NFL 2011 Regular Season Discussion Thread - Page 2

The Raiders selected Terrell Pryor in the 3rd round of today's supplemental draft, giving up their 3rd round pick in next year's draft. A couple of comments:

1. With Matt Millen gone, I figured the only GM dumb enough to waste anything more than a late round pick on Pryor would be Al Davis. Way to go, Al!
2. Based on the rookie scale used to sign picks from April's draft, Pryor would be expected to get a four-year deal at $2.36 million, including a $591,000 signing bonus. I honestly do not know how he will handle the pay cut from Ohio State!

The regular season begins tonight! After going through the entire preseason, I decided to alter my preseason predictions a little (hey, it's my thread, so it's my rules )

NFC North
1. Packers -- still the best in the division
2. Bears -- could finish anywhere from 2nd to 4th
3. Lions -- still one more good offseason away. Running game is a concern
4. Vikings -- headed in the wrong direction

NFC East
1. Eagles -- going for broke with all the acquisitions. Still have weakness at LB and OL, so backing off Super Bowl prediction
2. Cowboys -- moving them ahead of NY
3. Giants -- too many preseason injuries
4. Redskins -- a disaster

NFC South
1. Saints -- tough to pick the top 3 in this division
2. Falcons
3. Bucs
4. Panthers -- better than last year, but play in tough division

NFC West
1. Rams -- going against my theory of young teams being at a disadvantage
2. Seahawks -- 2nd place by default
3. Cardinals -- keep losing players from Super Bowl team. Unproven QB.
4. 49ers -- Poor Jim Harbaugh

Wildcard: Falcons, Cowboys

AFC North
1. Steelers -- have questions on OL
2. Ravens -- purged numerous veterans
3. Browns -- 3rd by default
4. Bengals -- another disaster

AFC East
1. Patriots -- added enough to stay ahead of NY
2. Jets -- still a bridesmaid
3. Bills -- 3rd by default
4. Dolphins -- yet another disaster in the making

AFC South
1. Texans -- the Colts have to not win the division eventually
2. Colts -- team getting older. Manning injury kills their playoff hopes
3. Titans -- moving above Jax
4. Jags -- release starting QB just before 1st game again!

AFC West
1. Chargers -- win a weak division despite Norv due to talent
2. Broncos -- will finish lower if Tebow plays QB
3. Chiefs -- preseason may not mean a lot, but KC looked awful
4. Raiders -- new coach, same team

Wildcard: Jets, Ravens

Super Bowl: Saints over Patriots

#1 draft pick: Redskins, beating out Cincinnati and Miami

We will know more about the Lions in the next three weeks. Next week they travel to Minnesota (where they have not won since 1997), then to Dallas, and finally a home Monday Night game against the Bears. While Detroit has played very well the first two weeks, I am still tempering my expectations until then. They beat a decent Tampa team on the road, but Kansas City is awful. They are favored in Minnesota for the first time I can ever remember (although I'm sure it's happened once or twice).

Buffalo has been a surprise, but a bigger one is Washington, IMO. I figured the 'Skins would win the "Suck for Luck" sweepstakes, but instead they are 2-0. Right now the early leaders in the race for Andrew Luck seem to be KC and Seattle. Indy could be a dark horse in the race if Peyton misses the entire season. The thing that hurts all three teams chances are that each play in a division with at least two other bad teams, giving them a chance to win some divisional games against weak foes. So, if you are looking for a bad team stuck in a division with three good teams, then Miami may be the Luck winner -- assuming the Bills are for real.

Both the Lions and Bills erase 20 or more point deficits! Buffalo's is probably more impressive, coming against the Pats. Meanwhile, no deficit is safe against the Vikings.

Yes, there is still a long way to go. I've been watching the Lions since 1970, so I am very gun-shy about getting overly excited. However, the comebacks these past two weeks have been amazing to watch. Tony Romo certainly helped with his 2nd half meltdown, but I have to give Detroit credit for not giving up, even though they were getting destroyed in the first half.

The Bears come to Detroit this week for the first Lions home MNF game in over a decade. Tickets are going for an outrageous amount of money for an early season game. It should be quite an event. Hopefully the Lions of the past half-century do not resurface anytime soon.

Sports writers are known to drink a lot.

The Packers look very impressive, but the Lions still have some issues. Their offensive line struggles at times, as does the secondary. I doubt they will remain unbeaten through this upcoming three game home stand against Chicago, San Fran and Atlanta. Still, if they could somehow win 2 of 3, they would be 6-1 and in solid contention for a playoff spot. It's been a long time since a Lions fans has seen that!

In any case, at least they shouldn't give the nation indigestion on Thanksgiving for once.

While no team is a lock (who would have thought the 16-0 Patriots would lose the the Giants?), the Pack do look unstoppable right now. Rodgers can be put in that elite QB tier with Brady, Peyton and Brees. The receiving weapons he has are impressive, and the defense is solid and opportunistic. Green Bay stands an excellent chance of beating the odds and repeating as champs. I think the only team in the NFC that can get in their way is New Orleans. The Lions are not ready yet, Mike Martz will get Cutler killed in Chicago, and the NFC East looks like a bunch of overrated teams right now.

In the AFC, I think it's either Baltimore or New England. The biggest worry with the Pats is their defense, while with the Ravens it's whether Flacco is good enough to get them to the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh's offensive line is terrible and getting Big Ben killed, while Houston seems to struggle putting teams away -- they just do not seem to know how to win. San Diego is a dark horse, but it's hard to imagine Norv Turner coaching a team to the SB.

Add the Vikings to that list.