NFL Preview: Wild Cards

I finished up my NFL divisional predictions for the 2008 season last night. I know at the beginning I said I wasn’t going to make playoff or Super Bowl predictions, but I changed my mind and decided I will pick the Wild Cards teams in each conference.

In the AFC, the division winners I projected are the Patriots, Steelers, Colts, and Chargers. The teams I see contending for the 2 wild card spots in the playoffs are the Jets, Browns, Ravens, Jaguars, and Texans. The Ravens will be the first to fall out of the race. They play in one of the toughest divisions and don’t have an offense. The next team out will be the Texans. While they’ll improve a lot this year, they play in the South, a division just as tough as the North. Tough division should equal less wins than teams that play in easier divisions. I see them as this year’s Browns – narrowly missing out. That leaves 3 teams competing for 2 spots – NYJ, Cleveland, and Jacksonville. The Jets should have an improved team this year and they play in a bad division, they should go at least 3-1 against Buffalo and Miami. Cleveland has great offense, but the defense needs some improvement. And they play in a tough division, they could possibly split with each team in it. Jacksonville, in contrast to Cleveland, has a very good defense, but the offense needs to become more stable. They also play in a division where they could split with each opponent. All things considered I think the two spots go to the Jets and Jaguars. The deciding factor is that the Browns play the tough NFC East this year, while the Jets play the NFC West and the Jags play the NFC North. Each should at the least split the four games, the Browns will struggle to even win two games.

So the AFC playoffs will include the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Indianapolis Colts, San Diego Chargers, New York Jets, and Jacksonville Jaguars, with the Pats and Chargers receiving byes.

In the NFC, the division winners, as I projected them, will be the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Seattle Seahawks. That leaves the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers, and New Orleans Saints all in the running for the wild cards. The NFC East will beat each other up and that division plays the AFC North this year, so Washington won’t generate a wild card.  The Saints don’t have a strong enough defense so they’re out. That leaves Dallas, Minnesota and Carolina. Dallas is in much the same situation as Washington – tough division playing an equally tough AFC division; the Cowboys are a stronger team than the Skins though. Minnesota plays in an easier division than Carolina. Minnesota plays the tough AFC South, Carolina plays the AFC East. My wild card picks are the Cowboys and Panthers. Minnesota needs too much to go their way to have a great season – no injuries (especially at RB….), Jackson needs to play well (or give way to Booty….), secondary needs to perform better. Seems like less up in the air with Carolina and Dallas. That, and the Vikings could pontentially lose 3 of 4 to the tough AFC South.

NFC playoff teams will be the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, and Carolina Panthers, with Green Bay and Tampa receiving the byes.