AFC EAST
1) Miami (11-5)
2) New England (11-5)
3) New York Jets (9-7)
4) Buffalo Bills (3-13)
Footnotes: Miami killed me in my picks this past year. Here is final 2010 order: 1-New England(14-2) 2-NY Jets(11-5) 3-Miami(7-9) 4-Buffalo(4-12)
-I had New England getting the wildcard spot in the AFC and winning the AFC Title and the Super Bowl, and not too many people picked them to win the division or go to the Super Bowl. It looked like a great pick all year, but we all know what happened to the Pats in the playoffs.
-I loved Miami all summer, and I really thought that the Fish were going to win the East. They started off well, then leveled off, but they were 7-6 and had a chance to win their last three to sneak in as a wildcard, but then lost their last three. Very disappointed in the Dolphins last year.
-I was never sold on the Jets last year, and I predicted that they would miss the playoffs at 9-7. I was close because they won so many close games late, and that propelled them to 11 wins and the wildcard.
-It was pretty easy to predict Buffalo's season, but the scary part is the Bills played so well from mid-October on, and they lost a lot of really tight games. They could have won at least seven games but they ended up with only four wins, which made my prediction look more solid than it even was.
AFC NORTH
1) Pittsburgh Steelers(10-6)
2)Baltimore Ravens (8-8)
3) Cincinnati Bengals (6-10)
4) Cleveland Browns (3-13)
Footnotes: I nailed the Steelers winning the division. Here is final standings in 2010: 1-Pittsburgh(12-4) 2-Baltimore(12-4) 3-Cleveland(5-11) 4-Cincy(4-12)
-Not many people outside Peter King and myself picked the Steelers to win the North. I just knew that Mike Tomlin would get his team back on top, even with the Ben Roethlisberger suspension to start the year.
-I wasn't high on Baltimore because I figured they were due for a down year. They proved me wrong and gained a wildcard spot for the third year in a row. I don't really like the Ravens, and I always pick against them every year, but they keep screwing me up.
-The Bengals were easy to predict. I knew they would take a step back, and they were terrible all year. So many people loved the Terrell Owens/Chad Johnson combination, but I just had a feeling it was going to blow up in their face and it did.
-I thought the Browns were going to be bad and Eric Mangini was going to lose his job. They showed some life and were a feisty team at 5-7 after 12 games (Including wins over the Patriots and New Orleans), but they lost their last four games, and Mangini got fired.
AFC SOUTH
1-Indianapolis Colts (12-4)
2-Tennessee Titans (10-6)
3-Houston Texans (8-8)
4-Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11)
Footnotes: It is pretty simple when predicting the AFC South. As long as Peyton Manning is around, just pick the Colts because you will be right every time. Final order in the division went like this: 1-Indy(10-6) 2-Jacksonville(8-8) 3-Houston(6-10) 4-Tennessee(6-10)
-Indy won the division again, so I got that pick right, but injuries destroyed them this year. The Colts were 6-6 and to win all of four remaining games to make the playoffs, and they pulled it off.
-I thought the Titans were a solid pick to win the wildcard, but they disappointed me and missed the playoffs. At one point, they were 5-2, but they went just 1-8 in their last nine games. The Vince Young/Jeff Fisher drama didn't help, and now Fisher is out at Head Coach.
-I was never sold on Houston, and many people picked the Texans to make the playoffs. They started off well (4-2), but then they faded down the stretch as usual.
-I figured Jacksonville was going to be bad and it would cost Jack Del Rio his job, but they were surprisingly pretty good all year. At 8-5, they actually had a chance to win the division, but lost their last three and miss the playoffs. It is tough to predict the Jags. They baffle me week to week and year to year.
AFC WEST
1) San Diego Chargers (10-6)
2) Kansas City Chiefs (8-8)
3) Oakland Raiders (7-9)
4) Denver Broncos (7-9)
Footnotes: I picked San Diego basically out of default to win the West. I knew the Chiefs and Raiders were going to be better, but I just didn't trust them enough to supplant the Chargers. Here is the final order in the AFC West: 1-KC(10-6) 2-SD(9-7) 3-Oakland(8-8) 4-Denver(4-12).
-I really thought the Chargers were going to take a step back, but I didn't pull the trigger on it. San Diego was due for a non-playoff year, and I should have made the call.
-I really liked Kansas City, but I didn't pick them and I should have. It was like my Bears pick. I liked them to be better then what everyone thought, but I just didn't trust them enough. From now on, I just got to go with the bold pick and see what happens.
-Everyone knew that the Raiders were going to be better because Jamarcus Russell was not the QB anymore, and Oakland actually swept the division. The Raiders were a lot better this year, and I pretty much nailed that pick.
-I had Denver at 7-9, and my thought process was that the Broncos would start really slow and they did. I even had Denver's record correct after nine games (3-6). Unfortunately, I thought at that point Josh McDaniels would insert Tim Tebow and the Broncos would go something like 4-3 down the stretch and finish a gritty 7-9. I was dead wrong on that one. Denver lost four in a row, McDaniels got fired, and Tebow didn't start until they were 3-10 and had three games left. He went 1-2 at the end and Denver finished a disappointing 4-12, the most losses in franchise history and only the third time they lost at least 10 games since I have been alive.
*MY 2010 AFC PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS
1) Indy (12-4)
2) Miami (11-5)
3) San Diego (10-6)
4) Pittsburgh (10-6)
5)New England (11-5)
6) Tennessee (10-6)
Wild Card Weekend
6-Tennessee over 3-SD
5-NE over 4-Pittsburgh
Divisional Weekend
1-Indy over 6-Tennessee
5-New England over 2-Miami
AFC CHAMPIONSHIP
5-New England over 1-Indy
SUPER BOWL 45
New England over Atlanta
Footnotes:
-I got three out of the six playoff teams right (NE, Indy, and Pitt)
-I got two of the division winners correct (Indy and Pitt)
-I had Pittsburgh losing on Wildcard weekend, but they made it all the way to the Super Bowl.
-I had New England winning the AFC Championship as a wildcard and then winning the Super Bowl. Not too many people predicted that, and I looked like a genius, but the Pats blew it in the Divisional Playoffs at home to the Jets of all teams.
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