10) The Vikings won’t make the playoffs.
I have no question that Favre will play all 16 games. That’s why they won’t make the playoffs. He’s gimpy already, and he won’t pull himself out of a game. With a mediocre offensive line, I see 20+ picks for Favre again this season; And a team with that secondary can’t survive that.

9) Kevin Kolb will be a top-5 quarterback this season.
People outside of Philadelphia were scratching their heads when the Eagles traded Donovan McNabb. But Eagles fans rejoiced. For all the criticism of Andy Reid, he has a fantastic passing system and the guys to run it: A four-star receiver and deep threat in DeSean Jackson, a strong receiving tight end in Brent Celek, and one of the league’s best pass-catching RBs in LeSean McCoy.

Wade Phillips and Lovie Smith will finally be shown the door.
An owner has only so much patience. And despite Jerry Jones saying he’s been told to not talk about the Super Bowl, that doesn’t mean he isn’t thinking about it again. Chicago management feel they’ve delivered everything Lovie Smith needs to win, but he won’t be able to escape the team’s fourth straight January watching the playoffs from home.

7) The Raiders’ predicted rise from the basement is premature.
Why is everyone talking about how Jason Campbell is the savior of this team? “He’s better than JaMarcus Russell,” is what I hear over and over again. But folks, he was not good in Washington throwing to Santana Moss and Chris Cooley; Why is he suddenly going to be a break-out star throwing to Louis Murphy and Zach Miller? And with that offensive line, my guess is he’s not even in the top 20 of all QBs at the end of the season (I could see him being benched). The defense could be quite good, and that will keep them from the three-touchdown losses that plagued them last year, but the Raiders aren’t going anywhere this season.

6) Cincinnati’s predicted fall from grace is premature.
It seems everyone considers the Bengals’ run at the playoffs last year a fluke. Not me. I see it as a long time coming. This is a good team that hit hard times over the last couple years, and last year it all came together. While I usually hate the disruption T.O. brings to a team, I’m banking on him being a model citizen who just wants to win the Super Bowl. And if that passing offense can just be ranked in the top half of the league, they will win the AFC North again.

5) Aaron Rodgers will be the NFL MVP.
This season will mark the completion of Rodgers’ emergence from Brett Favre’s shadow. Not only will his Packers win the NFC North, but Rodgers will put up crazy numbers that hand him his first league MVP trophy. He had a stellar season last year despite a horrible offensive line. But midway through the 2009 season, the team switched its blocking scheme and Rodgers soared. Look for 4,700 yards and 40 TDs (passing and running) from Rodgers this year.

4) San Francisco 49ers will be in the NFC Championship game.
Mike Singletary and the Niners front office are building a champion in the Bay Area. I don’t think any team had a better draft, with San Francisco taking two stud offensive lineman (one of their biggest weaknesses last year) in the first round. I think that will allow their offense to explode this year, with Frank Gore, Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree leading the charge. And with a top-5 defense, the 49ers will be playing deep into January; Whether they play in February or not may depend on whether they have to visit Green Bay in the snow.

3) The New York Jets will miss the playoffs.
As a Patriots fan, I’m thrilled that another team is now the most-hated team in the league. The Jets have taken their bragadocio to national television, proclaiming themselves the best team in the NFL. But it seems everyone has forgotten that this was a 7-7 team last year before their final two opponents (Colts and Bengals) decided to sit their starters in their final two games. Mark Sanchez was terrible last year (passer rating of 63.0), and that was with a 1,400-yard rusher in Thomas Jones (who is now gone).

2) The Lions will be a .500 or better team.
No team will take a bigger leap on defense this year than the Lions. Last year they couldn’t get any pressure on the quarterback and gave up over 30 points and 265 passing yards per game. In the offseason they revamped their defensive line, drafting Ndamukong Suh and bringing in Corey Williams and Kyle Vanden Bosch. And while we hear about the “sophomore slump” for quarterbacks all the time, I think Matthew Stafford and the offense will be better. The Lions are rebuilding, and they will see some of the fruits of that rebuilding this year.

1) The Kansas City Chiefs will win the AFC West.
The fall of the Chargers is at hand. They let their best running back go, their best wide receiver won’t play for them, and one of their key offensive lineman is holding out. This team doesn’t start strong to any season, and this time they won’t be able to recover. On the flip side, we will witness this year the rise of the Chiefs. I love what they did this offseason. They now have a two-headed monster at running back in Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles. They have two fantastic coordinators in Charlie Weiss and Romeo Crenell (guys who weren’t great head coaches but who know their side of the ball as well as anyone). And while everyone is talking about whether Dwayne Bowe will finally break out this year, I look for Chris Chambers to have a resurrection. Add to that a favorable schedule and you have a 10-6 division champion.

Share on Facebook

While experts are saying it makes them Super Bowl contenders, for my money this smells like disaster. Ankle surgery, staying away from training camp, saying he doesn’t care, coming back for another run at a Super Bowl: It just reeks of ending badly. Last year their schedule fit together perfectly with a soft start and the right match-ups at home; Instead of easing in with a visit to the Browns in Week 1, they visit the Saints in 22 days. On top of their division road games this year they visit the Saints, Jets, Patriots, Redskins and Eagles.

I do think the team upgraded in the offseason (particularly getting Toby Gerhart in the draft), but sometimes the vibe isn’t right for a team, and for some reason I sense heartache to finally end Favre’s career.

Share on Facebook

Video after the jump.

Share on Facebook

the veil of the sky draws open
the roar of the chariots touch down
we r the ones who have now come again
and walk upon water like solid ground
as we approach the throne we won’t bow down
this time we won’t b denied

raise every voice and let it b known
in the name of the purple and gold

we come in the name of the purple and gold
all of the odds r in r favor
no prediction 2 bold
we r the truth if the truth can b told
long reign the purple and gold

I’ll give it this much: while it’s nowhere near classic Prince, it’s certainly better than this Miami Dolphins dreck by T-Pain and his magical Auto-Tune machine:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq6Q9wu3F6w]

Share on Facebook

He traveled back to his alma mater, the University of Maryland in College Park, Md., for an all-day meeting with Robert Gold, the dean of the School of Public Health, and 40 local and national experts in the field of delivering health care to underserved communities in this country and the Third World. He then endowed the new Madieu Williams Center for Global Health Initiatives with $2 million out of his pocket, said a few words afterward for consumption by a little media availed of his good deed, and then disappeared back into a life of anonymity — as anonymous as a pro athlete can be — that he prefers.

If only he didn’t have the sports’ biggest Me! Me! Me! player quarterbacking his team, I just might cheer for the guys in purple.

Share on Facebook

I wonder how many slaps on the butt he took for that one.

Share on Facebook

After all of the nonsense, after all the bullshit, Favre is just gonna do what we all pretty much knew he would do in the first place: Put Brett Favre first. I still don’t believe he gives the Vikings a better chance to win the Super Bowl. PLEASE may they lose to Detroit in Week 2!!

Share on Facebook

Magic have best shooting-percentage game in NBA Final history and beat the Lakers, bringing out the tired “It’s a series” cliche everywhere.

Share on Facebook

LeBron James to be named NBA’s MVP. Hawks move past Heat.

Share on Facebook