The Winners Conference?

The New York Giants officially ended an era by beating the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. But I'm not talking about this year's team, I'm talking about the 2007 New York Football Giants that employed David Tyree and Michael Strahan.
That was the team that put an end to the AFC's winning streak in the big game and ushered in our current age. An age where the NFC is one Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes in the closing seconds touchdown away from having won the last five Super Bowls.
Am I saying the NFC is a superior conference like they were in the 80's and much of the 90's? No, this isn't the NBA where Western Conference fields two or three teams with winning records who miss the playoffs each year while the East gets usually gets a few in with losing records. Most of the last few Super Bowls could have been pretty even-matched, which is why I think this is the year the AFC re-claims the title.
Without further ado, here are my pre-draft, pre-free agency playoff predictions.

NFC North: Green Bay Packers - To be honest I have picked these guys to win it all every year over the last five years and I was right once (which is a helluva lot more often than Sports Illustrated ever is, am I right? am I right?) Secretly I'm picking them again this year, but not in public. In order to avoid bias I'll pick someone else, and it's not like the Pack will be a consensus pick this year anyway. That defense sure needs some fixing before Mr. Rodgers can hoist his second trophy.

NFC East: New York Giants - SuperBowl hangover? Fuggetaboutit! With tons of confidence and momentum, the Giants will win more regular season games than they did last year. Come playoff time coaches are being doing plenty of not sleeping thinking of how they can beat New York, and unlike this year, someone will succeed.

NFC South: Atlanta Falcons - Let me be the first to say I love the New Orleans Saints and Drew Brees may be my favorite player in the league. Here's the thing, I know that not all the same teams will win their division that did last year. It just doesn't happen. The Saints lose Carl Nicks and Marques Colston in free agency. Jimmy Graham still plays well but Brees gets sacked a little more and throws a few more picks and New Orleans wins 9 games this year making Atlanta's 10 wins enough to clinch.

NFC West: San Franciso 49ers - These guys had a new head coach and no off-season and I don't think anyone outside of their locker room believed they could win 13 games last year. The defense is impregnable and having a full training camp will do wonders for their offense. Alex Smith having the same offensive coordinator for two years in a row for the first time in his career won't hurt either.

Wildcard: Philadelphia Eagles - They need to draft some nasty linebackers and need an adequate backup for when (not if) Michael Vick goes down with injury. That being said these guys had a nice little run at the end of last season, LeSean McCoy is the man and I think the extra time together will benefit all the free agents they brought in last year and have the Eagles playing like a team again.

Wildcard: Arizona Cardinals - I should've picked the Chicago Bears here. They were 7-3 before Cutler went down last year, but while their defense has done a great job of taking on the attitude of leader Brian Urlacher, they're getting old and have holes. The young and nasty Cardinals defense really seemed to hit it's stride mid-season last year under a new coordinator. The offensive line needs work (as always) but Larry Fitzgerald alone makes that side of the ball viable. If we see a little improvement from Kevin Kolb and/or John Skelton this team could win 9 or 10 games. If Peyton Manning and possibly Reggie Wayne come to town? It could be Kurt Warner-esque! Am I being a homer? Absolutely. This spot could just as easily go to Detroit, Seattle, Dallas, New Orleans, or any junk team from last year that becomes "this year's 49ers" and goes from terrible to great in one season, just probably not the Redskins. . . . or the Vikings.

NFC Champion: San Francisco 49ers -  Yep, I'm picking a Harbaugh bowl rematch. I'm a little embarrassed to do so, but I feel good about both of these teams, especially after I saw Alex Smith and Vernon Davis come up so big in their first playoff starts ever. That being said I am an oldest son, and in the words of George Orwell's classic novel 1984, "Big Brother is Winning."

SUPER BOWL CHAMPION: BALTIMORE RAVENS

There you have it. My playoff picks for the upcoming season. I reserve the rights to change every one of these picks after the draft, and again after pre-season, and again once the playoffs start, and again on Super Bowl Sunday.

