Ty Ranks the 2021 NFL Teams - "With the first pick in the 2022 Draft..." Division

With football season coming down the hatch I'm going to be doing my countdown of the NFL teams and a college preview. It should take about ten days to do it all, so strap in for football talk. Last year was different because of the pandemic, and while it is ongoing, both the NFL and college football look like they are plowing ahead. I did write about the NFL's new policies regarding vaccines, and how much I love what they are doing, so we know they are going to get a season in. I think college will be the same. With all that, for my NFL countdown I will do four teams a day, going from worst to best, in my opinion. Take this with a grain of salt because my watching of the NFL has gone way down since AT&T took away the Red Zone network from my TV. I still know what is going on, but college football is still my main squeeze. I will do predictions as I always do every preseason as well. Anyway, let's get to this countdown.

Coming in at number 32, my last ranked team is the Houston Texans. Man oh man do they have problems on and off the field. We all know what is going on with Deshaun Watson. And even though he is at camp and practicing, who knows how many games he will play, and if all of them are with Houston. If he leaves or misses time, this team is even more boned than previously thought. They have seemingly gotten rid of every good player they have had and are now in a rebuild, even if the front office guys won't admit it. They have the ghost of Mark Ingram and one season wonder Phillip Lindsay in the backfield. The O line is a mess. The receivers are very blah, except for Nico Collins. I watched him at Michigan, and I think he is going to be a good pro. Outside Whitney Mercilus, who may be past his prime, this defense is not good. It is filled with has been and never was players. They are going to get shredded. The Texans should be getting prepared to pick first overall in the next draft. They may only win two or three games all year.

At 31 I have the Washington Football Team. They need to get a name already. I'm glad they got rid of their racist name last season, but the time has come to pick a team name. I also really like Ron Rivera. I think he is a solid head coach. That is the only like I have. This team has the lowest vaccination rate, a terrible roster, an old roster and not a very good team. Ryan Fitzpatrick is their starting QB. When will his whole gimmick be thrown away? He is not that great a QB. His record as a starter is well below .500. I'm over him. Running backs are very boring. Receivers, outside Terry Mclaurin, are injury prone or not that good, and I don't think Fitzpatrick will hit them in stride regularly. Logan Thomas is so bland at tight end and the O line just let their best player walk for almost nothing. The defense is better, but not by much. Chase Young and Montez Sweat are a formidable d line duo. They are both young and good and this team should build around those two if they want future success. Then it gets a bit scary. Landon Collins was past his prime two years ago. The corners are not great. Linebacker is so suspect. They just do not have the guys. I would have loved it if they went hard after Cam Newton, but that did not happen, and here we are. Washington is better than Houston, but by a tiny, tiny sliver. They will have the same amount of wins, but Washington will look more competitive because of Young and Sweat.

At number 30 I have RD's Bengals. They would be higher if Joe Burrow wasn't coming off a shredded knee, and if all those stories of bad practices were coming out. If he can get out of his own head, and back to looking like he did before he got hurt last season, this team will be good in about two years. This season is a wash though. I do like some of the offensive talent. Burrow, if he can recover, is a good QB. Joe Mixon is an abuser, so forget him. But Samaje Perine was great at Oklahoma and Chris Evans has been turning heads in preseason. They have a good stable of young backs. I really like their wideouts too. Tyler Boyd is coming along slowly. I love Tee Higgins, and was stoked when they picked Ja'Marr Chase this year to reunite him with Burrow. The O line needs work, which always seems to happen with the Bengals, but man do they have some good, young talent at the skill positions. The defense is a mess, and why they are so low on my rankings. The starters are so mediocre for NFL players. They got Trae Waynes from Minnesota, but when was the last time he was a difference maker? I haven't heard of six or seven guys listed as starters. The D line is not great. They are going to get destroyed on that side of the ball. Opposing offenses are going to feast on them. They should have high scoring games, but they will not win many of them. This is a five win ceiling for this team, but they will probably win three or four games. I hope Burrow gets out of this funk too.

The final team for today, at 29, I have the Jacksonville Jaguars. Look, it is no secret how much I despise Urban Meyer, and their preseason game the other night looked like the Washington football team when Steve Spurrier was the head coach, but after everyone figured them out. But Meyer has made a TON of questionable decisions so far, and he looks a little over his head in the NFL. It was a no brainer for them to take Trevor Lawrence, and he has the tools to be great. I am flabbergasted that they haven't named him the starter yet though. Is Gardner Minshew really pushing him right now? I cannot imagine he is, and I would be stunned if Lawrence isn't starting week one. I also think they need to let Carlos Hyde and James Robinson know that they are moving ahead with Travis Etienne. He was Lawrence's teammate in college, he is younger than both players ahead of him on the depth chart and they need to stop with this nonsense of him at receiver. Let him be the guy and go through the growing pains with Lawrence. The whole Tim Tebow experiment needs to end. He is not good and should not make this team. I like Laviska Shenault Jr out of Colorado at wideout, but DJ Chark is oft injured and Marvin Jones is well past any prime he may have had. The O line is bad and they will have Lawrence running for his life a ton. The defense is not much better. They overpaid Shaquill Griffin. K'Lavon Chaisson had a very up and down rookie year. Myles Jack has been a bust. Josh Allen is misplaced at linebacker. They just do not have the guys to put together consistent stops. This team has too many holes and a head coach who seems to be out of his element. Lawrence and Etienne will push them to three or four wins, but that is it. I wonder how soon until Urban Meyer starts to have "medical issues" in his first season. That seems to be his MO.

That is it for today. Come back tomorrow for the next 4. It will get better everyday.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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The Football Team in Washington DC May Soon Have a Non-Racist Name

It looks like, finally, the NFL team that resides in Washington is going to change their name.

