manning sat out near the end of the regular season. Now everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, and the Jets are one of the AFC favourites. First of all, a guy that throws 20 INT’s in Mark Sanchez is not leading you to a Super Bowl. Second, when you appear on the HBO preseason show “Hard Knocks” like the Jets did this preseason, you’re not going anywhere.

5 teams have been on the show, 3 have missed the playoffs, 2 teams made the playoffs but never made it past the second round. It’s not quite the Madden Curse, but it’s getting there.


Brett Favre’s career will finally end where it originally ended..at Lambeau Field: I’m calling it right now. NFC Divisional Playoffs. Minnesota @ Green Bay. Favre’s fingers freeze and he throws 3 picks. Rodgers dominates his old “friend” that he secretly despises. Packers blow out Vikes… Career done

Surprise team of the year: Kansas City Chiefs: If anybody is going to surprise this year, it will be a team from either the AFC West or the NFC west. Not only do they play the crappy teams (all but San Diego and San Fran) in their respective division 6 times but the AFC West will play every team in the NFC West once. Which is why I think the lowly Chiefs will contend for a playoff spot, but I don’t think they’ll quite make it. I’ll say they go 8-8. Matt Cassel has shown that he can lead a team before, and the running back duo of Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones might be one of the most dangerous in the league. And after 3 straight years of having a top-5 pick in the draft, and having won only 10 games in those 3 years, the rebuilding will finally begin to show.

Just like the beginning of every sporting season, I am extremely confident with my predictions. But, once again, come January 2011, I will either look at this blog post with a "Jack Nicholson as The Joker" smile on my face, or I will shamefully hang my head after another subpar year of predictions. I know which one I'm hoping for.

It all begins tomorrow with Saints/Vikings....and a possible deja vu moment waiting to happen?