FC Preview
y David Hollinshead

'C East: We know the Philadelphia
agles are going to win the division. A
old prediction could be that they’ll be the
pcond team to go 16-0. Coach Andy Reid
led out all the stops this year, acquiring
ge talents like cornerbacks Nnamdi
somugha and Dominique Rodgers-
romartie. If QB Michael Vick gets hurt
ough, I have my doubts that Vince Young
lead them.

New York Giants fans, let’s get this

aight, Eli Manning is not in the same
ent pool as Tom Brady and, as a result,
e Giants aren’t going to get far. They’re
consistent on both sides of the ball, turn
over far too often, and are starting the
ason with injury problems. That said,
ey still earn a wildcard spot. The Dallas
owboys, after a disappointing (to say
e least) 2010 campaign, have made
eps to getting back to their winning
ays. Although I’m not a huge believer
Tony Romo, his health will be key. The
ashington Redskins have the worst QB
tuation in the league, and are struggling in
ie switch to a 3-4 defence. Expect them to

   
   
   
  
    
  
  
   
 
 
  
   
  
 
  
  

NEC North: The Green Bay Packers

 

ave one of the top picks in this year’s draft.

© going to waltz into another division title.

Like the AFC West, no team can compete.
The rest of the division is hard to predict,
The Minnesota Vikings have their QB of the
future, with rookie Christian Ponder, and
two year starter, in Donovan McNabb, but I
can’t expect them to even make a wildcard
appearance. With that out of the way, I’m
keeping my eye on receiver Percy Harvin.
He’s needed to step up to departed Sidney
Rice’s game, but has reoccurring health
problems. The Detroit Lions and Chicago
Bears are going to dogfight for third place
in the division.

NEC South: This will be the tightest
division in football. Three teams in this
division could make the playoffs, and all
have potential to win the division. The
Atlanta Falcons are my front runners.

QB Matt Ryan has gotten another year

of playoff experience, on top of leading
his team to a dominating 13-3 record last
season, and has a new weapon in rookie
WR Julio Jones. The offensive line has
taken a hit though and how they make up
for it will determine their success. Moving
on, my worry about the New Orleans Saints
is that they spend most of their money on
their backfield. With three talented RBs

in the rotation, they again skipped out on
needs such as linebacker and improving
their special teams, they’ ll be hard pressed

to stop the rising Tampa Bay Buccaneers
from taking the wildcard spot from them.
As for The Bucs who, besides having
the youngest team in football with a coach
who is in his thirties, are a team who,
after a solid draft to restock their defence
and complete their line, have all the tools
to prove their 10-6 record last year was
not a fluke. The Carolina Panthers on the
other hand are, again, going to be bottom
feeders. Even if controversially picked QB
Cam Newton isn’t a bust (he came with
a Jamarcus Russell sized warning), the
division is just too tough for them to make
any leeway. They won’t be as inept as last
season, but they won’t win.

NFC West: The greatest show on turf
is back! No, that’s way too soon to say that.
The St. Louis Rams have taken monstrous
steps forward in the past two years and
with QB Sam Bradford under centre and
finally giving star RB Steven Jackson some
quality backups, the Rams look to be set on
offence. They have also made some good
acquisitions on defence. Maybe it’s a year
too early for a division title, but the Rams
are on the rise. The Arizona Cardinals are
not the Super Bowl contender they were
a couple years ago, but trading for QB
Kevin Kolb could be the start to get back
on track that they needed. The Cardinals

are much too weak in the secondary to stop
the opposing teams passing attack and are
going to get burned in the air.

Every year, the San Francisco 49ers
are predicted to be the risers in the division,
but until they have a solid solution at QB,
I can’t agree. Alex Smith has had half a
career to win the starting role for the 49ers
and yet they keep giving him chances
to disappoint. They drafted QB Colin
Kaepernick in the second round to compete
for the starting job, but I don’t have much
faith in that either as the turnaround they
need either. All the pieces are there for San
Fran, but they haven’t made the playoffs
once with Alex Smith at the head. The
Seattle Seahawks are going to fall this year,
which might be good for the future, giving
Coach Pete Carroll a chance to rebuild in
the draft. QB-Tavarris Jackson will be hard-
pressed to replace the recently departed fan
favourite, Matt Hasselbeck, but the next
option in Charlie Whitehurst isn’t much
better.

Conference Finals: Philadelphia Eagles
over the Atlanta Falcons

Super Bowl Match up: New England
Patriots over the Philadelphia Eagles

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