This has been a long time coming. I don’t know why they haven’t done it yet in fact. I’ve mentioned plenty of times that they need to change the name. I think the Indians in MLB should change their name too, or at the very least, their logo. The name is offensive. It’s a racial epitaph. The fact that people run around and scream the name, yell it from the stands, proudly wear shirts with the name plastered on it, it’s all so very insensitive. And this isn’t a recent thing, or a white guilt thing for me. As I said, I’ve been saying this since I was in high school. If the Bullets can become the Wizards, or the Bobcats can return to the Hornets, or the Saint Louis Browns switching to Cardinals, it’s easy to change a name. All it takes is one person deciding it needs to be done. I know the Wizards came about due to actual guns in the locker room, but still, they went with a change, and it was needed. The very same can be said, even more so, about the NFL team that resides in Washington. And while I know the change is only coming because Nike and FedEx have threatened to stop selling items, Nike going as far as taking all their stuff off their website last night, it needs to happen. Dan Snyder needs to stop being so bullish on this. I know he’s said that he will not budge, but when major investors start to threaten to pull out, his tone changed quickly. He released a statement this morning saying he’d have a meeting to discuss, and about an hour later it was revealed that a “name change was inevitable”. Finally.

As far as what I would like to see them change their name too, that’s a loaded question. I have been thinking about this for a very long time. At one point I really wanted them to change to the Warriors. I figured they could keep the logo, and all they’d have to do is change the name on the merch. I think it’s a much better representation to their team symbol. I still like that name a lot, it still might be my favorite in fact. But there has to be other choices. I saw someone mention the name the Red, White and Blues, and go by the Reds. I don’t like that. It’s too long, and kind of lame. My dad said the Diplomats, and while I think it’s appropriate, they’d have to do a full overhaul of all their merch, and I think it would be too patriotic looking, and the Patriots already own those colors on their gear. As far as other names, that could cause little change, they could go with the Native Americans or Cherokee’s or something in the Native American, American Indian realm. They could also go with something that represents the area. They could do Senators or Diplomats, my dad’s choice, Congress People, I don’t know. They just need to change it. I know it will cause a wide conversation, but it’s needed, as is the change. I’m sticking with my choice of Warriors, but hey, anything is better than what they have now.

This has been a long time coming, and hopefully they will have a new name whenever football comes back.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Cam Newton and Washington Makes Tons of Sense

Hope everyone is being safe and social distancing and staying home when you can. Still, go outside and get exercise and do things with your family, just make sure you are social distancing. For real.

Anyway, today I want to talk about Cam Newton. He is clearly done in Carolina. The Panthers hired a new coach, and last week they went ahead and grabbed the biggest fish on the QB market and signed Teddy Bridgewater. So the next question was, where will Newton end up?

I thought of this as well after the Panthers signed Bridgewater. I tried to think of what teams could use him. He is still young, still has a good arm, can still move and is only three years removed from a Super Bowl appearance and MVP season. I'd like to think that a good amount of teams in the NFL would want him. The first team I came up with was Chicago. Well, they went ahead and traded for Nick Foles, and they will now have one of the most boring "QB competitions" in NFL history. Miami, I guess, only wants to have a great defense, and is willing to roll with Ryan Fitzpatrick. Pittsburgh, for some reason, is sticking with their 100 year old, oft injured QB. I have no idea what the Rams are doing, but they couldn't afford Newton anyway. And Jacksonville, well, I guess they are content to be 4-12 under Gardner Minshew every season because he has some weird "cult" following in the area.

Then I saw some stories surfacing saying that Washington was interested in him. At first I scoffed. I mean, Washington has made mistake after mistake after mistake every since Dan Snyder bought the team. But something seems to be happening this offseason for them. They fired Jay Gruden, finally. He has been a mess since he was hired. He has fought with most of the star players openly. He seemed to call out any solid QB they had while he was coaching. He was never really the guy for the job. Then they replaced him with Ron Riviera. I found it puzzling, but then some stories came out that those in charge where going to let him pick his players, and run the team his way. This is a good move because their front office is not good. I think they should let the people who are in positions in the front office keep their jobs, but let the smart people, like Riviera, make the player decisions. They then cut Josh Norman who was a bust of a signing. They are finally willing to move Trent Williams, but not unless they get a big return. And they seem to be keeping important defensive pieces that Riviera can work with. Then the Newton stuff came out, and the more I thought about it, the more this makes sense. Washington has some good, young wide outs. They have an okay enough O line. I wish they had younger running backs, but maybe this is the season Derius Guice stays healthy finally. And they have a solid enough defense, like I said before. Newton also has plenty of experience playing for Riviera. I believe it is the only NFL coach he has ever played for. He has also had some great success under Riviera, which I also mentioned above.

When you sit and think, this has the potential to be a very good move. It would help, a little bit, some of the fans to forget about all the bad stuff. In that division, having a healthy Cam Newton could push them to playoff contention. The only person I feel bad for, if this is to happen, would be Dwayne Haskins. Look, I am a Wolverines fan as you all know, but I thought Haskins had the potential to be a solid NFL QB. He was very good in college, and I don't think he got much of a fair shake last year. First off, that dumbass Gruden went on record and said he didn't want to draft him, even though he was one of the better QB prospects in the draft. Gruden then proceeded to start guys like Case Keenum and Colt McCoy before injury and poor play forced his hand. Haskins didn't perform great, but he was never really given a fair shot. He was stashed on the bench by the coaching staff, didn't get much help from his skill guys, and now, well, it looks like they might take a chance on Newton, and it is the right move. Haskins may get a shot somewhere else, hopefully he does. But, when you have a chance to get a fully healthy Cam Newton, especially with his only NFL coach, I feel like that is a move you can't pass up, especially for a team like Washington.

Newton would be another good move, and would help out Washington tremendously. Now lets see if they actually do it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Ranks the 2019 NFL Teams: Green Olive Pizza Division

Day 3 of my 2019 NFL countdown begins with my number 24 team, the team from Washington.

