Finally, football is back. On Thursday, the Giants and Redskins will play the first game of the NFL regular season, and in a more important game, the Colts will play Da Bears on Sunday night. With all of the roster cuts made and no apparent big moves or injuries on the horizon, I can make my official predictions for the 2008-09 season.
Standings
AFC East
1. New England Patriots: 14-2
2. New York Jets: 8-8
3. Buffalo Bills: 6-10
4. Miami Dolphins: 5-11
AFC North
1. Pittsburgh Steelers: 12-4
2. Cleveland Browns: 10-6
3. Cincinnati Bengals: 6-10
4. Baltimore Ravens: 4-12
AFC South
1. Indianapolis Colts: 13-3
2. Jacksonville Jaguars: 12-4*
3. Houston Texans: 10-6*
4. Tennessee Titans: 7-9
AFC West
1. San Diego Chargers: 14-2
2. Denver Broncos: 6-10
3. Oakland Raiders: 5-11
4. Kansas City Chiefs: 3-13
NFC East
1. Dallas Cowboys: 13-3
2. New York Giants: 11-5*
3. Philadelphia Eagles: 9-7*
4. Washington Redskins: 7-9
NFC North
1. Minnesota Vikings: 11-5
2. Green Bay Packers: 8-8
3. Detroit Lions: 7-9
4. Chicago Bears: 4-12
NFC South
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 10-6
2. New Orleans Saints: 7-9
3. Carolina Panthers: 5-11
4. Atlanta Falcons: 1-15
NFC West
1. Seattle Seahawks: 11-5
2. Arizona Cardinals: 8-8
3. San Francisco 49ers: 5-11
4. St. Louis Rams: 4-12
NFL Playoffs
AFC
#1 seed New England and #2 seed San Diego have byes
#3 Indianapolis beats #6 Houston 31-10
#5 Jacksonville beats #4 Pittsburgh 21-13
#3 Indianapolis beats #2 San Diego 31-28
#1 New England beats #5 Jacksonville 28-17
#3 Indianapolis beats #1 New England 21-16
NFC
#1 Dallas and #2 Seattle have byes
#3 Minnesota beats #6 Philadelphia 31-17
#5 New York beats #4 Tampa Bay 31-13
#1 Dallas beats #5 New York 24-22
#3 Minnesota beats #2 Seattle 21-10
#3 Minnesota beats #1 Dallas 24-21
Super Bowl XLIII
Indianapolis beats Minnesota 28-16
MVP: Peyton Manning, QB
Awards
MVP: LaDainian Tomlinson, SD
Off. POY: LaDainian Tomlinson, SD
Def. POY: Bob Sanders, IND
Off. ROY: Darren McFadden, OAK
Def. ROY: Trevor Laws, PHI
Coach of the Year: Brad Childress, MIN
Comeback POY: Ronnie Brown, MIA
NFL Draft Predictions
First Round
1. Atlanta Falcons-Michael Oher, OT/OG, Ole Miss
2. Kansas City Chiefs-Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech
3. St. Louis Rams-Andre Smith, OT, Alabam
4. Chicago Bears-Matt Stafford, QB, Georgia
5. Baltimore Ravens-Malcolm Jenkins, CB, Ohio State
6. San Francisco 49ers-Michael Johnson, DE/OLB, Georgia Tech
7. Philadelphia Eagles (from Carolina)-Eugene Monroe, OT, Virginia
8. Oakland Raiders-Ciron Black, OT, LSU
9. Miami Dolphins-George Selvie, DE/OLB, South Florida
10. Buffalo Bills-Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU
11. Cincinnati Bengals-Rey Maualuga, MLB, USC
12. Denver Broncos-James Laurinaitis, MLB, Ohio State
13. New Orleans Saints-Brian Cushing, OLB, USC
14. Detroit Lions-Taylor Mays, S, USC
15. Washington Redskins-Alex Boone, OT, Ohio State
16. Tennessee Titans-Percy Harvin, WR, Florida
17. New York Jets-Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia
18. Green Bay Packers-Myron Rolle, S, Florida State
19. Arizona Cardinals-Beanie Wells, RB, Ohio State
20. Philadelphia Eagles-Duke Robinson, G, Oklahoma
21. Cleveland Browns-Vontae Davis, CB, Illinois
22. Houston Texans-Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland
23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Jeremy Maclin, WR, Missouri
24. Seattle Seahawks-DJ Moore, CB, Vanderbilt
25. New York Giants-Fili Moala, DT, USC
26. Jacksonville Jaguars-Brian Robiskie, WR, Ohio State
27. Pittsburgh Steelers-Alex Mack, C, California
28. Dallas Cowboys-Darry Beckwith, ILB, LSU
29. San Diego Chargers-Phil Loadholt, OT, Oklahoma
30. New England Patriots-Mike Mickens, CB, Cincinnati
31. Minnesota Vikings-Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma
32. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS-Sen’Derrick Marks, DT, Auburn