When my wife and I went to the grocery store this past weekend, she quickly noticed the abundant of hot dogs and the crazy sale the market had for them.  She asked why was that and I said, “It’s FOOTBALL TIME, BABY!” 

This past weekend in college football, there were no major surprises while LSU set the record straight against Appalachian State that an upset would not happen in their house.  (Appalachian State upset Michigan at the “big house” in week one of last season).

          
    In order for dcmetrosports.com to be a legit sports publication, we need to predict this NFL season and pretend to be experts.

         
    First, the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts will not be division champs this season.  Both teams starting quarterbacks, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady did not play in the preseason because they were recovering from surgery.  By the time Manning and Brady get into a rhythmn, Manning maybe a little banged up because the Colts’ best offensive lineman – Jeff Saturday – will be out for a few weeks and the Patriots’ defense is older and slower which will put pressure on Brady to work harder.  But with wide receiver Randy Moss, it could be easier. 

      
       The new look New York Jets will come out on top of the AFC East because quarterback Brett Favre will make everybody around him better.  Head coach Eric Mangini finally has a QB that can match the Patriots.  The Jacksonville Jaguars will dethrone the Colts for the AFC South crown and the San Diego Chargers will continue their dominance the AFC West.  In the AFC North, the team that heals from the bumps, bruises and stitches first will win the division – unfortunately, my beloved Baltimore Ravens will need more time to heal from their wounds, but anything can happen.

         
    The NFC has improved and for the second time this decade, the conference took home the Lombardi trophy.  The New York Giants are the world champs but the Dallas Cowboys will win the NFC East and the champs will get in as a wildcard.  The Minnesota Vikings will win the NFC North because they are totally complete with the league’s best pure running back, Adrian Peterson, best O-line and perhaps, best defense.  The NFC South and West is a coin toss.  The New Orleans Saints, with their high powered offense, will carry them to the top of the South and the Seattle Seahawks with their 12^th man (fans) will find a way to pull ahead from the improving Arizona Cardinals and the potentially dangerous St. Louis Rams.

       
     The wildcards for both conferences are wild and these guesses are, too.  The AFC’s wildcard will be the Patriots and Colts – that is a given since they are not going to win their respective divisions.  The NFC wildcards are the Giants and, drum rolls please, the Detroit Lions.  Veteran quarterback Jon Kitna is surrounded with talented players, led by health wide receivers Calvin Johnson and Roy Williams, good running backs, Kevin Smith and newly acquired Rudi Johnson and tight end Dan Campbell.  Their defense is coming along and the Lions learned from last season not only to start strong, but to finish strong.

         
   The playoff picture is set and now for the second season.  Everybody is talking about the Vikings and Cowboys coming out of the NFC or winning the Super Bowl.  But nobody is talking about the Giants.  The Giants will find away to get back to the big game because quarterback Eli Manning will be more confident throughout the season and quietly is a tough guy.  The running game, led by Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, will be hard to stop and wide receivers, Plaxico Burress, Steve Smith and David Tyree will be hard to cover at one time.  But the bread and butter of this team, the defensive line will consistently put pressure on the opponent’s QB and the secondary are not cupcakes.  The Cowboys are short on receivers, which will make them, eventually, one dimensional in the playoffs and the Vikings youth movement will show in the postseason.  The Jaguars will represent the AFC and will win the Super Bowl because they are down right nasty on both sides of the ball, period.  The Jaguars are the most physical team in the league and when a team plays them, win or lose, they will know they played Jacksonville.

         
   Do not be upset because the Washington Redskins were not mentioned and not predicted to go to the playoffs this year.  But Skins will play for a title for sure this season, the title for the beltway against the Ravens where the series stands, 1-1.

        
   We will revisit these “fearless predictions” at the end of the season.  Enjoy!

Written By: Barry Barnes