Look, Dan Snyder is a moron, and he has been running this team into the dirt since he took over. This team, when I was a kid, was a powerhouse, now they are more well known for not paying Kirk Cousins, and playing an injured Robert Griffin in the playoffs his rookie year. As far back as I can remember, they have only been in the playoffs twice in the last decade and a half, and they left in round one with a whimper. They also didn't get much better in the offseason. Jay Gruden is somehow still the coach. Derius Guice is injured once again. Josh Norman jumped over a bull in Pamplona this summer, and that is the best thing he has done since signing there. They did draft Dwayne Haskins, and I think his "slide" might motivate him. But, he was a one year starter, and save for his performance in the Michigan game last year, he was just okay. I don't know if I would build around him. Washington is a team stuck in the past, and they sit there and think because they were once good that they should still be good. The problem, they are just an average, at best, NFL team. They don't really have much of anyone outside of Haskins now too. As I said, Guice is hurt, they don't have the best wide outs in the league, and Vernon Davis was their dude last year, and he is older than me I think. The defense is very blah in my opinion as well. And Jay Gruden, while not as insane as his brother, is just not a very good NFL coach. He has done nothing that positive since he took over awhile back. I could see them eeking out 7, maybe 8 wins, but that is their absolute ceiling. If I were a betting man, and if Vegas put the odds at 6.5 wins for them, I would take the under. Washington is just not a solid football team right now.

At number 23 I have the San Francisco 49ers. Everyone needs to pump the brakes on the 49ers. I'm sick and tired of hearing how they are finally going to turn a corner this year and be a contender. Who do they have that makes them a contender? Seriously, I want to know. Is it Jimmy Garroppollo? I don't think so. He had a few good games in New England, then Tom Brady demanded they trade him. The Patriots sufficed, and then he went to San Francisco, didn't start right away, but came in in mop up duty at the end of the year and won some games against teams that had nothing to play for. He got a ridiculous contract for that, and proceeded to shred his knee early last season. To me, he is a little bit better version of Matt Flynn. I want to see him put together an 8 or 9 game stretch, I'm not even asking for a full season, before I anoint him the next great NFL QB. They lost Jerick McKinnon. They have no receivers worth note. Their best pass catcher is a tight end who will now face double teams every week. And their defense stinks. I loathe Nick Bosa by the way. And it has nothing to do with the fact that he went to the University of Ohio State. He is a punk, a racist, a douchebag and will flop almost as hard as Daniel Jones. He is nowhere near as good as his brother, who I find a little overrated too, and not even close to top of the line d lineman in last year's draft. He is a dip shit. Richard Sherman is also a million years old, and I was wrong about the Soloman kid they took from Stanford a few years back. He has not panned out. Also, when will Kyle Shanahan start to take some kind of blame. This team has been awful since he was hired. Some of that is injury, but some of that is his piss poor coaching. I'm sure I will have to hear again how this is the year they turn it around. But, when Garroppollo shreds his other knee, and Bosa is too busy retweeting Bretbart articles and Richard Sherman is the only decent person on your team, you are a 6 win team at best. The 49ers stink.

At number 22 I have the Denver Broncos. This team is wasting one of the best defenses of the 21st century because John Elway does not know how to pick QB's. He got extremely lucky with Peyton Manning, although I think they won because of their defense. And since Manning, it has been a shit show. Guys like Trevor Siemian, Brock Osweiler, Paxton Lynch and Case Keenum have been the QB. Those teams have stunk. Now, they have Joe Flacco and they drafted Dew Lock. Oof. Flacco is another guy that got paid because of an excellent defense that made his old team a Super Bowl champ. He has never been that good, and lately, he looks totally disinterested in football, but also thinks he is a Hall of Famer. He is not. Then with Lock, my dad told me that their staff said "he is a fast ball pitcher that can't find the plate". That is not a compliment. That is an indictment of how far away that kid is from being even a competent backup in the NFL. I saw him play live, and while he has impressive arm strength, he is too prone to run and overthrow guys by ten yards. He has zero accuracy. They do have a solid back in Phillip Lindsay, and the o line is okay. But, their best receiver is Emmanuel Sanders, and while he is explosive, he is small and he gets blasted way too much. Where the Broncos thrive is on defense, and they are led by one of the best ever, Von Miller. Miller is awesome and a true Hall of Fame player and just goes after it. They have a solid line, the corners are serviceable and the secondary can hit. But, they are being wasted by this below average offense. The defense will keep them in games, it may even win a few for them, but they are no better than a 7 win team to me. That is a shame because that defense is so very good.

The final team for today, a team I was so very wrong on last year, coming in at number 21, I have the Jacksonville Jaguars. I picked them to win the Super Bowl last year. Now I have them this low on my list. They totally stumbled last year, and I don't think they can make a quick recovery. They did get rid of Blake Bortles finally, but replaced him with Nick Foles. Yes, he won a Super Bowl for Philly, and he held that team afloat last year after Carson Wentz went down with yet another injury. But, now Foles is being looked at as the franchise guy, and I think he will revert to his Saint Louis days, where he was the full time starter for the year, and wasn't that effective. They also have some solid wide outs, but Allen Hurns and the other guys just aren't being used right. They are actively rude to Leonard Fournette and TJ Yeldon at every turn. These guys should be the basis of what they do on offense, but when the coach and Tom Coughlin rip them at every turn, that has to be tough for them. Add on the fact that they hired John De Fillipo to be the new offensive coordinator, Yeldon and Fournette will be lucky to touch the ball a combined 20 times a game now. The defense completely fell apart last season as well. I love Jalen Ramsey, but man did he not back up his trash talk last year. The whole "Sacksonville" thing was clearly a one year deal as they got out sacked by everyone they played. They traded Dante Fowler midway through the year to the LA Rams for peanuts. Their linebackers weren't that good in run or pass defense. It was a total mess, much like this team is now. And I am not going to let the Foles signing fool me into thinking this team will be a contender all of the sudden. Jacksonville seems like they are back to being a mid tier, to bad, NFL team. They are going to probably win 6 or 7 games this year, but the days, or one year that is, of them being a contender are long gone. I cannot believe I thought this team was going to win the Super Bowl last year. I am a dummy.

That's it for today, come back tomorrow for my next 4 teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Do not be too hard on Ty about Jacksonville. How many of us are picking Cleveland to win it all this year. Now that is dumb.

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Domestic Abuse is OK with the NFL, Colin Kaepernick is Not

What does Colin Kaepernick have to do to even get a shot to get back into the NFL?

This all comes about because of 2 recent signings, by the same team, that I have seen happen that have disgusted me. The first one was Mark Sanchez being signed by the team from Washington. The moment Alex Smith got his leg ripped in half, I knew, just like everyone else, their season was pretty much over. The backup to Smith is Colt McCoy. While McCoy was a great college football player, he is not a good pro. He is too small, too inaccurate and bails on plays far too often. He should have been a third stringer for the entirety of his NFL career. But now he is starting. And who does Washington go out and sign to back him up? Do you all remember the "butt fumble"? Do you remember the guy that couldn't get a starting job after the Jets let him go? Do you remember the guy that, while the head coach at USC, Pete Carroll told to not go to the pros because he wasn't ready, and it wouldn't work? That guy is now the back up to Colt McCoy.

I just do not get it. Colin Kaepernick is a younger, much, much, much more athletic version of Alex Smith. He may not be as accurate as Smith, but Kaepernick at least takes shots down field. The reason Smith is so "accurate", is because he is constantly throwing 5-7 yard out passes. Kaepernick would, at the very least, take a few shots down field. He would also add the QB run to a very anemic run offense. Sure, he would take carries away from Adrian Peterson, another guy that is somehow still in the NFL, but Kaepernick is not, but who cares. Their division is so bad, and Colt McCoy is not the answer. Nor is Mark Sanchez. Kaepernick would give them the best shot to win the division and play in the playoffs. Washington currently sits at 6-5, in second place behind the Cowboys because of the head to head matchup. But, I'm out on the Eagles now, they look broken and are super injured, and the Giants stink. They will be picking in the top 5 again. Where Washington stands right now, they have a "chance" at the playoffs, but it is only real if they would have picked Kaepernick over Sanchez and McCoy. He is light years better than those guys and he brings an added dimension that neither of them is even close to bringing to this horrendous offense.

The other player Washington just signed is making me despise the NFL even more than I thought I ever could. You all know how I feel about all the domestic abuse that comes with a good portion of NFL players now, and the league's "handling" of these abusers. They get, basically, a slap on the wrist. Ray Rice, until the video was released, was only suspended 2 games. Aldon Smith, who had a problem with alcohol as well, got seemingly a million chances until he was finally cut. Adrian Peterson admitted to hitting his child with a switch, that he made him cut down, and someone just did a report where he said he still spanks his kid. This report was made to seem like Peterson has changed. Clearly, he has not. But what Washington just did, and how long it took for the NFL to step in, is egregious.

After his second known report of domestic violence, in less than a year, Rueben Foster got released by the 49ers and Washington went out and signed him before he was even out of jail. Why? Why did they think this was okay? Why would they sign this dude who is a multiple domestic abuser? Why does he get a third chance when Kaepernick has been so clearly blackballed? Why did it take almost a week for the NFL to put him on the "exempt list"? This is wrong on every single level. Rueben Foster is a well known abuser. He continually hits his girlfriends. He has already been arrested twice since he joined the NFL. The 49ers kept giving him chances. And now Washington wanted to give him another chance. But Kapernick is too much of a distraction? Kaepernick can't lead this team to the playoffs? Kaepernick isn't as good a football player as Sanchez or Foster? Get the hell out of here with that nonsense. The fact that Foster was given his millionth chance by Washington is ridiculous. This team doesn't need a linebacker, let alone a linebacker that hits his girlfriends. This team needs a mobile QB with a big arm. That is Colin Kaepernick to a T. But, Washington would rather give a bust like Mark Sanchez a fourth chance. And they'd rather give a domestic abuser his millionth chance. But they won't even give Kaepernick a sniff. They wouldn't even bring him in for a workout.

This is disgusting . This is the problem with the NFL. They'd rather blackball a non violent protester. The NFL would rather let a domestic abuser play. They'd rather let a has been sign a million dollar contract. This is a disturbing trend. What makes this even worse though, it is the same team signing these 2 players and not even looking at Kaeprnick.

I'm disgusted and disillusioned with the NFL. I'm sick and tired of the collusion that the NFL clearly has against Kaepernick. Colin Kaepernick deserves to be on an NFL roster. Much more so than these 2 yahoos. There is hard core collusion going on, and until he is rightfully back in the NFL, I will continue to stump for Colin Kaepernick. Until then, Washington disgusts me. They are a joke of a franchise and these 2 signings make them even more of a joke.

Screw you Washington and screw you NFL. You are a group of disturbed individuals that only care about money and yourselves.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He forgot to mention the Cincinnati Bengals also signed a new QB this week. We all know Tom Savage is way better than Kaepernick, right?

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Ty Ranks the 2018 NFL Teams: The Morning K-Cup to get the Day Started

Welcome  day 5 of my 2018 NFL countdown. We are pretty much to the point that all these teams will, at the very least, be .500, if not better. I don't particularly think any of these teams will make the playoffs, due to many different reasons that I will state, but they are darn close.

Okay, here we go.

At number 16 I have the Dallas Cowboys. As you all should well know by now, I despise the Cowboys. I always have, and I always will. Jerry Jones is a piece of human garbage, and he needs to get punched in the face repeatedly for many things. He is a phony, a liar and thinks he is a plantation owner. He treats his players as property, not people. Jerry Jones is the worst in a long, long line of terrible men. All 32 owners, for the most part, are terrible rich white guys, but Jerry Jones is the worst. I LOATHE him. Now that that is out of the way, the Cowboys have a very solid offense, but not a great defense. When the defense implodes when a player like Sean Lee goes down, that is a big problem. While he is a fine line backer, he shouldn't be the best player on that side of the ball. That doesn't make for a contender. Their secondary is abysmal. They are the opposite of what the Seahawks were at their height. They give up way too many big plays. Their D line doesn't get much of a pass rush, and that bums me out because I like Taco Charlton. They just aren't that good on defense. They do have a solid offense. Letting Dez Bryant walk may be the best thing they did all offseason. He never lived up to the hype. I do like Dak Prescott a lot. I wish the best for him. He has had a very tough life, he is a good kid, and I wish him nothing but the best. He is already better than Tony Romo is my opinion. Ezekial Elliott is a woman abuser, and an all around shitty person. He is arrogant, cocky and seems like a drag to hang around with. While he may be a good back, all the outside stuff makes me not like him. I have also heard multiple stories from multiple people saying that he is a dick head. I don't like him. The Cowboys O line is very good too. That is why Elliott gains so many yards, and Prescott barely gets sacked. They do have to replace Bryant, but that will be easy enough. What holds this team back is their horrid defense and Jerry Jones. I hope this team continues to lose while he is still the owner. That would be sublime. The Cowboys are plus .500 team, but not a playoff team.

