2012 Predicitions

[PhillyPhreak54]

NFC EAST
Philadelphia
New York *
Dallas
Washington

NFC NORTH
Green Bay
Chicago *
Detroit
Minnesota

NFC SOUTH
New Orleans
Atlanta
Tampa Bay
Carolina

NFC WEST
Seattle
San Francisco
St Louis
Arizona

NFC PLAYOFFS
Philadelphia vs Chicago - EAGLES
Seattle vs New York - GIANTS

New Orleans vs New York - GIANTS
Green Bay vs Philadelphia - EAGLES

Philadelphia vs New York - EAGLES

AFC EAST
New England
Buffalo
New York
Miami

AFC NORTH
Baltimore
Pittsburgh *
Cincinnati
Cleveland

AFC SOUTH
Houston
Tennessee
Indianapolis
Jacksonville

AFC WEST
Denver
San Diego *
Kansas City
Oakland

AFC PLAYOFFS
Baltimore vs San Diego - RAVENS
Denver vs Pittsburgh - BRONCOS

New England vs Denver - PATRIOTS
Houston vs Baltimore - TEXANS

New England vs Houston - TEXANS

SUPER BOWL
Philadelphia vs Houston - EAGLES!

MVP: Aaron Rodgers
OFFENSIVE POY: Arian Foster
DEFENSIVE POY: Patrick Willis
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Andrew Luck
COACH OF THE YEAR: Pete Carroll

[PhillyPhreak54]

Herm Edwards, NFL analyst

Andy Reid has already been to one Super Bowl, but I think he gets back to another this season -- and finally gets his ring. I expect that the players will rally around tragedy and play inspired football in the wake of his son's death. This team reloaded on defense through the draft with Fletcher Cox, Mychael Kendricks, Vinny Curry and Brandon Boykin, and the coaching staff had an offseason to work with the additions from last offseason, such as Nnamdi Asomugha. The defense should be much improved. If Michael Vick can make better decisions with his body -- sliding, getting out of bounds and throwing the ball away instead of taking sacks -- this team has the talent to be the most explosive offense in the NFL.

Super Bowl pick: Eagles over Texans

My boy Herm ridin' with me!

By the way - I have seen many people not picking the Eagles to even make the playoffs. And plenty of the writers and radio guys are on Dallas pretty hard. Why? They're a disaster. Their OL blows, their WRs cannot stay healthy and they have no depth at WR or RB.

[SD]

They'll make the playoffs because aside from the top few teams the rest of the NFC is weak. The O-line is going to be a disgrace with Peters gone. You don't lose your anchor and recover when the rest of the O-line is subpar. King Dunlap is your starting LT which is scary. I see Vick going down early, probably in week 2 against the Ravens. He'll miss a month and Foles will come in and do okay.

The D plays with too much finesse. Half the team doesn't know their assignments. What's going to infuriate fans this season is when they do make a stop but keep plays going because of stupid penalties. They'll be improved because you can't play much worse than last season, but I've seen enough of Ryans to know why the Texans ditched him. LB is still a big problem and the wide 9 isn't doing mediocre talent any favors.

I don't get the Superbowl talk

[PhillyPhreak54]

Wow - I couldn't disagree more on a few things.

I think the NFC is the stronger conference this year. There are two strong teams in the East and while I think Dallas is weak, they're a fringe team. Three of the North teams are strong and the South was the toughest to pick because I could see Tampa going worst to first in that division. The West has two strong teams as well, I believe.

As for the finesse comment - with such an aggressive DL, all of whom can get off the snap quick and get after the QB, I don't see how they fall into that finesse category. They're underwhelming at the WLB and S positions but finesse isn't a term I'd use to describe them as a unit.

Ryans was dumped by Houston because he isn't a 3-4 guy. To say you've seen enough based on a limited PS is crazy.

[methdeez]

First of all, if you are agreeing with Herm Edwards than you know you are in trouble.
We have a pretty tough schedule this year http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/56896/2012-nfl-strength-of-schedule, which is usually negatively related to getting into the playoffs.  (The Pats have a cake-walk like it seems they do every damn year). Also, our offensive line is in rough shape. Two pretty important things. Giants take the division, wild-card for us at best.
Also, you think the Bucs will beat out CAM! and the Falcons and Breezy and the Saints?
On the strength of what? A rookie head coach from farging Rutgers?
You should put some money on that if you really believe it. Sportsbook.com will give you 10-to-1 odds on that right now.

