For the first time in fourteen years the NFC won back to back Super Bowls on the back of an incredible Green Bay team who snuck into the play-offs courtesy of a wildcard.
The Packers will open the new season on Friday when they host New Orleans, winners of the previous Super Bowl.
NFC North
The Super Bowl champion Packers should feel comfortable as favourites to not only win the division but to potentially go back to back as world champs.
They’ve made minimal changes to their roster, host a second place schedule and can boast one of the NFL’s most balanced teams.
Chicago took this division by storm last campaign, won a heap of close matches and ended up clinching home field advantage for the playoffs.
The Bears however are expected to slide (not one of ESPN’s 12 experts have them returning to the playoffs) largely due to a tough schedule and a highly suspect offensive line that gave up no less than 52 sacks last season.
Their offense has been upgraded with the addition of wide receiver Roy Williams who’ll instantly become Jay Cutler’s primary target.
This division will be rounded out by both the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit. The Vikings’ season completely imploded last year which culminated in their stadium literally falling apart.
It was indeed a spectacular fall from a grace from a team who contested the conference championship the season prior.
They’ve a new coach in promoted defensive coordinator Lesie Frazier along with the addition of veteran quarterback Donavan McNabb.
Improvement is expected from the perennially awful Lions who’ll be aiming to use their undefeated pre-season as a springboard to avoiding their 12th straight year without playoffs.
Division Pick – Green Bay
Wild Card Chance – Chicago
NFC East
The Philadelphia Eagles were unquestionably the story of the NFL’s off-season with frenetic activity during free agency inviting comparisons to the NBA’s Miami Heat.
The Eagles have comprehensively bolstered their roster which hopes to be able to progress deep into the play-offs this campaign. Quarterback Michael Vick recently signed a huge contract extension on the back of a stellar season which saw him nearly nab the league’s MVP award.
The New York Giants and the Eagles have been the cornerstones of this division for some time and I don’t expect the pecking order to change.
If the Giants however are to top the Eagles they’ll need Eli Manning to hold his horses where ball release is concerned. The Giants quarterback threw an NFL-high 25 interceptions last season, completely offsetting the career high 31 touchdowns he was good enough to toss.
I have little faith in the Dallas Cowboys making too much of an imprint of the NFL this season.
Despite quarterback Tony Romo suiting up for just six games last year and the requisite pre-season good will which arrives before every Cowboys season, Dallas simply have too many areas which it must improve sharply in; Chiefly their pass defence which gave up a whopping, NFL-worst 33 passing touchdowns last season.
The Redskins, recipients of routine Cowboys-like pre-season hype, will likely struggle once again.
Division Pick – Philadelphia
Wild Card Chance – New York Giants
NFC South
This strange division has not only shown itself to be the NFC’s most consistently good- its sent 6 teams to the past 9 NFC championships games- but has also shown itself to be a remarkably inconsistent division, with not a single team repeating as champion since its inception ten years ago.
Such a stat doesn’t bode well for the incumbent Atlanta Falcons who on paper at least appear to have a team capable of bucking the trend.
The Falcons have invested everything into this season, trading aggressively to bring in elite rookie receiver and former Alabama wide-out, Julio Jones.
He’ll compliment Matt Ryan’s passing game perfectly along with a consistently strong running game led by Michael Turner. On defence the Falcons have recruited former Viking defensive-end Ray Edwards who’s amassed 30 sacks in his first five seasons of pro football.
What’s not in Atlanta’s favour is one of the league’s most challenging schedules which pits them against four play-off teams in their first five games.
The New Orleans Saints are the obvious pretenders to Atlanta’s crown however there’s some serious questions of this team who became decidedly one dimensional last season.
They had little production form their running game which ranked just 28th in the league while their defence came up with just 9 interceptions, significantly down from the 26 they produced in their Super bowl season a year earlier.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers produced one of the more surprising seasons last year winning 10 games, up from 3 the previous year.
They got excellent production from quarterback Josh Freeman who tossed just 6 interceptions in his sophomore season, down from his rookie output of 18.
While playoffs would be an internal expectation for Raheem Morris’ team, continued improvement and another winning season would be viewed as huge gain within an always difficult division. Carolina appears to be the weakest team here and have made some serious changes on and off the field.
Head coach John Fox has left for Denver, replaced by defensive guru Ron Rivera. Top pick from the National Draft and former Auburn Tiger, Cam Newton, is expected to be the team’s starting quarterback.
Division Pick – Atlanta
Wild Card Chance – New Orleans, Tampa Bay
NFC West
Welcome to the worst division in US pro sports. Last season the division’s top seed Seattle qualified for post season play with just 7 victories- 3 less than Tampa Bay and New York who both missed the play-offs.
There’s little to suggest any of the combatants will consistently challenge anyone outside their division. For what it’s worth my pick goes to the Arizona Cardinals predominantly because they’re the most consistent out of this bunch and have strengthened their quarterback situation by bringing in former Eagle, Kevin Kolb.
Most importantly Arizona re-signed perhaps the NFL’s best receiver in Larry Fitzgerald, however significant improvement is needed from a running game which ranked dead last in the NFL last season.
The St Louis Rams may loom as the biggest threat to Arizona on the back of a good season by rookie quarterback Sam Bradford who threw for a highly respectable 3,500 yards in his debut year. The Rams haven’t however seen post-season play in seven years.
The Seattle Seahawks are in a similar position to their divisional foes while a repeat crown wouldn’t exactly shock.
They’ve made same major changes to their roster which boasts a distinct Minnesota feel with former Vikings’ Tavaris Jackson and Sidney Rice expected to fill the quarterback and primary wide receiver roles respectively.
Seattle had the league’s least productive rushing game last season and will need to rely on Marshawn Lynch returning to some of the form he displayed in his first two seasons in Buffalo.
San Francisco remain one of the league’s perpetual disappointments although its hoped former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh will be able to restore some credibility to this once-great franchise.
Division Pick – Arizona
Predicted NFC seedings following the regular season – Philadelphia, Atlanta, Green Bay, Arizona, New Orleans, Chicago
Conference Championship Game – Philadelphia over Atlanta.
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