#8 AFC West – Oakland Raiders
How They Win AFC West: Besides needing Peyton Manning, Jamaal Charles, and Philip Rivers to all go down with injuries, the Raiders need Matt Schaub, Maurice Jones-Drew, Justin Tuck, and LaMarr Woodley to bring veteran leadership to the key positions that the they have been missing for a decade, while also producing at a Pro Bowl high level.
How They Lose AFC West: Keep doing what they have been doing.
Prediction: 4th place finish. Matt Schaub comes out and plays well, but he is not enough to keep up with the high powered offenses in the AFC West and Derek Carr is starting before week 12.
#7 AFC East – Buffalo Bills
How They Win AFC East: The Bills play inspired football in memory of Ralph Wilson. EJ Manuel and Sammy Watkins click from week 1 and CJ Spiller stays healthy for 16 games, providing an explosive rushing attack. The Manuel-Spiller-Watkins trio needs to form one of the top 10 offenses in the NFL for the Bills to dethrone the Patriots in the AFC East.
How They Lose AFC East: EJ Manuel and CJ Spiller don’t stay healthy and leave Sammy Watkins high and dry with Jeff Tuel and Fred Jackson.
Prediction: 3rd place finish. Sammy Watkins competes for rookie of the year, despite Manuel and Spiller missing a couple of games, and the defense surprises.
#6 NFC North – Minnesota Vikings
How They Win NFC North: Mike Zimmer shows the league why he should have been a head coach years ago and fixes the mess on defense. Teddy Bridgewater provides the Vikings with a vertical passing threat that has been missing since Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson continues to do his thing.
How They Lose NFC North: If Matt Cassel and/or Christian Ponder start too many games while the Vikings avoid throwing Bridgewater to the wolves.
Prediction: 4th place finish. Teddy Bridgewater wins the starting job from week 1 and the Vikings are very competitive in every game, but can’t move up in the loaded NFC North.
#5 NFC West – St. Louis Rams
How They Win NFC West: The defensive line is the most dominant in the league and Sam Bradford stays healthy long enough to develop a rapport with his wide receivers.
How They Lose NFC West: The Seahawks. The 49ers. The Cardinals.
Prediction: 4th place finish. The NFC West is just too strong defensively and the Rams lack the offensive firepower to score on divisional rivals.
#4 NFC South – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
How They Win NFC South: Josh McCown gets time in the pocket behind an overachieving offensive line, Doug Martin returns to rookie form, and Lovie Smith recaptures that Tampa-2 magic with the defense.
How They Lose NFC South: The offensive line can’t block anybody, leaving McCown and Mike Glennon to rotate the starting QB position while nursing injuries and the defense takes a couple months to gel.
Prediction: 3rd place finish. The defense will take the NFC South by surprise, but the offensive line can’t provide enough push for Doug Martin to establish a running game and the QB play suffers as a result.
#3 AFC North – Cleveland Browns
How They Win AFC North: Johnny Football takes the NFL by storm, electrifying the Browns organization and Roger Goodell goes easy on Josh Gordon, providing another spark for the offense midway through the season.
How They Lose AFC North: Mike Pettine is slow to declare a leader for the Browns, setting up Brian Hoyer or Johnny Manziel for failure and the new defensive players (Karlos Dansby & Donte Whitner) buy into the losing culture.
Prediction: 2nd place finish. Johnny Manziel is named the starter after the Browns next preseason game and gets a few weeks to work with the 1st team before going back to Detroit to get another chance at the Lions. Manziel goes on to show the league he can talk the talk and back it up, winning Rookie of the Year.
#2 AFC South – Houston Texans
How They Win AFC South: The defense becomes one of the best in the league with Jadeveon Clowney and JJ Watt proving to be an unblockable duo. Ryan Fitzpatrick plays at a decent level behind a productive and motivated Arian Foster.
How They Lose AFC South: The injury bug hits again and Ryan Fitzpatrick is asked to do more than he is capable of.
Prediction: 2nd place finish. The AFC South is one of the weakest divisions in football and the defense puts the Texans in position to win every game, while Arian Foster returns to Pro Bowl form.
#1 NFC East – Washington Redskins
How They Win NFC East: RG3 thrives in a modified Redskins offense with the fastest group of wide receivers in the league (Jackson & Garcon), a Pro Bowl running back (Alfred Morris), and a breakout tight end (Jordan Reed).
How They Lose NFC East: The defense doesn’t improve and the secondary allows the rest of the NFC East pass at will.
Prediction: 1st place finish. The offense is going to be a force to be reckoned with and makes up for the lack of a defense. The Redskins also play the Cowboys week 17 and that’s been the key to winning the division for 3 straight years.
