This next week is my final midterm. College students are not the only groups receiving midterm evaluations; the NFL has reached it's midpoint as well. So, after watching half a season, I'm finally prepared to check out the Vegas scene and put dough on some division winners.
First, the AFC East. Folks, I have one piece of advice for you'don't bet against Tom Brady, especially when every other team in the division doesn't have even a decent backup quarterback. It's not that the Pats are as good as they were last year; it's that the rest of the division is that bad.
In the North, I like Pittsburgh. I don't care that Big Ben is hurt and I don't care that the Bus is ancient and I don't even care that they have to start Charlie Freakin' Batch this week against the Green Bay Jokers. I'm sticking' with Pitt. They run, they play defense and their receivers block. It's almost Badger football in a higher form. Peyton Manning is showing his human side.
Regardless, the Colts are in the driver's seat. At 7-0, they are the NFL's only unbeaten team and will remain so when Peyton finally takes down Brady on Sunday.
I know everyone loves the Jake 'The Snake' Plummer story this year'I do too. But I think the Chargers have it in them to win the AFC West. Drew Breese is playing out of his mind again, Antonio Gates is phenomenal and, oh yeah, LaDanian Tomlinson may well be the best running back since Walter Payton. For sheer firepower, I have to take San Diego.
Ah, the NFC North. Look, there's no nice way to say this. The Lions suck. The Packers suck more. The Vikings are tragic. That leaves the Bears'my Bears. I'm partial, but you can't tell me that a team with a defense that's statistically better, so far, than the '85 Bears doesn't have a chance to win games against a dismal division. Give me Kyle Orton and Da Bears.
No one, and I mean no one, cares about the NFC West. Any team that comes out of there will lose in the first round anyway. The obvious pick is Seattle, and it's the right pick. Shaun Alexander is amazing, but I don't buy that this team is any stronger mentally this year.
In the NFC South, it's anybody's game. Mike Vick is good, in case you haven't heard; he can still turn a game around in just a few plays'barring further injury. Tampa Bay doesn't have an offense with Carnell Williams banged up and Chris 'Pretty Boy' Simms at the helm. Although Steve Smith is playing like a man possessed, Carolina doesn't have the stones to get them through a tough schedule. So, I say, throw eight or nine bucks on the New Orleans Saints and try to make some bank on the 200 to one odds on the Saints winning the Super Bowl. That's right folks, sometimes long shots pay off big.