At number 15 I have the team from Washington. Now, I do not thing Kirk Cousins is as good as others do, but to replace him with Alex Smith is baffling. He is just an older, more hit version of Cousins. I know he had a decent year last year, but Andy Reid, while being a horrible playoff coach, is a great regular season coach, especially for QB's. Alex Smith's best days are far behind him. They also already lost their rookie running back to a torn ACL on the third play of preseason. I thought Derrius Guice had a chance to be decent, but now he will miss the entire year. The O line isn't that great either. Smith will get pummeled, and whoever is the running back, they will find it hard to gain yards. They also don't really have many solid receiving threats. Vernon Davis is a million years old. Josh Doctson is a bust. And I don't know anyone else at that position. The defense is so so. They can get a bit of pressure, and they have some solid cover guys. But, they are not much to write home about. I also feel like a guy like Ryan Kerrigan is a bit overrated. Also, while I loved Vita Vea in college, I believe he is hurt too. They won't stop too many people. It is sad to say, but this team will regress because they let Cousins go. Again, I do not think he is great, but Alex Smith is not an upgrade. 8-8 is their destiny.

At number 14 I have the Detroit Lions. First of all, I do not think Jim Caldwell deserved to be fired. He led that team to the playoffs, and they were much mote competitive than they should have been, given the roster. And the hiring of Matt Patricia is questionable. He definitely committed some kind of sexual assault that was covered up, and his "expertise" lies in defense. Well, his Patriots defense got ripped apart all season last year, especially in the Super Bowl. Also, the Lions problems lies with their defense. They are a sieve. Besides Ezekial Ansah, they don't really have anyone else of note. Ansah is great, but no one pays attention to him because the Lions defense is just not good. And I don't think Patricia is the right guy to fix it. He is going to have a tough time. The Lions offense though, they are good. Matthew Stafford is a solid QB. He doesn't deserve the money he is getting, but the dude is solid. He trusts his arm far too much, but he has a great arm. I also thought he was going to regress when Calvin Johnson retired, but he didn't. He has made guys like Golden Tate and Kenny Golladay viable receivers. He uses his tight end, Eric Ebron, perfectly. The Lions don't have much of a run game, and that hurts them in tight games when they need to salt the clock away. The Lions will score plenty, but they will also give up a ton of points. I could see them setting a scoring record, but also giving up a record number of points. I have always had a soft spot for the Lions, because of Barry Sanders, but they just don't have quite enough to be a playoff contender. 8-8 or 9-7 seems right to me.

My final team for the day, at number 13, I have the Houston Texans. This team is being held back by 2 things, the coach and injuries. Bill O'Brien is mediocre at best. He has just failed upwards. Just because he once challenged Tom Brady, Penn State, and now the Texans gave him a head coaching job. He hasn't done much since taking over both spots. He is a poor play caller, and he acts like a real asshole. I wouldn't be shocked, if this team misses the playoffs, if the Texans finally fire him. Injuries also plague this team every year. JJ Watt is never healthy. They cannot keep a running back on the field. They lost their star QB to a torn ACL in a non contact drill at a practice last year. They just cannot stay healthy. Also, their owner, is right up there with Jerry Jones. He is a horrible human being. He is the owner who made the "inmates running the asylum" comment talking about the protests last year. He is the guy that forced his best player, Deandre Hopkins, to walk out of a practice after making those comments. He is a monster. I hope he loses all his money in a pyramid scheme. Now, if the Texans can stay healthy, they should be, at the very worst, second in their division, and fighting for a playoff spot all year. JJ Watt needs to stay healthy, which he hasn't done in 2 years. Pair him with Jadaveon Clowney, who is so great, that is a great pass rush duo. Clowney is so much better than Watt too. He is an amazing football player. Now that known steroid user Brian Cushing has retired, I think that will be better for the defense. Other, younger guys will be able to step in and play. And the secondary is fine. They're not great, but they are solid. On offense, this team has the QB of the future. I have always been a Deshaun Watson fan, and the 7 games he played in last year only furthered how much I like him. He is a very, very good QB. He has the tools to be one of the best. He is a taller, more accurate Russell Wilson. He is a faster and taller Drew Brees. He is awesome. He just needs to stay healthy. Those of us that still watch football need a player like Watson to play because he is so wonderful. Now, he doesn't have much of a run game. He can kind of make that not a problem with his legs, but the Texans need to get a running back worth his salt to help Watson out. What Watson does have is Deandre Hopkins. Hopkins is one of the best in the game. He runs great routes, makes incredible catches and is easily the leader of the team. He is criminally underrated. If Hopkins played on a better team, he would be mentioned with guys like Antonio Brown and Julio Jones. Deandre Hopkins rules. The rest of the receiving corps is fine. But, when you have a number one like Hopkins, that makes the rest of the positon unit look so much better. The O line is blah. But, again, a guy like Watson kind of blurs their problems. The Texans can be very good, like 10-12 win good, if they can stay healthy. But, they most likely won't, O'Brien will make some dumb calls and the owner will divide the locker room at some point this year. The Texans should win, at least 10 games, but I bet they end up 8-8, or 9-7. I hope not because I adore Deshaun Watson, but that is what the Texans do.

That's it for today. Come back next week for the top 12. The best of the best.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He knows that Texas is a big state with some great people. It just really sucks that two of the worst Americans happen to own the two football teams in the state.

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Ty Ranks the 2017 NFL Teams: The Anticipation for "The Last Jedi" Edition

New week, same 2017 NFL countdown here at SeedSing. This week we will finally get to the cream of the crop. The teams I will talk about this week all have a legit shot to make the playoffs, and about 60 to 70 percent of them could make a real case for going to, and winning, the Super Bowl. Lets go.

