2009 NFL Predictions

The NFL Season is here!!!!

Tonight marks the first regular season game of the NFL Season.

Last year my Pittsburgh Steelers captured their second NFL Championship in my lifetime, so I am still riding high. The good news for the Steelers is they return 20 starters from their Super Bowl run this season and are expecting huge things from two wide receivers Limas Sweed and rookie Mike Wallace. They will also get a boost with the return of Rashard Mendenahll and punter Daniel Sepulveda (laugh, but he was missed last year). Finally, they have a huge bump in the return game with former CFLer Stefan Logan, who looked great in the preseason.


Anyway, I have rambled on about how the Steelers should win the title again this season, but will they?

Here are my selections/predictions for the 2009 NFL season. The season begins tonight at 8 p.m. with the Steelers taking on the Tennessee Titans.

AFC
North: Pittsburgh Steelers
South: Tennessee Titans
East: New England Patriots
West: San Diego Chargers
Wildcard: Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts
NFC
North: Green Bay Packers
South: New Orleans Saints
East: NY Giants
West: Arizona Cardinals
Wildcard: Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons
Superbowl: New Orleans Saints vs. New England Patriots
Winner: Patriots (very sad).

Also, we had our fantasy football draft at the end of last month. I was unlucky enough to have the eighth pick in the draft - so I was unable to get anyone I truly wanted. I was hoping for Brees and Rodgers as QBs (every year I seem to miss out on QBs, so I was determined not to have that happen this year - I was wrong). I ended up with Cutler and - gulp - Favre.

Anyway, the rest of the team shaped up OK, but I was disappointed in my QBs. I guess we shall see what comes out.

My starters:
QB- Cutler
QB- Favre
RB- DeAngelo Williams (my first selection)
RB- Marion Barber
WR- Marques Colston
WR- Lee Evans
WR- Antonio Bryant
WR- Wes Welker
TE- Greg Olsen
K- Nick Novak
DEF- Packers
Bench
RB- Ronnie Brown
QB- Chad Pennington
WR- Steve Smith (Giants)
DEF- Colts
WR- Josh Morgan
TE- Visanthe Shiancoe
RB- Knowshon Moreno
WR- Kenny Britt

Every season I always take a flier on rookies at both the RB and WR positions. Last year I picked DeSean Jackson from the Eagles and he ended up being one of my top receivers, the same for Dwayne Bowe from the Chiefs the year before that. So, I went with the Titans' Britt this year and also Moreno for Denver, who may be their starter right away.

Wish me luck. In a league filled with Steeler fans, a Pats fan currently holds our trophy. That must end this year.

Fantasy Football

I have been playing fantasy sports for a multitude of years. It all started in college when my roommate got me started in a fantasy basketball website - and I was immediately hooked.

Over the years I have tried almost everything: basketball, baseball, football, hockey, car racing, college and pro pick 'em, golf, etc.

But, slowly each one started to fade away. The only one I am truly still engulfed in is Fantasy Football.

A few years back my family started a league - and also we give out a trophy at the end of the season to the winner. The trophy is a miniature helmet with our league name on it, and with each season victory the champion will initial the helmet and place the year he/she won on it.

I was victorious during the first year that we held the league. My uncle (who lives in Kansas City) was champion during year two - his son claimed the title in our third season. And last year, my uncle from Pittsburgh came out of nowhere to grab the title.

Our league is pretty simple - we have two starting quarterbacks, four starting wide receivers, two starting running backs, a tight end, a kicker and a defense.

We held our online draft last Sunday, and I was stuck with the last pick in the first round.

Here is the rundown of my draft picks:

First round, 10th overall: Randy Moss, WR, New England Patriots.
Second round, 11th overall: Marion Barber, RB, Dallas Cowboys.
Third round, 30th overall: Plaxico Burress, WR, New York Giants.
Fourth round, 31st overall: Derek Anderson, QB, Cleveland Browns.
Fifth round, 50th overall: Thomas Jones, RB, New York Jets.
Sixth round, 51st overall: Santonio Holmes, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers.
Seventh round, 70th overall: Marc Bulger, QB, St. Louis Rams.
Eighth round, 71st overall: Chris Cooley, TE, Washington Redskins.
Ninth round, 90th overall: Cowboys Defense.
Tenth round, 91st overall: Bernard Berrian, WR, Minnesota Vikings.
Eleventh round, 110th overall: Rashard Mendenhall, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers.
Twelfth round, 111th overall: Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers.
Thirteenth round, 130th overall: Adam Vinatieri, K, Indianapolis Colts.
Fourteenth round, 131st overall: Sidney Rice, WR, Minnesota Vikings.
Fifteenth round, 150th overall: Jaguars Defense.
Sixteenth round, 151st overall: Rob Bironas, K, Tennessee Titans.
Seventeenth round, 170th overall: Zach Miller, TE, Oakland Raiders.
Eighteenth round, 171st overall: Ricky Williams, RB, Miami Dolphins.
Nineteenth round, 190th overall: DeSean Jackson, WR, Philadelphia Eagles.

I made a couple mistakes in my draft, however. I did not notice the bye weeks for my two starting quarterbacks - who actually have the exact same bye week - so for that week, I will have to pick up another quarterback.

In our league, if you have a good defense, kicker and tight end - eventually you will only need one. So once the bye weeks finish, the extras are usually dropped for running back, quarterback and wide receiver depth.

I took a few gambles like always: I always select at least one rookie who I believe may get a chance to grab some points. In this draft, I took both Mendenhall from Pittsburgh and Jackson from Philadelphia. Mendenhall should see time as Willie Parker's backup, as well as on goal line plays. Jackson could develop into a go-to-guy for Donovan McNabb, who has lacked talented receivers.

My final gamble was on Ricky Williams. Williams has been out of the league for a long time before finally making his return last year - only to get injured in his first game. This training camp, Williams has been praised for his workouts and play. So hopefully, he will also see some time and prove to be the player he was in the past.

My main concern on my team is quarterback, which it always seems to be. Picking 10th, all the top-tier quarterbacks were gone: Peyton Manning, Tony Romo, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger - so I went with the receiver and then the running back. After another round Carson Palmer, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Brett Favre and Matt Hasselbeck were off the board - so I went with Anderson, who broke out last year. My only hope is that he can repeat that performance - and that Bulger returns to his previous form as well. Rodgers has looked sharp in the early going, but replacing Favre will be hard. He may be a wild card that I was lucky enough to select, because there is some talent on the Packers.

Well, wish me luck. It' s been three seasons since I have had the coveted trophy. And it would sure look good on my desk again.