Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-6)

As perhaps one of the most surprising teams in the NFL last season, the future of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is looking bright to say the least. Coming into last season, the Bucs weren’t considered to be in the conversation for the playoffs in the NFC Conference, but that quickly changed after quarterback Josh Freeman and company got off to a great start.

Even though everyone was waiting for the Bucs to fall flat on their face and turn back into one of the worst teams in the league, that never happen and Tampa Bay actually gave the New Orleans Saints and the ev

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entual NFC South division champion Atlanta Falcons a run for their money in the division.

Making the playoffs this season is a very good possibility for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they have relatively the same team intact and now have the experience needed to make the next step. Winning the NFC South is a stretch for the Bucs playing in the same division as the Saints and the Falcons, but they might be able to contend for the NFC Wildcard.

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New Orleans Saints (11-5)

Last season the New Orleans Saints were the defending Super Bowl champions and seemed like they hadn’t lost step during certain times in the year. Around midseason though, the consensus was that the Saints weren’t the best team in the NFL anymore and needed to do that much more to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

Fortunately, the New Orleans Saints were able to clinch a playoff spot and keep hopes of repeating alive, but then they were dominated by the lowly Seattle Seahawks in the first round. This surprised everyone and made q

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uite a few people believe that the Saints might need to make some moves in order to get back to Super Bowl title contender status next season.

The move that this team made to get back in contention was drafting Heisman trophy winning running back Mark Ingram out of Alabama and cutting their ties with former Heisman trophy winner Reggie Bush by trading him to the Miami Dolphins. Whether or not these moves are just what this team needs to get back on top remains to be seen, but I believe the Saints’ running game will get a boost with Ingram instead of Bush this season.

Atlanta Falcons (13-3, Division title)

Much like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season, the Atlanta Falcons were one of the most surprising teams in the league as they went from a promising young team into a legitimate Super Bowl title contender in just one season.

With quarterback Matt Ryan looking like a perennial Pro Bowler and both Roddy White and Michael Turner becoming dominant forces in the Falcons offense, Atlanta was able to have a breakout season and become arguably the best team in the NFC Conference.

This season I believe the Atlanta Falcons will repeat as NFC South division champions and will see a new star emerge in rookie wide receiver Julio Jones playing across from Roddy White.

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Carolina Panthers (2-14)

The Carolina Panthers were the worst team in the NFL last season with little or no hope for the future. Even though the Panthers thought they had drafted the future face of the franchise in quarterback Jimmy Clausen, Carolina were disappointed with their draft pick and decided to top it this time around by drafting Heisman trophy winning quarterback Cam Newton with the number one overall pick.

Whether or not Cam Newton turns out to be what the Carolina Panthers had hoped for remains to be seen, but the rookie quarterback will almost certainly get some much needed time under center this season.

Division Winner Prediction: Atlanta Falcons

New England 14 at Cleveland 34

Hit: Browns coach Eric Mangini beat his former mentor Bill Belichick. Mangini outsmarted the usually prepared Belichick.

Miss: Tom Brady had a decent game — 224 yards, two touchdowns with no interceptions — and yet the Patriots only produced 14 points. With a defense so inconsistent, New England is destined to get bounced out early in the playoffs.

Hit: Second-year running back Peyton Hillis had a big game with 184 yards and two touchdowns. He sealed the game for the Browns. Denver must be kicking themselves.

Miss: Brady was clearly confused with the different looks and formations the Browns were giving him. Simply put the Browns were better prepared than Belichick and Co.

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Tampa Bay 21 at Atlanta 27

Hit: The Atlanta Falcons beat the “best” team in the NFC by making a defensive stand at the goal-line. There was no Josh Freeman-led comeback this time.

Miss: It’s a small miss, but the lone turnover by Freeman was the difference in the game. Bucs coach Raheem Morris may be onto something though. Tampa Bay is a dangerous team.

Hit: Michael Turner got on to a fast start to put the Falcons up early. He also ended the game by picking up the first down on a series of runs.

Miss: Tampa Bay got off to another slow start. They can’t keep trying to win games on two-minute drills.