At number 16 I have Washington. I will not say or write the team name because it is offensive, so henceforth they will only be known as Washington. Washington has a QB problem. They cannot decide what to do with Kirk Cousins. Cousins is not a bad QB, but a 20 million plus a year QB? No way. He is not nearly that good. Off the top of my head there are many other QB's I'd want before Cousins name would even come up. Give me Brady, Rodgers, Newton, Wilson, Matt Ryan, hell, I'd even take Ryan Tannehill before Cousins. But, Washington is, by mistake I believe, doing the smart thing in franchising him. Make him continue to prove himself, then let someone like the Browns or 49ers throw way, way too much money at him when he has already played his best football for you. They have done it ass backwards, but it has been the "smart" move. The skill players are fine, but they did lose Desean Jackson this offseason. That is going to hurt, and hurt a lot. He was their deep threat. They do have Jordan Reed, and when he is healthy, he is good. They signed Terelle Pryor, and if last season is any indication, he is becoming a legit NFL wide out, just not a number one receiver. I like Josh Doctson, but he was seemingly injured all last season. Jamison Crowder is okay. That is the best way to describe the receivers, okay. Matt Jones was a revelation for the first half of last year, but then the NFL figured him out. Same thing can be said of Robert Kelly. Big runner, but can't really separate, and even though he is big, he gets tackled fairly easily. Their O-Line is rarely talked about, but that is good. That means they are doing their jobs. Washington's defense is, quietly, kind of good. Ryan Kerrigan is a very good pass rusher. Josh Norman, who kind of took a step back last year, is still a very good corner. He guarded the best receiver on the opposition every game last year, expect for the Giants games. That was very much publicized. Trent Williams is a very good defensive tackle. Su'a Cravens seems to be coming along nice. And Junior Gallette is still producing. Washington has a pretty decent defense that can stop teams. Their offense is what keeps them back I feel. They rely on Cousins, and he just isn't elite. He is more Joe Flacco than Aaron Rodgers, and he will continue to take them to the first round of the playoffs, and get beaten like a drum.

Coming in at number 15 I have the Houston Texans. Okay, Houston has the best defense in the NFL right now. Better than Denver, Seattle, anyone, in my opinion. They are so good on that side of the ball. JJ Watt, even though he never gets any criticism for some weird reason, is great. He is awesome, when he is healthy. I just wished he got the same judgement for his celebrations like Cam Newton gets. Jadeveon Clowney is awesome, but he is another guy that cannot stay healthy. But, when he is out there, he is great. Brian Cushing, who loves his steroids, is a tackling machine. As long as he isn't suspended for violating the NFL's drug policy, he produces. They lost AJ Bouye, but they have guys that can step in. Johnathan Joseph immediately comes to mind. Oh, I forgot about Whitney Mercilus on the D-Line. He is inconsistent, but when he is on he is dominant. This defense is awesome. Now, we must address the offense. First thing, I love that they moved up to take Deshaun Watson. I think he is going to be great and I think he can be the franchise guy they are looking for. I also love how they fleeced both Brock Osweiler and the Browns. Both brilliant moves by their front office. I also really like DeAndre Hopkins. He may be the most underrated receiver in the NFL. He is a legit number one. After that though, the Texans offense kind of falls off. Will Fuller, Braxton Miller and Jaelen Strong are not top level guys. At running back they have Lamar Miller and Alfred Blue. Miller was supposed to be Arian Foster's replacement, but he never really played out last year. And when Blue got his shot, he wasn't much better. The O-Line is okay, but not great. The tight ends are old school tight ends, and that doesn't work in the modern NFL. Houston is helped out by their atrocious division and their incredible defense. If Watson is the player I think he can be, this team could be a real threat. But that means counting on a rookie in the NFL. That is a scary proposition. The Texans will be in the playoffs, but the development of Watson throughout the year will be the factor in how far they go.

At number 14 I have the Philadelphia Eagles. Some may think this is too high, but I think the Eagles will surprise a lot of people this year. They could beat out both the Cowboys and the Giants in their division this year. I think a lot of people are sleeping on this offense. I think Carson Wentz is a decent QB. He is a hell of a lot better than Jared Goff, the guy taken before him last year. He performed much better than I expected last year. Add the fact that he has a legit receiver now in Alshon Jeffrey, and I think he will make the leap this year. Nelson Agholor is also an underrated, decent receiver. Don't sleep on the Torrey Smith signing either. He may have looked bad last year, but the 49ers offense was a mess. He will look much better this year. Zach Ertz is like a poor man's Greg Olsen or Martellus Bennett. He's a decent blocker but a much better pass catcher. He is reliable. I know they cut Ryan Matthews, but they still have Darren Sproles, and this is his last season. He has said he is done after this year. I feel like he is going to completely ball out. They also signed Legarette Blount. This backfield is filled with experience and winning. I like this backfield. Also, I forgot to mention the signing of Chris Long on defense. He has been great everywhere he has played. And Brandon Graham, a Michigan man, has gotten better every year. The Eagles are a good football team. They can, and probably will, surprise a lot of people. I know most people are penciling in the Cowboys in that division, but do not sleep on the Eagles. I like this team.

The final team for today, number 13, is the Denver Broncos. Last year many people thought was an aberration. I do not agree with that. The Broncos still have an incredible defense. Von Miller may be the best linebacker since LT. I'm not kidding. This guy is amazing. He recently said that he thinks 30 sacks in one season is attainable, and I bought it. He is the one guy that can do it. Aqib Talib, even with all the headaches he brings, is one of the better corners in the league, and if he gets his hands on the ball, he is housing it. Brandon Marshall is an incredible linebacker. One of the best in the league. Chris Harris Jr is lockdown as the other corner. Bradley Robey and TJ Ward are amazing safeties. Their D-Line is very good too. The defense is not the problem. The problem is the offense, and more importantly, it is the QB. Trevor Siemian is not a starting NFL QB. He was barely a Big Ten starting caliber QB in college. Paxton Lynch looks scared and slow out there. He may be a career backup. Those are guys they are counting on to run the offense. That is unsettling. Demayrius Thomas may have already played his best football. He is still good, but he hasn't been the same the past 2 years. He drops way too many easy passes too. I like Thomas, but I feel like he may not be an elite receiver anymore. Emmanuel Sanders is a great receiver that will go over the middle of the field, but that looks to be taking its toll on him. He is still a legit deep threat, but with Siemian and Lynch throwing the ball to him, does his downfield speed really matter? I don't think so. The Broncos do have a lot of options at running back, but none of them are great. CJ Anderson was supposed to take a big step last year, he did not. He barely got 3 yards a carry. Devontae Booker may be the future, but he doesn't get enough touches. They signed Jamaal Charles, but can he stay healthy and will he even be on the team when the season starts? Both are reasonable questions. The Broncos have an incredible defense, but the offense is very far behind due to the lack of a quality QB. They also play in a very, very good division. Wins will be hard to come by, but the defense will keep them in every single game.

