Quote Originally Posted by Mr. E View Post
San Diego is prolly gonna trade LT, and when they do they are through. Cutler will get his shit together enough to win the division. Miami won't be as strong next year, and the Patriots will be even stronger than they were this year. Baltimore is gonna get cannibalized in its division with a healthy Carson Palmer and Brady Quinn, as well as some interesting retoolings for both plus the Mangenius effect.
When San Diego trades LT, they're stuck with Darren Sproles. It's not like anyone bothered stopping him this season either, despite obvious injury to LT that slowed him down a step. They'll get great trade value for LT as he heads into the end of his career and they'll bolster the defense.

Cutler? Are you kidding me? Denver's problem isn't their quarterback. It's not really even their offense (though a running back would certainly help.) Their defense has more holes than swiss cheese. Kansas City has a better shot at next season's playoffs than Denver because they, on occasion, play defense.

The Pats will be better, obviously, but they draw a lot of strength from personnel decisions. Guess who just left? Miami is built from the inside out. They control the line of scrimmage, and that doesn't just go away.

Carson Palmer and Brady Quinn? Are you fucking kidding me? When has Carson Palmer ever proved to be a winner? One season he had good fantasy numbers, and they made the playoffs for the first time since, what, 1980? Then what happened? Exeunt wildcard. Their problem is that even when their offense works (it doesn't... no offense line, no ground game), their defense is fucking miserable.

And Brady Quinn/Eric Mangini? Really? You think this division is easier than facing the Brady-less Patriots? And you think Brady Quinn is a better quarterback than Brett Favre, and the team has more pieces in place? Really?

Quote Originally Posted by Mr. E View Post
EDIT: Oh yeah, Kasas City will make the playoffs because they are already an offensive powerhouse with Thiggy, they just need defense, and with free agency and good draft picks they will get some. The 49ers finally have a stable quarterback who can soften defenses enough to let Gore tear through them, plus Singletary's defensive mindedness will help them keep points of the other teams scoreboard.
I'm not disagreeing that Kansas City could make the playoffs, but that's because their division is a toss-up between them, the Chargers, and the Raiders. All three of their teams have huge pieces missing (namely, front 7, defense, passing game.) What is not going to happen, however, is for the worst division in football to suddenly spawn two AFC playoff teams.

And as much as I like Mike Singletary, that really isn't very likely. When you're 7-9 in the weakest division in football, it means you aren't very good. San Fransisco doesn't have the defensive talent Singletary needs to make a difference. Will they play hard? Yes. Will they stick to fundamentals and avoid stupid mistakes? Yes. Will Mike Singletary finally get a flop chart and learn clock management? Probably. But that's a division that isn't nearly as wide-open as their records indicate (for all intents and purposes, Arizona could have been a 12-win team if they hadn't coasted once they clinched), and there are a 10 teams in the NFC that are much better than them.