Let’s be serious for a second though, the front runners to come out of the AFC, I would have to say, are the Jets with their ridiculous defense that will give up less than 10 PPG. Add Santonio Holmes, LaDanian Tomlinson, and QB who is no longer a rookie, and I think you’re looking at the Jets as next year’s champs.

Believe it or not, but they’re getting +1200 odds. That looks like a good score to me. In the NFC, I think it will come down to the Saints and Cowboys (I hate to say it as an Eagles fan, but let’s be honest here). The Saints have +900 odds and the Cowboys have +1000 odds. The Colts are favored to win it all at +800 odds. You also have to look at the Chargers in the mix with +900 odds.

As far as an early prediction is concerned, I think you’ll be seeing the Colts and Jets again in the AFC Championship with the Saints and Cowboys in the NFC Championship.  This Dallas sports writer says count on the Cowboys and Jets in Super Bowl XLV next season and I have to agree.

I cannot wait until camps start. I’ll see you soon!

The Indy offence is led by Peyton Manning who, with his ability to reading and react to the defence before the snap, put up a league best 4,500 passing yards while only being sacked 10 times in the regular season. Having already won a Super Bowl in 2006, the four time AP NFL Most Valuable player knows how to deal with the pressure and intensity of the big game and will looked upon as a leader on and off the field. He should have a better chance of connecting with All-Pro wide-receiver Reggie Wayne then he did during the Conference Championships.

Even though Peyton Manning put up great individual numbers last game, he only connected with Wayne and tight-end Dallas Clarke for seven receptions and 90 yards combined. Considering both were over 100 receptions and 1100 yards on the regular season, they should have much more productive games this weekend. This does not bode well for the Saints defence.

The one big question mark on the Colts defence is the health of Dwight Freeney’s ankle.  The All Pro defensive end is one of the best pass rushers in the league and, along with Robert Mathis, will be the key to Indy’s pass defence. Pro Bowler safety Antoine Bethea is expected to be in the line-up as well after seeing limited practice time last week with a sore back. The Indy defence is not overly strong already, ranked 18^th, so they hope both will be back because they need all the help they can get.

The Saints have been carried to their first Super Bowl in franchise history on the arm of Drew Brees. The Purdue product’s 109.6 passer rating was the second best since 2005 and lead the offence to a league best 34 passing touchdowns. The only knock on him is inexperience. Brees has never been out of the conference championship round in his nine year career, but with six touchdowns in his two playoff games this season, the experts at US sportsbook reviews know that his nerves should not be a problem.

Reggie Bush has been on a tear in the post season, making big plays on the ground and as a receiver out of the backfield. The Colts are giving up close to 100 yards receiving to running backs over their two playoff games, none of which had the skill of Bush, so there is the strong possibility of Reggie adding to his post-season totals of 149 combined yards and two touchdowns.

Those making NFL picks know the Saints defence is ranked 25^th in the league, boosted by teams having to throw to keep up with their offence, and will be challenged early and often by this Colts offence. Even though they gave up a large number of yards over the season, the Saints only have up 15 passing touchdowns while snagging 26 interceptions, good for sixth and third in the league. Manning had better be careful if he wants a second ring.

NFC:
East – Philadelphia Eagles (1st Seed)
North – Minnesota Vikings (2nd Seed)
South – Atlanta Falcons
West – Arizona Cardinals
Wild Card – Green Bay Packers
Wild Card – New Orleans Saints

AFC:

AFC East Winner – New England Patriots (12-4) – I don’t think the Patriots will be anything close to going 16-0. Their defense will be hurting after losing Asante Samuel to the Eagles and Randall Gay to the Saints. The loss of Donte Stallworth will mean that Randy Moss is double teamed even more so than last year. I expect the Jets to manage 1 win off them and other losses could include @ Chargers, @ Colts, and Pittsburgh.

AFC North Winner – Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) – The Bengals and Ravens are clearly not competing for the division, so that should be 4 easy wins for the Steelers. I don’t see the Browns topping them yet. Plus, Anderson began to be exposed towards the end of the season. The Steelers offense will be just as good as Cleveland’s. Santonio Holmes should be even better this season and Fast Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall will be a great 1-2 punch.

AFC South Winner – Jacksonville Jaguars (10-6) – I expect the Jaguars to finally overtake the Colts this year. They’ve added Jerry Porter to boost the receiving corp, Reggie Williams will have a breakout season, they’ve added two top DEs in the draft (Derrick Harvey and Quentin Groves). There are question marks surrounding Manning’s knee. I like the Jaguars.

AFC West Winner – San Diego Chargers (12-4) – This is a no-brainer. They’re in the weakest division in the NFL.

AFC Wild Card – Indianapolis Colts (10-6) – Despite me going with the Jags as the AFC South winner, the Colts aren’t missing the playoffs.

AFC Wild Card – New York Jets (9-7) – I think the last wild card will be between the Browns, Jets, and Broncos. Of the 3, I think the Jets are the most balanced team. They’ve improved their defense with Vernon Gholston, Kris Jenkins, and Calvin Pace. With Brett Favre throwing to Cotchery and Coles with a balanced backfield led by Thomas Jones along with that improved defense, they should be very good on both sides of the ball. Plus, the Browns play the tough NFC East, which should mean at least 2 losses from that division and probably more like 3 losses.

NFC:

NFC East – Dallas Cowboys (12-4) – It pains me to say it being an Eagles fan, but the Cowboys are the class of the NFC. They have too much talent to not win the division. I’m hoping for a playoff choke for the 3rd consecutive year.

NFC North – Green Bay Packers (10-6) – I was about to go with the Minnesota Vikings, but the Packers D is every bit as good as the Vikings D and the Packers have the better quarterback and receivers. The Packers did a great job containing Adrian Peterson last season, and I expect them to hold him to under 100 yards when they play again this season.

NFC South – New Orleans Saints (12-4) – The Saints offense will be nasty this year, no doubt about that. Expect their 2007 first-round pick Robert Meachem to have a big impact to go along with Marques Colston and Devery Henderson. Add Jeremy Shockey into the mix with Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister and I see a lot of points scored on this team. They also boosted their defense tremendously by picking up CB Randall Gay, LB Jonathan Vilma, and rookie DT Sedric Ellis.

NFC West – Arizona Cardinals (10-6) – This division should be up for grabs. Seattle has owned the division for the last several years, but I don’t like them winning it this year. They have several banged up receivers and their running game will be poor with the unimpressive Julius Jones as their starting RB. The Cardinals have the offensive power to outscore anyone in the division and they boosted their secondary with rookie Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and shifting Antrelle Rolle to FS.

NFC Wild Card – Philadelphia Eagles (10-6) – I’ve always hated Skip Bayless until he predicted that an NFC Wild Card team would go onto the Super Bowl to defeat the New England Patriots and that the team to do that would be the Philadelphia Eagles. I second that Skip.

NFC Wild Card – Minnestoa Vikings (9-7) – The Vikings have one of the best offensive lines in the league, they have two solid DTs to stuff the run, and they just added sack machine Jared Allen. Combine that with one of the best RBs in the league and Bernard Berrian to be a solid target for Tavaris Jackson and you have a young team that is ready to make the playoffs.