That's it for today. Come back tomorrow for the next 4 teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He enjoyed being on the path of totality for the great eclipse of 2017. He thought his regular sunglasses would be sufficient to see the show. He is now unable to read this sick burn. (Just kidding, he watched it all through his homemade space toy).

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The SeedSing 2016 NFL Predictions and Picks

Time to hand out a few game balls

To round out my NFL preview, today I will pick each division winner and who I think will be the two wild cards from each conference. I will also pick the Super Bowl teams and winner. As well as team picks, I will also pick the offensive and defensive players of the year, the offensive and defensive rookies of the year, the coach of the year and the overall MVP. This blog is going to be short and to the point. One sentence as to why I pick each team is all I'm giving myself. If you want to know other reasons I like these teams, you can read my 8 part preview that I finished yesterday.

Let's start with the AFC. The AFC East will be tricky because of Brady's suspension, but I still think the Patriots will win. Brady will come back on fire, and he will, on his own, will this team to the division title. The rest of the teams are either not ready, or not good enough to dethrone the juggernaut that is the Patriots. The AFC West will, most likely, be the toughest division in all of football, with three of the four teams finishing over .500, but I think the Broncos will win it. Their defense is just too good, and they won't give up a lot of points. If the offense averages 20, that would be absolutely huge for them. But, watch out for the Chiefs and the Raiders, they are both coming to dethrone the Broncos. The AFC North will also be a three team race, maybe 2, the Ravens aren't that good, but the Bengals and Steelers will fight it out all season. I see the Steelers winning because they have one of the best offenses in all of football, and their defense is pretty decent. The AFC South is still a joke, but it is getting better. Tennessee still stinks, but the Jaguars are putting together a competitive team. This all comes down to health and performance, and I think the Colts will rebound and win the division, but the Texans will be tough. As far as the wild cards go, I'm going to have to go with the Bengals and the Raiders. The Raiders are going to be good, and the Bengals have become mainstays, even if they cant get out of the first round.

For the NFC, let's start with the lowly NFC East. As I stated many times in my preview, a team with a losing record, like the Cowboys or Giants, could win this division, but I think Washington has the best players and the talent to easily repeat. They will get bounced after one round, but they will make a second straight playoff appearance. The NFC West is a two team race, between the Cardinals and the Seahawks, but the Cardinals are a much, much better team than the Seahawks. If the Cardinals don't win this division with ease, it should be deemed a disappointment. They have the best offense, and their defense is right there with Seattle. Arizona should cruise. With the NFC North, again, we have a two team race between the Packers and the Vikings. I just don't see, especially if they are at full health, how the Packers do not win this division. They have one of the best QB's in all of football, and they have a pretty good defense. Green Bay should win by 2 games. The NFC South is all about the Panthers. They are my best team in the NFL this year, and a lot of other writers agree with me. The Panthers could win their first 10 games and sew up the division with 6 weeks left. They are the cream of the crop. As far as the wild cards from the NFC, I have Minnesota and Seattle, but this may be a last shot for both teams.

I like the Patriots and the Broncos to meet again in the AFC Championship, this time the Patriots will come out on top. And for the NFC Championship, I like the Cardinals and the Panthers, another rematch, with Carolina winning.

That means Super Bowl 51 will be Carolina-New England. As much as I want to pick the Patriots, just so they can shove it in Goodell's stupid smug, arrogant face, I think the Panthers are too good, and they will learn from last season's disappointing loss in the Super Bowl. Carolina is my pick to win Super Bowl 51.

As far as awards go, I like Cam Newton as both, the offensive player of the year and MVP. His time is now, and he will not back down. He has gotten better every year, and I don't see any regression from him. He is awesome. As far as defensive player of the year, I like Luke Kuechly. He is the star defender of one of the better defenses in the NFL. That makes a clean sweep by Panthers in awards and titles. The offensive rookie of the year will probably be some 6th or 7th round pick that a lot of people are overlooking, or if they had the nerve to give it to a lineman, I'd pick Laremy Tunsil, but I think someone like Derrick Henry, who was a second round pick, and will get every opportunity to play for Tennessee or, more likely, Corey Coleman at Cleveland or Laquon Treadwell in Minnesota. Let's go with Treadwell since Minnesota is so much better than Cleveland. For defensive rookie of the year, it will be tough because there are a lot of good, young defenders, but I think I will go with Jalen Ramsey. He may get beat deep sometimes, but he will be a good corner from day one in the NFL. My coach of the year has got to be Jack Del Rio. I love what he has turned the Raiders into, and he will deservedly win this award this year if the Raiders live up to the hype I have put on them.

So that does it for my 2016 NFL preview. Let me know why I'm right or wrong, and football will be here before we know it, thank goodness. Come back tomorrow when I finish off my football previews with my college football preview.

Ty

Editor's Thoughts - I have no major differences with Ty on the playoff teams. I think Kansas City could be better than the Raiders and I do not believe in Seattle. It pains me to say that Tampa Bay could sneak into the playoff picture. Also, the Cincinnati should be called Harambes will win the AFC North. The Cincinnati squad will (FINALLY) win not one, but two playoff games to face Arizona in the Super Bowl. The Queen city will be overjoyed.

The Cardinals will destroy the Bengals by 30-40 points.