How They Win AFC West: Besides needing Peyton Manning, Jamaal Charles, and Philip Rivers to all go down with injuries, the Raiders need Matt Schaub, Maurice Jones-Drew, Justin Tuck, and LaMarr Woodley to bring veteran leadership to the key positions that the they have been missing for a decade, while also producing at a Pro Bowl high level.
How They Lose AFC West: Keep doing what they have been doing.
Prediction: 4th place finish. Matt Schaub comes out and plays well, but he is not enough to keep up with the high powered offenses in the AFC West and Derek Carr is starting before week 12.
#7 AFC East – Buffalo Bills
How They Win AFC East: The Bills play inspired football in memory of Ralph Wilson. EJ Manuel and Sammy Watkins click from week 1 and CJ Spiller stays healthy for 16 games, providing an explosive rushing attack. The Manuel-Spiller-Watkins trio needs to form one of the top 10 offenses in the NFL for the Bills to dethrone the Patriots in the AFC East.
How They Lose AFC East: EJ Manuel and CJ Spiller don’t stay healthy and leave Sammy Watkins high and dry with Jeff Tuel and Fred Jackson.
Prediction: 3rd place finish. Sammy Watkins competes for rookie of the year, despite Manuel and Spiller missing a couple of games, and the defense surprises.
#6 NFC North – Minnesota Vikings
How They Win NFC North: Mike Zimmer shows the league why he should have been a head coach years ago and fixes the mess on defense. Teddy Bridgewater provides the Vikings with a vertical passing threat that has been missing since Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson continues to do his thing.
How They Lose NFC North: If Matt Cassel and/or Christian Ponder start too many games while the Vikings avoid throwing Bridgewater to the wolves.
Prediction: 4th place finish. Teddy Bridgewater wins the starting job from week 1 and the Vikings are very competitive in every game, but can’t move up in the loaded NFC North.
#5 NFC West – St. Louis Rams
How They Win NFC West: The defensive line is the most dominant in the league and Sam Bradford stays healthy long enough to develop a rapport with his wide receivers.
How They Lose NFC West: The Seahawks. The 49ers. The Cardinals.
Prediction: 4th place finish. The NFC West is just too strong defensively and the Rams lack the offensive firepower to score on divisional rivals.
#4 NFC South – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
How They Win NFC South: Josh McCown gets time in the pocket behind an overachieving offensive line, Doug Martin returns to rookie form, and Lovie Smith recaptures that Tampa-2 magic with the defense.
How They Lose NFC South: The offensive line can’t block anybody, leaving McCown and Mike Glennon to rotate the starting QB position while nursing injuries and the defense takes a couple months to gel.
Prediction: 3rd place finish. The defense will take the NFC South by surprise, but the offensive line can’t provide enough push for Doug Martin to establish a running game and the QB play suffers as a result.
#3 AFC North – Cleveland Browns
How They Win AFC North: Johnny Football takes the NFL by storm, electrifying the Browns organization and Roger Goodell goes easy on Josh Gordon, providing another spark for the offense midway through the season.
How They Lose AFC North: Mike Pettine is slow to declare a leader for the Browns, setting up Brian Hoyer or Johnny Manziel for failure and the new defensive players (Karlos Dansby & Donte Whitner) buy into the losing culture.
Prediction: 2nd place finish. Johnny Manziel is named the starter after the Browns next preseason game and gets a few weeks to work with the 1st team before going back to Detroit to get another chance at the Lions. Manziel goes on to show the league he can talk the talk and back it up, winning Rookie of the Year.
#2 AFC South – Houston Texans
How They Win AFC South: The defense becomes one of the best in the league with Jadeveon Clowney and JJ Watt proving to be an unblockable duo. Ryan Fitzpatrick plays at a decent level behind a productive and motivated Arian Foster.
How They Lose AFC South: The injury bug hits again and Ryan Fitzpatrick is asked to do more than he is capable of.
Prediction: 2nd place finish. The AFC South is one of the weakest divisions in football and the defense puts the Texans in position to win every game, while Arian Foster returns to Pro Bowl form.
#1 NFC East – Washington Redskins
How They Win NFC East: RG3 thrives in a modified Redskins offense with the fastest group of wide receivers in the league (Jackson & Garcon), a Pro Bowl running back (Alfred Morris), and a breakout tight end (Jordan Reed).
How They Lose NFC East: The defense doesn’t improve and the secondary allows the rest of the NFC East pass at will.
Prediction: 1st place finish. The offense is going to be a force to be reckoned with and makes up for the lack of a defense. The Redskins also play the Cowboys week 17 and that’s been the key to winning the division for 3 straight years.
@ the redskins being a force. FOH