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  So hear we go.  Into the first week of the preseason, and i am going to do some prognosticating.  Now just so you know I base all of my sports prediction expertise on the fact that I picked the Detroit Pistons to win the NBA championship the year they picked up Rasheed Wallace.  By the way i know I am a terrible speller and no I don't proofread my blogs because its a blog and not an English paper.

The NFC has tried to close the gap with the AFC from top to bottom and has made some good strides.  There is an infusion of good young talent with players like Adrian Peterson, Marques Colston, Ryan Grant and several defensive stars.  Not to mention the Giants beat the almighty Patriots to win the Super Bowl. 

My rankings of the teams by division (not the order they will finish), playoff predictions at the end.

NFC South
1.  New Orleans Saints
2.  Tampa Bay Buccaneers
3.  Carolina Panthers
4.  Atlanta Falcons
   
NO is clearly the class of the division.  Drew Brees should lead a high powered offense to the playoffs.  The offense is loaded, the schedule is soft, and defense got a big boost in Sedrick Ellis (though the D is still pretty bad).
  Tampa Bay is old, Earnest Graham is not going to repeat his performance.  They will take a big step back this year, lucky for them the other two teams will also.
  Carolina could have been a sleeper pick to make the playoffs.  Now Steve Smith is out 2 games, and the schedule is setting up pretty tough.  Also, will Jake Delhomme be 100% and how will Jonathan Stewart pan out.  The offensive line is good, the defensive line is excellent.   If Steve Smith can come back and play well, and they get some help from rookies and Vets on offense they may be able to surprise some teams.  They could easily beat out Tampa and they play well against the Saints (won 3 of the last 4) so they still have a chance, I just don't think they will capitalize on it.
  Atlanta is a young team starting over.  Mike Smith is a great young coach who is going to build the run the ball-stop the run style of play in Jacksonville.  Is Matt Ryan the franchise QB.  Who the hell knows but with the money he got, they are stuck with him for a long time.  They have some good pass rush with Jamaal Anderson and John Abraham.  They resigned Grady Jackson after he threatened to eat all of their children (biggest man I have ever seen) and he can help stuff the run.  They got micheal Turner to run and Jerrious Norwood is a good foil for him.  Roddy White came on big last year.  Harry Douglas is a fast rookie who could thrive in a slot position.  All in all, they may improve their team but won't improve their record.

NFC East
1.  Dallas Cowboys
2.  NY Giants
3.  Washington Redskins
4.  Philadelphia Eagles

 I am of the opinion that Tony Romo is a choker and without TO and Witten and that line he would be an average QB.  Bt they have TO, and Witten and that line as well as Marion Barber and Felix Jones.  They will win the division.  But can they win in the playoffs?  No.
  The other three teams. is as good a guess as any.  The Giants get the edge because they won the Super Bowl.  Can Eli Manning keep improving.  Maybe.  The one thing about Eli is that he knows he is not nor will ever be Peyton.  That doesn't mean he can't be great though.  Plaxico Burres is dangerous.  Steve Smith will start at WR this year and is in line to blow up.  He has the talent.  The running game is brutal with Bradshaw, Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward.  The d-line will attack QB's again and the secondary is a bend don't break type.  The schedule is not very nice though.  Division games plus road games @Cleveland, @ Minnesota, and @ Pittsburgh.
  I like the Redskins new offense because it will feature Clinton Portis.  Jason Campbell improved last year.  Also, he won't be required to win to many games with his arm.  He just can't lose them.  WR's, ehhhh.  Randle El hasn't sone anything since he let the Steelers.  Santana Moss is a speedster but has trouble with physical teams.  Chris Cooley is an underrated TE who can catch and block.  The defense will carry this team.  I am not a fan of Jason Taylor, but he still has one good year left.  Andre Carter had 10.5 sacks last year and four forced fumbles.  Erasmus James is coming back from double knee surgery and should have an impact in the later weeks.  The DB's are very good.  LaRon Landry scares WR and TE's coming across the middle (and he's the free safety).  If only Sean Taylor were still there.  RIP man.  Schedule wise they should be OK.  No overly tough road games outside the division.
  The eagles could be really good or really bad.  Brian Westbrook is basically unstoppable if he gets the ball.  If you stop him running, he will catch it.  Lorenzo Booker is going to end up being a great pickup.  He can catch the ball and is a shifty runner.  If you let him run he will torch you.  They really need the WR's to step up.  Reggie Brown was supposed to be that guy.  This might be his last chance.  Kevin Curtis is a streaky player who you don't want to rely on.  DeSean Jackson will contribute on special teams but may not be ready to start in the NFL.  The defense is good.  Great corners and Safeties.  The d-line is underated.  Trent Cole was a double digit sacker last year.  Jerome McDougle will be back as a backup, but can he perform?  The schedule sets up nicely for the Eagles.  They need to win some division games and they can make the playoffs

