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With the NFL season less than a week away, it’s time. Time to really start gearing up for the NFL season. Favre is back, Kurt Warner is gone and it looks to be a very good NFL season and hopefully not the last we’ll see for a couple years with a lockout looming.

Here it is, my 2010 Previews and Predictions open for all comments and criticism(even though you’ll be wrong : )

NOTE: Division winner will be bolded, wild card teams will be italicized)

AFC East

1. New York Jets

The focus of this year’s Hard Knocks series(which is very entertaining) will be a major force in the NFL this year. Rex Ryan has this team walking around with swagger and rightfully so. They hold the league’s best defense and a bright young RB in Shonn Greene. Even with Mark Sanchez at QB they could ride this defense deep into the playoffs as long as Sanchez has an average year.

2. New England Patriots

After watching Wes Welker in the preseason I think it’s safe to say that he will still be a good WR this year even if he doesn’t get back to the 123 receptions he had last year. Even if he doesn’t get back there though this is possibly a stronger offense than it was last year with the emergence of Julian Edelman to go along with Welker and Randy Moss, who is in the last year of his contract with the Pats. And even though Tom Brady isn’t happy about his contract situation he will be as good as ever this year before his inevitable decline starts to happen in the next couple of years. The Patriots also have a solid secondary despite a below average pass rush.

3. Miami Dolphins

To start off, I think the Brandon Marshall acquisition was the best in the whole offseason but this young Dolphins team will be stuck in 3rd place this season. They will still be good and give the Pats a good run for second place though. With Chad Henne at the helm, Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams in the backfield and Brandon Marshall at WR this will be a very good offense in the next couple of years. They also got linebacker Karlos Dansby from the Arizona Cardinals and drafted Jared Odrick and Koa Misi who should both contribute right away.

4. Buffalo Bills

While I think their first overall draft pick CJ Spiller will have a pretty good season I don’t expect much from this team this year. They are stuck in a very good division, still without an above average quarterback and not many players who stick out on both sides of the field. I see the Bills drafting in the Top 10 again, and possibly the Top 5 this season.

AFC North

1. Baltimore Ravens

There are big expectations in Baltimore this season for the Ravens and they have alot of fans thinking Super Bowl. I think Joe Flacco is going to take a huge step forward with a very big improvement in his recievers with the addition of Anquan Boldin and TJ Houshmanzadeh. Ray Rice is going to be a huge force coming out of the backfield and he is also a very good pass catching runningback. Even though there may be a shift to a more offensive team this season, the Ravens still have a good defense with Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata and an injured Ed Reed. The biggest concern for the Ravens this season will be their secondary, which was thin before it lost Dominique Foxworth for the season.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers

Even though Ben Roethlisberger will miss the first 4 games I think the Steelers will rebound fine as long as Byron Leftwich or Dennis Dixon can win a game or two. When Big Ben comes back they will have a good young reciever in Mike Wallace to go along with veteran Hines Ward. Also, expect Rashard Mendenhall to break out this year and have a good season. The Steelers will also hope that Troy Polamalu can come back from his injury and back to old form.

3. Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals surprised many people last season by coming out and winning the AFC North but I expect them to be swept back in the division by the stronger Ravens and Steelers. Also gone with their surprise season will be breakout of Cedric Benson. I don’t expect him to be able to repeat his success either. They will have a good passing game though with the addition of Terrell Owens and Antonio Bryant. While they may be entertaining there may be too many personalities to handle.

4. Cleveland Browns

Another year, another year in the gutter of the division for Cleveland. While they have hope for the future with Colt McCoy, right now they’re stuck with the interception machine Jake Delhomme, who will be even worse in Cleveland than he was in Carolina(hard to believe right?). Even with the additions of Sheldon Brown, Chris Gocong and Scott Fujita to their defense, don’t expect anything more than a last place finish from the Browns this season.

AFC South

1. Indianapolis Colts

Coming off a Super Bowl defeat, Peyton Manning and the Colts will be anxious to get back out there and get back to the Super Bowl. They will get Anthony Gonzalez and Bob Sanders back from injury(even though Sanders will probably get hurt again.) The Colts will make the playoffs again and hope to return back to the Super Bowl.

2. Tennessee Titans

Chris Johnson is one of only 6 players to rush for 2,000 yards. And even though CJ has been all talk this offseason, whether it’s complaining about his Madden rating or saying he’ll get 2,500 yards there is no doubt in my mind that he won’t come close to 2,500. Or 2,00 for that matter. I think the load from last season will talk a big toll on CJ this year and his stats will go down greatly. Even with a down season from CJ, the Titans will finish around 8-8.

3. Houston Texans

The Texans have a very good passing game with the league’s best and one of the most consistent WR’s in Andre Johnson. But even with that passing game their running game took a huge step back last season when Steve Slaton couldn’t continue from his rookie performance. They had hope in Ben Tate but with his season ending injury I see another struggling performance from this running game. On defense they lost their best cornerback Dunta Robinson. There defense won’t be anything special and will take a step back without Robinson.

4. Jacksonville Jaguars

In the eyes of many draft experts, the Jaguars had one of the worst drafts in the NFL. Even a good draft wouldn’t have saved the Jags though, and it’s going to be another dissapointing season for them. The offense has virtually no weapons outside of Maurice Jones-Drew and Mike Sims-Walker, even though it will be tough to get the ball to him. The Jags are going to be drafting in the Top 10 again this season.

AFC West

1. San Diego Chargers

Even though I don’t think this San Diego Chargers team is as good as some of the teams they have had in the past I still like them to take one of the worst divisions with one of the NFL’s easiest schedules. Even with the amount of holdouts and problems they have faced, Phillip Rivers is an elite QB in the NFL and will be able to make due with Malcolm Floyd, Legandu Nanee and the newly acquired Patrick Crayton. I also don’t think the O-line will be a huge issue as we’ve seen very good QB’s work with poor O-lines in the recent past and still have success.

2. Oakland Raiders

I think the Raiders could surprise alot of people and take a wildcard in the AFC. It’s scary to say, but Al Davis has made some good offseason changes. Jason Campbell is very underrated. He’s a good QB. He’ll have good young options like Chaz Schilens and Louis Murphy. Darren McFadden will probably be the starter but if Michael Bush takes over he could be a sleeper and really breakout this season. They drafted Rolando McClain and added Kameron Wimbley to strength the defense which already had one of the best CB’s in Nnamdi Asomugha. Even though managment is a bit shaky, the Raiders might be able to grab a wild card.

3. Denver Broncos

They wasted a first round pick on Tim Tebow who may not even play this season. They passed on Dez Bryant to take Demaryius Thomas, who isn’t nearly as good. Their second best defensive player, Elvis Dumerville is lost for the season. It’s safe to say that the Broncos are in trouble and the season will be lost if we see Tim Tebow on the field.

4. Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs saw the emergence of a young RB in Jamaal Charles, but I’m still not a fan of this team. Matt Cassel isn’t going to be good all of the sudden, and he’ll have another down year. Dwayne Bowe could be better, but he’ll be the only option for Cassel this year. On defense though, the Chiefs have a potential defensive rookie in the year with Eric Berry.

NOTE: NFC is being written up now as well as awards and my super bowl pick

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