And Your Winner Is...

We love the NFL because at the beginning of every season we feel like our team might have a shot.  There is more parity than in any other professional sport . . . except in the AFC. Here are the Super Bowl representatives over the last decade from both conferences:

AFC                                                         NFC
New England Patriots                              New York Giants
Pittsburgh Steelers                                   Green Bay Packers
Indianapolis Colts                                    New Orleans Saints
Pittsburgh Steelers                                 Arizona Cardinals
New England Patriots                              New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts                                  Chicago Bears
Pittsburgh Steelers                                 Seattle Seahawks
New England Patriots                            Philadelphia Eagles
New England Patriots                            Carolina Panthers

The AFC has sent THREE TEAMS to the Super Bowl since 2003. Three. For how many more years are the Patriots, Steelers and Colts going to have the monopoly on AFC championships? Zero. That's right, I'm calling it right now. Here are my wayyyyyy to early playoff predictions for 2012.

AFC East: New England Patriots - The Jets may rebound from last season, the Bills should improve. The Dolphins are interesting with a new coach and Matt Flynn possibly following from Green Bay. Over the years the hot backups like Matt Schaub, Matt Cassel and Kevin Kolb have produced mixed results. Like Cassel and Kolb, Flynn had the benefit of  studying behind a pro bowl QB before stepping in and producing in a passer friendly offense when the starter went down for a game or two. Will his success translate better to a new team? I hope it does, but it's all speculation right now anyway. Pats still take the division regardless.

AFC North: Baltimore Ravens - Joe Flacco has proven to be an adequate quarterback, much like Philip Rivers was early in his career. Would a new offensive scheme benefit him? Maybe, but even if he doesn't improve much, this is a tough team that has already won one Super Bowl without an elite QB. The Bengals seem likely to improve with another year of experience, and I don't think you can count out the Steelers yet. This division could send three teams to the playoffs again. Cleveland still lacks elite talent at EVERY offensive skill position, they're a few years away from any sort of contention.

AFC South: Houston Texans - The Colts have basically owned this division since Peyton came to town. No more. Houston ran away with their first ever playoff birth without the services of their best offensive (Andre Johnson) and defensive (Mario Williams) players. They rolled with a 3rd string QB after Matt Schaub went down and Matt Leinart promptly got injured as soon as possible, because hey, being a back-up playboy quarterback who gets sideline tickets and never has to get hit is a pretty good gig. I think Tennessee will be in the mix longer than people expect, but Indy is in full-on rebuild mode and Jacksonville is one Maurice Jones-Drew away from challenging Cleveland as the team with the least amount of elite play makers. The should have the chance to snag a few more early in the draft over the next few years.

AFC West: Oakland Raiders - This is my least confident pick, any team in this division could finish with 10 wins or 4. That being said I'd like to see what Oakland's young receivers can do after having an off-season. They need to cut down on penalties, but IF Darren McFadden doesn't miss more than a game or two, I think the Silver and Black get back in the playoffs.

Wildcard: Pittsburgh Steelers - The Defense is aging. They still have a good coach, a clutch quarterback, speedy receivers and solid running backs. They'll win 10 games, and it will be enough to get in.

Wildcard: Tennessee Titans - I wanted to pick the Bengals here, but it seems every year there are at least two teams in the playoffs for each conference who weren't there the year before. Titans get the nod over the Chargers after nearly making it last year with a new coach and new quarterback and a terrible season from Chris Johnson.

AFC Champion: Baltimore Ravens - The Houston Texans are going to be the sexy pick for Sports Illustrated, ESPN and mostly everyone who gets paid to do this. . . . which is the only reason I can come up with to pick against them. I can see the Ravens drafting Arizona State linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who under the tutelage of Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs hits his stride in the playoffs and comes up with some big plays to keep Houston out of the Super Bowl if these two teams meet.

Coming Up Next: NFC Playoff Predictions