[PhillyPhreak54]

First of all, if you are agreeing with Herm Edwards than you know you are in trouble.
We have a pretty tough schedule this year http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/56896/2012-nfl-strength-of-schedule, which is usually negatively related to getting into the playoffs.  (The Pats have a cake-walk like it seems they do every damn year). Also, our offensive line is in rough shape. Two pretty important things. Giants take the division, wild-card for us at best.
Also, you think the Bucs will beat out CAM! and the Falcons and Breezy and the Saints?
On the strength of what? A rookie head coach from farging Rutgers?
You should put some money on that if you really believe it. Sportsbook.com will give you 10-to-1 odds on that right now.

I didn't pick the Bucs to finish first but I wouldn't be shocked if they did it. I like Doug Martin, Josh Freeman, Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams as an offensive core.

I don't put much into schedule strength and how it looks because shtein changes so much. I also don't buy the notion that the OL is going to suck just because they lost Peters. He is the anchor for sure but the other four regulars are solid.

[SD]

As for the finesse comment - with such an aggressive DL, all of whom can get off the snap quick and get after the QB, I don't see how they fall into that finesse category. They're underwhelming at the WLB and S positions but finesse isn't a term I'd use to describe them as a unit.

Ryans was dumped by Houston because he isn't a 3-4 guy. To say you've seen enough based on a limited PS is crazy.

The D is undersized especially the D-line. Not only that because maybe size wise they match up to other teams but they play small. They don't clog holes. After all these years Reid still thinks a quick D is the route to go. I've always thought that after they lost tot he Bucs he adopted that philosophy and has stuck to it. You see defenses like the Giants/Ravens/Steelers play with blunt force. They don't leave gaps open and their D is physical. Expect to see a lot of tackles from the safeties again [just like last season].

And I don't know what you've seen from Ryan to think he's anything special. From what I saw at preseason and from camp reports he's struggled learning the D and gets bottled up. If you're going to go with a wide scheme then it's best to have massive linebackers who play with force.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Ryans has been a solid tackler in his career and I don't worry about him being able to control the middle.

The Giants also are built around speed on the DL. And their LBs aren't much to write home about either. The Steelers and Ravens are getting older and the smashmouth style has kind of given way to smaller and faster guys as a whole in the NFL.

[SD]

I know this is hard to understand but some players like Tuck and JPP are fast AND physical. Guys like Babin are great because they sell out to get to the QB but they don't maintain lanes because they don't play big they play wide.

The Giants won the Superbowl with those LBs. Maybe they aren't the best but at least Fewell realizes his defenses strengths and weaknesses enough to work around them. Ever notice when you watch the Eagles D it's always a great individual effort that's making a stop on D? It's never schemed to minimize space.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Its not hard to understand at all. And I do realize they won the SB with them but that doesn't make them superstars. They're low round picks and a converted DE.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/stats/_/type/team/name/nyg/new-york-giants

http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/total/position/defense

I'll refer you to the 2011 stats where they gave up over 6000 total yards and finished as the 27th ranked defense. Sounds like some serious ballin' there.

[SD]

The Eagles were ranked 8th...that pretty much sums up how useless stats can be.

[MDS]

holy homer j

my man comin through with the usual

[PhillyPhreak54]

The Eagles were ranked 8th...that pretty much sums up how useless stats can be.

Not really - it doesn't diminish the fact that the Giants defense was subpar for the year. Stats can certainly be deceiving but in this case it shows that they weren't very good.

[SD]

They weren't very good until the playoffs when they held every team under 20 points and won the Superbowl.


I was talking to my buddy last night who's a huge Giants fan. The Giants might not succeed in the regular season but they have the formula to win in the post season. They're not overly weak at any position, they have a great pass rush, their D coordinator schemes to their strengths, and they have a clutch QB. The Eagles have a nice pass rush and not much else.

[Munson]

They also have a tendency to come up with the big play. The timely sack or turnover or big stop. If the Eagles D can do that, and/or not take the stupid drive extending penalties, they should be pretty good. Even if Ryans is just an average MLB, he's better than what they've had.