The Return of the NFL: 2010

The NFL is Back with a vengeance this Thursday night, at the defending Super Bowl champs, the New Orleans Saints host the Minnesota Vikings in a rematch of last year's thrilling NFC Championship game. It should be a fun Thursday night full of action, and a lot of scoring.

Here is my predictions on how all 32 teams will fare:

AFC:
NORTH:
1) Baltimore Ravens (11-5)- The original Cleveland Browns will continue to dominate this division
2) Cincinnati Bengals (9-7)- The Bengals have a tougher schedule than last year, playing such heavy hitters as Indy, New England, New Orleans, Atlanta, Miami, plus Pittsburgh twice, the Browns (Baltimore & Cleveland) four times, and a Thanksgiving night showdown against the last two teams the Bengals played- the J-E-T-S, Jets!
3) Pittsburgh Steelers (8-8)- Big Ben (Roethlisberger)'s suspension is now four games, but the Steelers' run in the AFC North is over...for now.
4) Cleveland Browns (4-12)- Mike Holmgren should have either stayed in Seattle or stayed retired; Cleveland sports teams are in a recession of their own, no thanks to LeBron James's defection to Miami

EAST:
1) New England Patriots (12-4)- The Patriots are flying high in the AFC East
2) Miami Dolphins (10-6)
3) New York Jets (7-9)- Last year, the Cincinnati Bengals were on Hard Knocks, and they won the AFC North. This year, the Jets were on Hard Knocks, and they won't win the AFC East.
4) Buffalo Bills (4-12)- The Bills are the new Raiders/Browns- keeping the cellar nice and warm.

WEST:
1) San Diego Chargers (12-4)
2) Denver Broncos (8-8)
3) Oakland Raiders (7-9)- The Raiders will improve, but it won't be enough to get them in the playoffs
4) Kansas City Chiefs (6-10)- New England 2.0 is not New England 1.0. Enough said?

SOUTH:
1) Indianapolis Colts (13-3)- You can't stop Peyton Manning, you can only hope to contain him
2) Houston Texans (11-5)- This will be Houston's Breakout Year, Part II
3) Tennessee Titans (9-7)
4) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-13)- Jacksonville is screwed, plain and simple; hopefully, they'll beat the Cleveland Browns to Los Angeles


NFC:
NORTH:
1) Minnesota Vikings (11-5)
2) Green Bay Packers (10-6)
3) Chicago Bears (8-8)
4) Detroit Lions (7-9)- The Lions will move up in the world, not by much, but it will be better than the pre-0-16 mark they had.

EAST:
1) Dallas Cowboys (13-3)- Dallas will do anything to win the Super Bowl on their own field, it could be possible
2) Washington Redskins (11-5)- The Redskins will be back this year
3) New York Giants (9-7)
4) Philadelphia Eagles (5-11)- The Eagles will realize that trading McNabb to one of their NFC East rivals was a huge mistake that will have costly effects

WEST:
1) San Francisco 49ers (10-6)- The 49ers will be back, but they aren't the Joe Montana/Steve Young 49ers that I grew up watching, but the NFC West will be once again the weakest division of the NFL
2) Arizona Cardinals (7-9)- The Cards will realize how much Kurt Warner will be missed
T-3) Seattle Seahawks (4-12)- Pete Carroll should stay in college football; if things don't work out, there might be an opening in Ann Arbor, Michigan, should the Michigan
Wolverines lose to Ohio State for the seventh straight year
T-3) St. Louis Rams (4-12)- Pick a coin, but the Rams will win more than one game this year, but that still won't be enough with Sam Bradford under center

SOUTH:
1) New Orleans Saints (12-4)
2) Atlanta Falcons (11-5)
3) Carolina Panthers (9-7)
4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-15)


PLAYOFFS
(AFC)
1) Indianapolis; 2) New England
WILDCARD: 6) Miami @ 3) San Diego; 5) Houston @ 4) Baltimore
ROUND 2: 5) Houston @ 1) Indianapolis; 3) San Diego @ 2) New England
AFC CHAMPIONSHIP: 2) New England @ 1) Indianapolis

(NFC)
1) Dallas; 2) New Orleans
WILDCARD: 6) Washington @ 3) Minnesota; 5) Atlanta @ 4) San Francisco
ROUND 2: 5) Atlanta @ 1) Dallas; 3) Minnesota @ 2) New Orleans
NFC CHAMPIONSHIP: 2) New Orleans @ 1) Dallas

SUPER BOWL XLV: New England Patriots @/vs. Dallas Cowboys
SUPER BOWL XLV CHAMPIONS: The home team, Dallas