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Chicago 22 at Buffalo 19

Hit: The Bears allowed only one sack on Jay Cutler. With good protection Cutler can certainly do damage. He did not throw an interception.

Miss: Buffalo outgained the Bears by 57 yards and still lost.

Hit: Tim Jennins’ pick of Ryan Fitzpatrick allowed the Bears to make a comeback and avoid losing to the worst team in the NFL.

Miss: Fitzpatrick was allowed to attempt 51 passes. Last time we checked the more
Fitzpatrick throws the more likely the Bills will lose the game. The Bills running backs were limited to only 16 attempts.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-2) at Atlanta (5-2)

Tampa Bay is the current darlings of the NFL. Nobody expected them to have a winning record at this point of the season, much less the way they’re doing it. The Bucs have won majority of their games with fourth-quarter comebacks. Second-year QB Josh Freeman has progressed so quickly that even his own coach is surprised. In fact, Raheem Morris is so confident that he declared that his team is the best in the NFC.

Atlanta is no stranger to fourth quarter comebacks. Tight end Tony Gonzales has been clutch this season.

The Bucs are perfect on the road and the Falcons are perfect at home.

Tampa Bay usually gives Matt Ryan problems.

With Dunta Robinson likely to play, the Falcons should be able to pull off a close win.

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San Diego (3-5) at Houston (4-3)

This is a critical game for the Chargers. Scratch that, this is an important game for coach Norv Turner. If the Chargers lose, this will be Turner’s last season in San Diego. This game will give us any indication that the Chargers are who we thought they are – capable of making a comeback in the second half of the season.

Houston usually plays its best football in the second half. Not a great formula for success because they always fall behind big in the first half.

They’ll be no second-half-of-the-season-comebacks for the Chargers this year.

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Indianapolis (5-2) at Philadelphia (4-3)

The story, of course, is the return of Michael Vick since he injured his ribs. Will he be more of a pocket QB to protect those ribs? With Philadelphia’s weak o-line, Vick will have to revert to running around the field to avoid sacks.

Indianapolis is playing well despite experiencing a slew of injuries. Having Peyton Manning also helps.

The Eagles are ripe for the picking. They allow 22 points a game.

St. Louis 17 at Tampa Bay 18

Hit: Josh Freeman led the Bucs to their third comeback win of the season. He led
Tampa Bay 81-yards down the field and threw a touchdown pass to Cadillac Williams with 10 seconds left. Freeman has been nothing but money for Tampa Bay this season.

Miss: Rams had only one turnover whole game, but struggled for yards in the second half.

St. Louis also veered away from their running game that was doing great. Steven Jackson deserved more hand-offs.

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Arizona 10 at Seattle 22

Hit: Olindo Mare was automatic. He made all five field goal attempts. Seattle’s red zone problem was covered by Mare’s brilliance.

Miss: Max Hall was knocked around like a doll Sunday and finished with a QB rating of 13.5.

It also didn’t help that the Cardinals turned the ball over five times.

New England 23 at San Diego 20

Hit: Philip Rivers keeps on playing and putting up numbers. He is the only positive thing on this team.

Miss: Kicker Kris Brown missed an opportunity to push the game into overtime by shanking a 50-yard field goal.

San Diego is not going to be able to start a second half run at this pace. Their special teams is the absolute worse in the league. Plus, their running game is in shambles after rushing for only 38 yards against the Patriots.

They’ll face four winning teams in the second half of the season.

San Diego also outgained the Patriots by 184 total yards and still lost. Yikes!

Oakland 59 at Denver 14

Hit: Darren McFadden’s four touchdowns set the tome early for the Raiders, who cruised to an easy victory over the one-dimensional Broncos.

Miss: The Broncos non-existent running game has caught up to QB Kyle Orton. Orton only threw for 198 yards and completed 41.4 percent of his passes.

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Minnesota 24 at Green Bay 28

Hit: The Packers finally escaped from Brett Favre’s shadow with a win against the visiting Vikings.

Miss: The officials reversing a touchdown catch by Visanthe Shiancoe that would’ve won the game for the Vikings.

Hit: Adrian Peterson was big for the Vikings. He rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown.