It's the time of year. Time for PFT season predictions. JK, that was actually two weeks ago, but I started an article and didn't finish it. So here it is, 2 weeks into the season. To be fair, I've been super busy and couldn't tell you who is winning any division outside of my own. So I didn't make much changes based off of the preseason when I started. Also, I'm pretty bad at this, full disclosure, but here we go. I figured the Predictions are a nice way to get a few AP without taking 4 hours. It's for fun. The moral of the story?
If I don't rank your team where you think you belong, please don't take it personal! Ok, AFC goes first, because alphabet.
AFC East
1.
New England Patriots
2.
Buffalo Bills
3.
New York Jets
4.
Miami Dolphins
Analysis: We are witnessing the start of the
New England Patriots Dynasty. I foresee multiple Super Bowls for GM Rob Stanley... the question is just if this version of New England will be AS dominant as their NFL counterpart. I tend to think multiple PFT SB wins, but the uncertaintly of Madden (upsets, injuries, etc) will keep them to around 2-3 SBs in Brady's career. Their biggest challenge in Year 1 will be the
Buffalo Bills. They have a veteran, established GM who is fresh off a GGL Super Bowl Championship. I have hindsight of this being Week 2 when I finally had time to do these predictions - and having played the Bills once already... I do worry a little about them THIS year. I think long term they'll be great, but I saw a team last week that can be beat if Ricky Williams is bottled up. This team will need some Bledsoe magic, but I see a playoff run for them this year. Chad Pennington and his
New York Jets are already off to an (0-2) start, which makes this an easy prediciton - but there IS talent on this team. Certainly more than the
Miami Dolphins. I think both of these teams will struggle this year, especially in a division this top heavy, but there are young stars on each roster that should help Briston and Felipe eventually compete. Ultimately though, you wonder if these teams are doomed to never see their builds until the end, because of the imposing Patriots and Bills. I hope I'm wrong.
AFC North
1.
Baltimore Ravens
2.
Pittsburgh Steelers
3.
Cincinnati Bengals
4.
Cleveland Browns
Analysis: The
Baltimore Ravens should run away with this division. Norb is the self-proclaimed best, and the data tends to support that not being far from the truth. Couple that with a division with Tim Couch, rookie Carson Palmer, and , rookie Gibran Hamdan... and you can see the vision. Baltimore should have this division clinched by midseason. The
Pittsburgh Steelers got a clutch win in week 1... which was important because there were many pundits that questioned some of the offseason moves. A big win by the rookie QB might bring some of those internal organization concerns back to Earth, as the team IS being led by one of the greatest GMs in Madden league history. The
Cleveland Browns were one of the teams I was scared I was going to get stuck with, so props to GM Bill Ryan for undertaking the job. I don't envy him. The
Cincinnati Bengals used the #1 overall pick on Carson Palmer (which you'll see my draft grade for very soon), and I think this is a strong contender in this division in a few years. But we are far from there just yet. For the time being, this division is a one horse race, and it might be a horse vs. three ponies.
AFC South
1.
Indianapolis Colts
2.
Tennessee Titans
3.
Jacksonville Jaguars
4.
Houston Texans
Analysis: The
Indianapolis Colts have Peyton Manning, one of the greatest Madden players of all time... so you automatically think this is a team that will win multiple Super Bowls and dominate record books and regular seasons. Couple that with a REALLY good GM, and I think the Colts win this division pretty handedly. That doesn't mean that the
Tennessee Titans will be FAR behind... and perhaps the historic GM Bryan Mellon could even laugh last on his reunion tour in Tennessee. I think the Titans easily have one of the most stacked rosters to begin with, coupled with a good draft (have you seen how strong their CBs are?) - so I think this team will be a Wild Card this year that could make some noise in the playoffs with the right matchups. The
Jacksonville Jaguars STINK! Totally kidding, I love Garth, I just want him to have some bulletin board material for our matchup this week. There is some talent in JAX that could help them compete long term, but this is a TOUGH division to call home. Thankfully, the
Houston Texans aren't even trying to win this year, so the Jags should get 3rd by default. AC actually fumbled the tank in Week 1 and tied KC when they injured Trent Green. We'll see if they can get things together soon, find a home for David Carr, and get to draft Eli Manning like they hope.
AFC West
1.
San Diego Chargers
2.
Oakland Raiders
3.
Denver Broncos
4.
Kansas City Chiefs
Analysis: The
San Diego Chargers and talented GM Breck should be at the top of this division. Securing one of the best young QBs at the start of their career is a dangerous proposition for one of the most talented traders our community has ever known. San Diego is going to be TOUGH to beat, and while I thought it might take a year or two for them to reach full potential, the injury to Trent Green really clears the lane for Breck to dunk on us all. The
Oakland Raiders' are Super talented... inheriting a roster that was coming off a Super Bowl loss to the mighty Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That said, there roster WAS very old, but GM Brandon Lindgren should clutch up and get this team headed the right direction. I had initially thought I'd be able to compete with them for the #2 spot THIS year... but our QB situation has us looking another year or two away. I expect Oakland to push for 8+ wins. My
Denver Broncos have got off to an (0-2) start, but the defense has actually been competitive in two tough games. I don't get why so many GMs have us stinking as bad as they have said so far - as I think we did our best to add as much talent to the roster this offseason as possible. Just turns out there wasn't any talent at QB to be had. Speaking of, the
Kansas City Chiefs broke our heart on draft day snatching NFL Buccaneer Super Bowl Winning OC Byron Leftwich from us. We were poised to snatch him at the top of the 2nd, but the Chiefs took him [2.1], effectively taking the LAST QB we loved on our draft board. We settled for St. Pierre - and we see how that's going. I still think Leftwich is a project, and the Chiefs will find out as much. We'll see if a (2-14) season leads to them drafting a Manning and trading us Lefty this offseason.
AFC Playoff Seedings
1.
Indianapolis Colts
2.
New England Patriots
3.
San Diego Chargers
4.
Baltimore Ravens
5.
Tennessee Titans
6.
Buffalo Bills
There they are. No spoilers, but I think the Super Bowl winning team is in that field of 6. Even the Wild Cards here are very dangerous, and if I was the (14-2) Colts, I'd be VERY nervous to play Tennessee in the playoffs. Could we be headed for Peyton v. Brady Chapter 1? Or will a crafty GM like Breck, or Collins, or Mellon, or Norb have other plans? What a group of 6 this would be. You'll have to wait to see who I think comes out on top!