NFC North
1.  Minnesota Vikings
2.  Green Bay Packers
3.  Detroit Lions
4.  Chicago Bears

  The Brett Favre drama is over.  We know the Vikings wanted him, Favre knew it and Tavaris Jackson knew it.  Question is will it affect him?  They better hope not because there is not much behind him.  The Vikings have two strengths, which happen to be very important in the NFL.  First, their running game. Their line might be the best in football.  Adrian Peterson is the most dynamic player to come out of college in a long time.  Expectations are huge for him.  Will he put up monster stats again?  Probably not.  And not because he can't.  The Vikings are going to let Chester Taylor share some of the workload to keep AP healthy and fresh.  Second, the defense is staked everywhere.  Just look at their depth chart.  Best defensive tackle combination in the game.  Added Jared Allen.  LB are very good.  DB's are good.  It's almost not fair to have the best offensive and defensive lines on the same team.  There is a lot of hype about Bernard Berrian.  Don't believe it.  He is a burner.  Expect Sidney Rice to get most of the receptions though.  Berrian will see about 70 receptions though and catch some long TD's.  But this team is going to run run run.  The Vikings have a tough schedule.  they play at Jacksonville, New Orleans and Tennessee.  They host the Colts and Giants. 
   Are the Packers really better with Aaron Rogers?  I don't think so.  I watched him a lot in college and wasn't impressed.  He reminds me of Chad Pennington.  Accurarte but week.  And Jeff Tedford QB's always struggle in the NFL.  It's probably good that they drafted Brian Brohm.  Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson make a good Running Tandem.  The o-line is only average though.  Donald Driver, Greg Jennings and James Jones are good WR.  It is going to be up to Rogers to get them the ball though.  The defense has problems.  AJ Hawk is a stud.  The LBs and DB's are good.  The D-line is young and average though.  They are going to need to stop the run with the schedule they have (Vikings, Jaguars, Titans, Colts, etc.)
  I don't know what to think about the Lions.  I love the Kevin Smith pick.  Calvin Johnson and Roy Williams are bonafide superstars.  Kitna can throw the ball.  But they are the Lions.  Hopefully they can run the ball to et up the throw and do some damage.   I don't know much about the defense except it wasn't very good last year.  I know if it was Ernie Simms' girlfriend running up the middle he would put her in the turf (ooooh cheap shot on a seminole). 
  The Bears are going to have to rebuild.  They missed their window, Lovie Smith will probably be fired this year unless they put up some wins.  Cedrick Benson was a miss, the defense is getting old, and Kyle Orton Vs. Rex Grossman is not what you want in a starting QB competition.  They lost their 1st rd pick this week.  They have no offense.  Their schedule is tough.  What else can you say?

NFC West
1.  St. Louis Rams
2.  Seattle Seahawks
3.  Arizona Cardinals
4.  San Francisco 49ers (who will beat the Dolphins out for the #1 draft pick and select Alex Smith, again)

    I am probably the only person outside of St. Louis that thinks the Rams are going to be good.  Last year was a result of injuries.  Stephen Jackso