The 2006 NFL Season preview continues....
AFC/NFC North-The AFC North boasts the Super Bowl Champs, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steel City looks to boast another quality club this year. Few changes (losing Bettis, Randal El, adding Santonio Holmes) should keep the Steelers in the mix. Just keep Big Ben off a hog. But with Randal El gone, who'll throw touchdown passes in the Super Bowl? And surely Pittsburgh won't catch every break imaginable this year (barely make the playoffs, C. Palmer goes down, Vanderjagt misses a game-tyer, they draw Jake Plummer, etc.) Cincinnati will be as good as Carson Palmer is able to make them. If he's healthy, and with the Johnsons (Rudy and Chad) and an overhauled attitude, the Bengals should again look at playing beyond week 17. Add some impact rookies, Joseph, Rucker, Nicholson, Brooks, to go along with young studs like Pollack and Thurman, and a defensive minded coach, and Cincy should be nice. Baltimore and Cleveland are teams that could make some noise but will likely fall flat. The Browns added a few players, notably Willie McGinest and Joe Jurevicius, and should finally get contributions from Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards. They're moving in the right direction. The Ravens are hard to peg as well. Can Steve McNair resurrect his career? I guess any QB is better than Kyle Boller (even an aging, held-together-by-duct-tape-McNair??!) Jamal Lewis is a question mark as well. On D, space-eater Haloti Ngata should open things up for Ray Lewis and co.
Projected order of finish and record: Pittsburgh, 10-6. Cincinnati, 10-6. Baltimore, 8-8. Cleveland, 7-9.
The NFC North is pretty mediocre. Chicago won the division with defense alone, that won't happen every year. Plus that stellar D got lit up by Carolina (at home, too) in the playoffs. Rex Grossman is the guy at QB, but he's as durable as crepe paper. And I still say they should've drafted a receiver in 2005 instead of Cedric Benson. Thomas Jones, a former top-10 pick himself, can flat out play. Minnesota begins life sans Daunte Culpepper (mistake.) Dude's arguably the best QB ever to don the purple and gold. Coaching changes, off the field issues; this team has problems (they do have some young talent, but Brad Johnson, while solid, is no spring chicken.) Green Bay, also with a new head coach, would have been better off letting Brett Favre go-look for 20 picks again- and letting Aaron Rodgers develop. And losing Javon Walker will sting. I love A.J. Hawk, though-he'll be an impact guy from day one. Detroit starts over everwhere, from coach to QB (but Matt Millen, inexplicably, remains teflon as ever. Incredulous question mark, incredulous question mark.) Jon Kitna can play. He is a major upgrade over Joey Harrington, and with the talent the Lions have on offense, they could be a sleeper. Look for Charles Rogers and Mike Williams to break out this year, the beneficiaries of a consistant, solid signal caller. And, like Cincy, the defensive personnel is improving and is led by a former D-Coordinator (Marinelli.)
Projected order of finish and record: Chicago, 10-6. Detroit, 9-7. Minnesota, 6-10. Green Bay, 5-11.
Quote of the Week:
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of football team or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer."-Frank Zappa
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