2005 NFL SEASON PREVIEWS

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As for me, I am Greggy "The Greek" I have been wagering on NFL football for over 4 decades (yeah folks since the 1970's) mostly just for "entertainment" purposes.... ahem. Well I have been online since 2000 and every issue and every pick I have ever made is still on line; Just check out our ARCHIVES and see for yourself. We bare it all, our picks, our predictions, and check out our STATS; I don't claim to be the best prognosticator on the planet. I do ok for myself as an avid "gamer", and what I do here is just tell you all how I see the games. Hopefully you will find some use or amusement from this little site and you will keep on coming back, and tell your friends too!

This is a special issue where I am going to try and project what will transpire over the course of this season. I pretty much think this is an effort in futility as the season tends to change complexion from week to week, yet when perusing through the ARCHIVES it's always fun reading about how WE THOUGHT the season would transpire....

SO WITHOUT ANY FURTHER OF MY RAMBLING, LETS TALK NFL FOOTBALL!!

2005 AFC PREVIEW

AFC EAST:

Any discussion of NFL Football has to start with the Champs! Yes the New England Patriots are the champs, yes I know all about the losses in the offseason, the players, the coordinators, so OK I wont go out and predict that they will go back to the SuperBowl. However, let’s look at the flip side; Who will dethrone them? Who will be better? I mean when my moneys on the line, and I have Tom Brady at the helm, Bill Bellicheck scheming, I don’t know that I will be betting against that combo too much. Still the NFL season is a marathon and not a sprint, and anything can happen, so I won’t predict a three-peat, but I do foresee a playoff appearance in the AFC, and like I said before, I wouldn’t be betting against this combo. Hard to believe this, but one team capable of not only making the playoffs (for the 4th time in the last 5 years) but actually capable of winning the division, is the NY Jets. There are still many questions about the Jets, like with the coaching, the specials, the QB and is this the year Curtis Martin finally loses a step? Yet since Herman Edwards has been at the helm, the questions have always been there, and so have the Jets. Buffalo is everyone’s glamour pick this year, and I do think Buffalo will be a very tough team, but they wont make the playoffs, and I will tell you why. JP Losman is unproven in the NFL, and if you think pre-season this year means anything - I can assure Bills fans, Losman hasn't even seen a real NFL Blitz yet, and that offense will be seeing a steady diet of 8 in the box, daring Losman to throw the ball.... That defense alone can win games, they will need it. Oh, and what of the Dolphins. Well yeah, Miami fans, thought last year was tough? I know Ricky is back and all, but have you seen the QBs on this team, and what of that defensive secondary... the over under for the Phins this year is 6. I don’t even know if they are going to win half that many... sorry Phin Phans.

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AFC NORTH:

Yuck, do I have to? Let me be honest, I am looking at this division, and I don’t like anyone. Pittsburgh, looks like the obvious choice. Yet I am looking at the way the QB fell apart at the end of the season. Then you take away the 6'5" Burress, and Heinze Ward joins the team late in the pre-season, missed much practice time. Then you start the season with your top 2 RBs injured, and let’s not mention that the "Bus" there has already a bunch of miles on him. Still you have a rock solid defense and a proven offensive line; they could wind up winning the division. Baltimore once again is my pick here, only now I have learned Kyle Boller is no question mark, he flat out sucks. Still they have Jamal Lewis, and a solid defense, with Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, those will help Baltimore wind up on top, yet how far they can go in the postseason will all depend on, yeah Boller.... Cincinnati, is another team that some folks think is ready to take that "next step", well there were better men than us that have gone broke waiting on THAT one. Carson Palmer, yada yada.... have you seen the way that teams d-line was getting pushed around in the preseason. It was only comparable to the way the offensive line was doing its impression of a turnstile. They might say in Cincy, that not making the playoffs would be a disappointment. Closer to the truth would be anyone making that bet would be a disappointment as a gambler. As for Cleveland, I have no doubt that "Rac" Romeo Crennel, will get that team turned around and winning. That may come sooner rather than later, as they have made some interesting moves. However expecting a team totally rebuilt to make the playoffs is a bit of a stretch even for the guys in the rubber dog masks that like to bark in the endzone of "the dog pound".

AFC SOUTH:

Well last year, I might have said that this was the best division in the NFL. Interesting how things have changed. Indianapolis looks like the Cadillac on the Chevy lot in the South. I still don’t see how the Defense is improved enough to get them to the Super Bowl, (uhhh yeah I said SuperBowl) but it might not have to be. Looking over everyone else in the AFC, maybe the pats have come back a little, and maybe the Colts wind up getting home field this time. Yeah home field in the Playoffs, and this might be the year Payton Manning gets past the Pats. That is assuming they can get there. Jacksonville may have something to say about that. Unlike the Colts the Jags, have the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL. They have a legit young QB in Byron Leftwich. Yet several of their wins were of the dramatic variety and in season where all the breaks go your way, in the NFL the next year, they often seem to go the other way the next year. The Jags can be a playoff team this year, but unlike last year, I won’t go out on that limb and call it this year. So leads us to the Titans, a team which only a few short years ago was in the SuperBowl. I hope Tennessee fans can remember that as it seems that they are still "paying the bills" for that party. This offseason they had to release defensive playmaker Somare Rolle, and leading WR Derrick Mason. Last season they were so over the cap, they couldn’t even sign street free agents to field a 53 man team at the end of the season. So to sum it all up, Tennessee will likely struggle again. Steve McNair gives them a chance in any game, but even when he was younger - getting him healthy every week was a challenge. How well will he fare behind a bargain basement offensive line? That leads us to the Houston Texans, which according to Dom Capers plan, should be a playoff team this year. Will we all be disappointed when they don’t make it again this year? I suppose if you had such hopes for Houston, that you may be disappointed. I don’t have such high hopes, and would actually be surprised to see an improvement over last year’s record.

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AFC WEST:

Once again the west proves to be the most interesting race in the AFC. The Chargers ran away with the west last year. Honestly who would have THUNK it? Yet they got great play from a couple of unheralded rookie offensive lineman who came in and started every game for them. They picked up a relatively unheralded LB in Donnie Edwards, who played absolute crazy all-pro season last year, to go along with plenty of depth at LB. They had a QB who had yet to prove he even belongs in the NFL, have an out of body experience and play like a pro-bowler. A former NCAA Basketball player emerged as the best big play Tight End in the conference. Throw in one of the best RBs in the league in LaDamian Tomlinson, and the Chargers sure as heck don’t look like a fluke to me. Mike Shanahan and the Broncos figure to be in the AFC west race. I know people were wondering what they were doing, signing all those ex-Cleveland defensive lineman. But they did address a huge need for that defense to get bigger. Denver is always solid at home, and despite having Jake Plummer at QB. Shaky Jake will have his ups and downs but in the end, as goes Jake will go the Broncos. If they are good enough to get a home playoff game they can be tough, but otherwise, they have had a propensity to fade in the later half of the year. The Raiders, are a popular pick in the West this year, and I have fallen prey to this time and time again. I had to go in for extra regular Raider recovery therapy, as this teaser team went and brought in Randy Moss, and Lamont Jordan to go with strong armed QB Kerry Collins. They are more tempting than ever. But please don’t be fooled, they have an awful defense. They may be exciting and have many big scores, and even occasionally paste an offensively challenged team by 30 or 40 points. I don’t really see that happening too many times though, and I promise, I will not falter, and won’t be the one picking them, if I can help it. That leads us to Kansas City. The Chiefs are another awfully tempting team, and are delightfully delicious at home. As the 50-odd points they hung on Atlanta there last year only illustrates. Although unlike Oakland, the Chiefs actually brought in some bodies this past offseason to try and shore up that defense this year. I like some of their additions, and while I don’t think they have totally fixed their defense, by any means. I think that they now have just enough defense to wind up in the post season again.

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2005 NFC PREVIEW

NFC EAST:

The NFC East recently has been the exclusive domain of the Philadelphia Eagles. Last year I felt like Philly made all the right moves and finally broke through and got to the big game. At this point it once again appears that they are the odds on favorites to get back to the big game. Not so fast though, despite many people pegging Philly to finally bring home the big one, I have my doubts. They have internal issues (T.O., Corey Simon, and toss in coming so close and failing again and again, that takes its toll) and just maybe the rest of the NFC East may have gained on them. Not that Philly won’t be in the playoffs, but I can’t see them running away with it. If Philly does slip any, I think it creates a huge opportunity for whom I think will be the real surprise team in the NFC this year. The New York Giants seem like they are best positioned to gain on, if not dethrone Philly. Why? Good question, despite many reasons I shouldn't make this pick, I really like what I have seen this year from NY. I personally attended the team’s practices up in Albany this preseason, and I will tell you, I like what I see from Eli Manning. He may not be a pro-bowler, (yet) but he really is in command of the offense and is looking much more comfortable and the team has lots of confidence in him. His passes are crisp and sharp, and he has plenty of weapons to help him out. Tiki Barber is like the NFC version of Curtis Martin. If there is a way someone can be a "quiet" all star in NY, Tiki has managed to do just that. Tiki looks as quick as ever this preseason, and wait til you get a look at 6'4" 270 lb rookie RB Brandon Jacobs, talk about a change of pace guy. Jeremy Shockey is back healthy, and they went and picked up Plaxico Burress to pair up with Amani Toomer. That should make NY formidable, their defense is a concern - but still has enough quality to get to the playoffs. If New York can’t elevate to the level to challenge Philly, Dallas may. Bill Parcells knows how to push the buttons to get his guys to play his way, and his way is usually a winning way. Defensively where Dallas had some issues last year, they went and got rookie LB Demarcus Ware who thus far this preseason has been doing quite an "L.T." impression, and if this kid turns out to be HALF that good, he can single handedly get Dallas to the playoffs. However, the drawback for Dallas is at QB, yeah they went out and got Bledsoe, and I know he has looked good thus far in the preseason. Yet Bills fans will tell you Drew aint what he used to be, and needs LOTS of protection to get the job done, add to that Dallas has some age at the WR spots, that wont really help Bledsoe. Bill knows this and will try his best to offset that by featuring a lot of Julius Jones, yet the jury is still out on Jones durability over a whole season. Those issues may be what winds up being the difference, between postseason, and postmortem for Parcells and Dallas. What of Washington? You may ask. Well don’t. I just can’t see Washington even being as good as they were last year, and they only won 6 games last year. Gibbs needs to adjust to the "new NFL", as was apparent last year. While he has some playmakers, I think the team LOST more than it gained this offseason, by way of defensive leader Antonio Pierce going to New York, top cover guy Freddie Smoot went off to Minnesota, they traded big time WR for diminutive Santana Moss, and then they also went out and picked up David Patton, looks like Gibbs is trying to bring back the "smurfs" problem is that he doesn’t really have a QB to get it done. Ramsey is still a question mark, Brunell is proven, yeah proven he is too old, and Jason Campbell is just a rookie. There is promise in Washington, just not really for this season.

