My Dallas Clark Blog

AFC
East: The AFC East, in my opinion, will be the most competitive division in the NFL this year.
WHY? Because...

Dolphins- Miami is coming off of a very frusterating year. Once they lost Ronnie Brown and Chad Pennington, the fans lost hope in Miami. Now remember, three years ago, the Dolphins were one of, if not the worst team in the NFL. They nearly became the first team in NFL history to go 0-16, but they defeated the Baltimore Ravens, who went 5-11 that year, on the last day of the regular season. The following year they went 11-5, and then last year's upset. This year, they have two powerful running backs, a young quarterback that has experience, and now a star wide receiver, which they were missing last year. I don't have any questions about the offense, but the defense I'm not so sure on. We'll see how it plays out.

* Patriots- New England could be one of the best teams in the NFL (again). They have Tom Brady at full health, they have to star wide receivers: Randy Moss and Wes Welker, and their defense is ready for any type of offense. This could lead to, once again, another Super Bowl ring for Tom Brady.

* Jets- The Jets are overrated. Let me remind you who carried the team last year; it wasn't Mark Sanchez, it wasn't Jerricho Cotchery or Braylon Edwards, nor was it Shonn Greene. Thomas Jones was the only reason why the Jets even got close to entering the Super Bowl. He had 14 touchdowns, 1402 yards, and tripled Shonn Greene's stats in almost every category! These are the "amazing" stats that the Jets put up in 2009 (the following are averages): 12.5 points (31st), 237 yards (30th), 147 passing yards (29th), and 89.5 rushing yards 22nd). Unless the offense can turn it around, I don't think that the Jets are going anywhere.

* Bills- Once again, the Bills are on the bottom of the list in the East...and they aren't going to surprise anyone. They will have another great rushing season, but their passing really needs to kick it up. I think they should have taken a quarterback in the first round instead of C.J. Spiller. Trent Edwards just isn't the right guy for the job. A rookie quarterback with a good arm, who doesn't need the ball all of the time. Tim Tebow is a guy that would have fit in.

* Standings after 2010:
x-Patriots: 12-4
x-Miami: 10-7
Jets: 9-7
Bills: 3-14
North: This division will also come down to the last game.
WHY? Because...

* Bengals- The Bengals could be the most powerful teams they have ever had in their franchise history, but they could also be a HUGE upset. Carson Palmer will have three top wide receivers to throw to, Ochocinco, Bryant, and Owens, and they have Cedric Benson coming off probably his best year in his career. Their defense will be a mystery every week, and so will tight end Jermaine Gresham.

* Ravens- The Baltimore Ravens had a great year last year...and their about to have an even better year. Anquan Boldin will help Joe Flacco out a ton. Last year Flacco had one main receiver to go to, Derrick Mason. Todd Heap was the other main target at the start of the season, but it turned out to be a disappointing year. Now with Heap hoping to have an excellent year to add on to his great career stats, Anquan Boldin ready to finally win the big one, and Derrick Mason in one of the last years, I would say they are going for it all.

* Browns- The Browns, sadly, could actually be a good team to watch this year. Jake Delhomme doesn't have a Steve Smith to throw this year, but Mohamed Massaquoi will be a great substitute. Jerome Harrison could be one of the top ten running backs this year, which will open up the passing game. The only thing a Browns fan should be worried about is the defense. Now that Jake Delhomme is helping the offense out, the defense will probably be off of the field more.

* Pittsburgh-Where should I start? Obviously Big-Ben is out for the first four-six weeks, Rashard Mendenhall is coming off of a great season, and they lost Santonio Holmes. Hines Ward should have another good season, and the loss of Santonio Holmes will open up the slots for Mike Wallace and Antwan Randle El. My predictions for the top performers this year are: Roethlisberger- 17 TD, 56.8 Perc., 3467 yds, Mendenhall- 276 ATT, 11 TD, 12,889 yds, Ward- 78 Rec., 5 TD, 879 yds.

* Standings after 2010:
y-Ravens: 12-4
Bengals: 9-7
Steelers: 8-8
Browns: 4-12

South: The AFC South will be a pretty competitive division, again, but I think it will be up to the Colts and the Texans. WHY? Because...

* Colts- The Colts won't be much different then last year. Peyton Manning will have another great year, Reggie Wayne will have over 1,000 yards, Joseph Addai won't get many carries, and Pierre Garcon will have to play a big role if the Colts want to make it to the Super Bowl again. Dallas Clark is healthy, and this could be the year.

* Jaguars- Jacksonville needs a quarterback and wide receivers. David Garrard could make it to the playoffs, but he wouldn't go anywhere. If you want to get to the playoffs in this division, you will have to work. Jones-Drew isn't able to carry the whole team by himself. If they had a good passing game to rely on, there wouldn't be anything to worry about. Mike Sims-Walker isn't enough to complete a wide receiver roster; they need another target to throw to. Aaron Hernandez would have been a great draft pick for the Jags.

* Titans- Again, one running back won't carry the whole team to the playoffs. There just isn't enough talent on this team to go anywhere. The defense could use some work, Vince Young would probably appreciate another receiving target, and Chris Johnson won't be able to run the ball if the passing game doesn't work. I don't see playoffs in the Titans next two years.

* Texans- Houston is a huge contender this year. Matt Schaub has Andre Johnson as his main target, and together, they could get total over 1,500 yards this year. Kevin Walter is an underrated fantasy player. He is the 2nd stringer, and he could 100 to 150 points this year. Arian Foster has taken over the role of running back this year. Steve Slaton worked hard, but didn't quite make it. Their tight end, Owen Daniels is probably going to get five to ten touchdowns, and over 600 yards. If the defense can keep the score under 20 points almost every game, the Texans are going to be a touch team to beat.

* Standings after 2010:
y-Colts: 14-2
x-Texans 11-5
Jaguars 7-9
Titans 6-10

West: The AFC West won't be much of a competitive season. I don't think it will even take the winning team to get over ten wins to get into the playoffs.
WHY? Because...

* Raiders- Oakland does have a better team than last year, but not good enough to get to the playoffs. Jason Campbell has Heyward-Bay and Schilens as main targets. Zach Miller could also be a big one. The defense is terrible and the running backs aren't that good either. The only thing that the Raiders are good for this year is to knock out other teams.

* Chargers- San Diego is going to make the playoffs, there's no question. Philip Rivers could get over 4,000 yards again this season, but without Vincent Jackson, I would say maybe 3,500. Malcolm Floyd is a question mark. He could either do really good or really bad. The defense doesn't look that bad, and Ryan Matthews is going to be a great addition.

* Chiefs- Kansas City has one more year to improve. I don't think they will have a chance this year, but maybe next year. Once these two years are over they are going to lose a lot of their good players. Jamaal Charles won't have much trouble, if Matt Cassel can find Dwayne Bowe and Chris Chambers. The defense isn't the greatest, and that's the main thing that is going to irritate them.

* Broncos- With the mystery of who's starting at quarterback, and the lack of talent at wide receiver, Denver doesn't have much of a chance. McDaniels is trying to use what he can with Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter, while the defense has just a couple of problems to fix. Eric Decker will probably end up being one of the three starting wide receivers by the end of the year, if he stays healthy.

* Standings after 2010:
x-Chargers 11-5
Broncos- 8-8
Chiefs- 5-11
Raiders- 2-12

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