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NFC NORTH:

The NFC North right now doesn’t look very appealing to me. The Packers won this thing last year almost by default, and while Brett Farve is still a very good player, he lost 3/5 of his starting offensive line, and that Defense still can’t stop anyone. I think Green Bay winds up a big disappointment this year. The Vikings look to be the class of this division. I really like the moves they made defensively, bringing in a big run stuffer at DT, they picked up a quality LB in the Moss trade, and went and signed top notch corner Freddie Smoot. The offense will be as lethal as ever with Culpepper at the controls, they have a solid group of Running backs to boot. The improved defense manifests itself in a division title for the Vikes. The Bears are going to be interesting this year. Yeah I know they lost QB Rex Grossman, but they still have a nice solid defense with Brian Urlacher patrolling the middle. I also really liked Cedric Benson, I think he lives up to his billing and gives the bears a solid ground game to take the pressure off rookie QB Kyle Orton, the Bears can win a few games. Not enough though. Which brings me to Detroit, and I honestly was going into this season thinking this is the year Detroit makes some noise, then I watched them this preseason, and I just don’t get that good feeling from what I am seeing. Harrington doesn’t look to be stepping up, and the defense is a little too porous. In the last 40-odd years Detroit has won all of ONE post season game. They probably won’t be threatening that mark this year.

NFC SOUTH:

The NFC South could be the most interesting division in the NFL. This one will really be fun to watch. The Defending champs Atlanta will be a force so long as Mr. Vick is healthy. Should something happen to Mr. Vick, and ultimately with a player like him it’s inevitable, they won’t win the south. They have a really solid defense though, and it can carry the team for a few weeks. However how high the Falcons soar will be as high as Mr. Vick can take them. My favorite to win this division this year, and possibly a return engagement in the big game has to be the Carolina Panthers I just like what I see from that group. With that defensive front four healthy again, they will be a load for any offensive line they face. The Bucs intrigue me, even with QB Brian Griese at the helm, they still have some big play guys on defense for Jon Gruden, and Carnell "Cadillac" Williams to tote the rock, the Bucs will have some big wins this year no doubt. But can they do it enough to reach the postseason. With a little luck or an injury to Micheal Vick, they can, but better men than I have been foiled by the Buc! Then we have the New Orleans Saints, I did like them this year, and they can still wind up making some noise. But my goodness what the poor city of New Orleans has been through, I just can’t forsee the Saints being able to sustain a successful season with all the turmoil back home, and all the questions around that teams immediate future.

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NFC WEST

This division promises to be interesting, though to put it quite frankly is not really a center of power for the NFL. The Seattle Seahawks won this thing last year, and were again summarily dismissed in the playoffs. I do see some interesting changes in Seattle, but not enough to make that next step. If there is one thing that was crystal clear last year, was that St. Louis was clearly a better team than Seattle, and that was proven on the field. I know that the Rams have some issues on the offensive line, but I think Steven Jackson will make up for that, and that will only help Marc Bulger to once again raise up the Rams from the West. Arizona is another of those "sexy" preseason picks. Dennis Green is a decent coach and has instilled a new attitude in Arizona. They do have a big offensive line, but let me clue you in, they aren't that good, right now anyway. They may not have time to develop either, as Kurt Warner can be rattled with some contact, as he was in N.Y. last year. If that line doesn’t improve dramatically when they count, Kurt might not make it to the half way mark of the season. Its safe to say I don’t expect big things from the little red birds. San Francisco, the one time flagship franchise for west coast football, is now the doormat of the doormat division. Alex Smith could turn out ok as a QB, but it wont be this season, as he wont even be starting come opening day, then he will get to experience blitzes, and 8 man fronts. San Fran does have a nice young defense, so that will help them win some games, like maybe 4.

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