RD

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. RD Kulik is the Head Editor and frequent contributor to the X Millennial Man Podcast. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik and make RD happy by supporting SeedSing with straight cash.

Ty Ranks the 2016 NFL Teams: Cool Summer Breeze Edition

Welcome to day 5 of my NFL countdown. We are finally past the mediocre half of teams in the NFL, and we are now going to be getting to teams with real shots at making the playoffs, and advancing fairly far. For the most part, if not all of them, the rest of these teams will be .500, or much, much better. We are finally at some good teams. On with the countdown.

Coming in at number 16, I have the New York Jets. The Jets were almost going to be on the earlier part of my countdown, but they signed Ryan Fitzpatrick to a one year deal at the very last moment before I started my notes for this list. Now, Fitzpatrick is not an other worldly QB, but he is decent. He set Jets passing records last year, and he is a whole hell of a lot more liked and reliable than Geno Smith. You never hear of anyone punching Fitzpatrick so hard that they break his jaw. He goes in and does his job, and he has gotten better the longer he has been in the NFL. I think Fitzpatrick is a pretty decent QB to lead what could be a playoff bound Jets team. At receiver they have two very good targets in Eric Decker and the wonderful Brandon Marshall. Decker goes over the middle and makes the circus catches, but Brandon Marshall is the far superior pass catcher on this team. He catches everything that comes his way, he is tall and he is fast. Brandon Marshall is a great, great football player. They absolutely upgraded their running game by signing Matt Forte. He is going to make opponents respect the run game, and the pass game will benefit. He is also a very good pass catcher coming from the backfield. I like this addition a lot. The offensive is good too. The Jets also have a pretty good defense as well. Muhammed Wilkerson is a very good d lineman. Leonard Williams is a fast defensive end, who can wreak havoc in the backfield. David Harris is still one of the most steady linebackers in all of the NFL. And Darelle Revis is one of, if not the, best cover corners in all of football. The Jets are a team on the rise, and they could be a big factor this year. I think they will be pretty decent, but they will also blow games because that's what they do. The Jets will be 10-6 and may push their way into the playoffs.

At number 15, I have the Buffalo Bills. Is this the year that the Bills finally take that next step? Is this the year they win, or are near the top of their division? Is this the year they put it all together? They just might. I'm actually a pretty big fan of Tyrod Taylor at QB. He seems to almost always make the right decision. He uses his legs when necessary, throws the ball to the right receiver, and throws it away when the play breaks down. LeSean McCoy, when healthy, is a great running back. He is the focal point of the offense, and that is the way it should be. He is great at running the ball, and a very good receiver out of the backfield. Sammy Watkins is a star in the making at receiver, they just have to get him the ball more. He is so dynamic with the ball in his hands, and he is an awesome football player. The o line, while not great, is serviceable. Sure, they lost Mario William, but they have Shaq Lawson to replace him. They also have guys like Reggie Ragland, Stephon Gilmore and Marcell Dareus on their defense. The Bills may be the team that takes the most advantage of the Brady's four game suspension. They have the players that have the know how and the goods to come out of the gates hot and challenge the Patriots. This may be one of the better teams that Rex Ryan has had the ability to coach. But, Rex Ryan is what is holding this team back. He is just not that good of a head coach. Because of Ryan, I think the Bills will go 10-6, but they have the players to be 12-4, or even 13-3.

At number 14, I have the team from Washington. They are the only team in their god awful division that can win double digit games. They have Kirk Cousins back, who proved that he may be a decent NFL QB. He is another guy that doesn't try to make miracle plays, he usually makes the right play. He can check down to other receivers, he will throw the ball away, and he will run when called on to. I think he is making a big mistake by betting on himself and not signing a long term deal, but we will see. At running back, they have some good guys. I really like Matt Jones. He is a good, big and durable back. He is very competent. Then, they have a plethora of good receivers. Guys like Desean Jackson, stretches the field with his speed, Pierre Garcon, great possession receiver, Santana Moss, old, but reliable and rookie Josh Doctson, who won't be counted on as the top threat, but will make some plays. They also signed Vernon Davis this off season, and I like that a lot. He is a great safety blanket for all the QB's he's played for. Then, on defense, they have decent d lineman and linebackers, but they have D'Angelo Hall, and they signed Josh Norman, who may be the best defensive back in all of the NFL. That is huge for Washington, because they will play the Giants twice, and they now have a corner that can shutdown Odell Beckham JR. The Washington defense is good. This team has all the tools to repeat, and repeat as division winners with ease. I think they do that to the tune of 11-5. They will feast on the teams in their division. They may get 8 of their 11 wins from their division alone.

At number 13, I have the Houston Texans. Now, this team is all about their defense. I think their defense could win a lot of games for them this year. They will have a lot of games that will finish 10-7 or 14-10, and they will win those because their defense is so good. But, I will talk about the offense first. Sure, they signed Brock Osweiler away from Denver, but I don't think he is as good as others think he is. But, the caveat, he is playing with a defense that is almost, but not really, as good as Denver's. They have similar defenses, so Osweiler won't have to do to terribly much on offense. They also signed Lamar Miller after letting Arian Foster walk. Miller is a decent running back, and he will put up similar numbers to what Foster has done the past few years. At receiver they have the awesome DeAndre Hopkins. I know he is in a contract situation right now, but they will figure that out, he is too important to this team. But, outside of the excellence that is Hopkins, they are thin at wide out. Will Fuller is fine, but not a real big threat. They have an okay o line as well. But, this team is not about offense. Their defense is stout, led by JJ Watt. There is no denying  his greatness, he is going to go down as one of the best of all time. They also have Jadeveon Clowney, who is due to have a big year, and Vince Wilfork, who is one of the best nose guards that has ever played. They have some great linebackers, even though some have been suspended for using steroids. Brian Cushing is said steroid user, but he is a good linebacker. I also like Whitney Mercilus. He has gotten better every year in the pros. Charles James and Quintin Demps are pretty decent defensive backfield players, they just don't get shine because their d line is so great. Houston should take over that division away from the Colts, but I don't know if Bill O'Brien is the coach to do that. He has held this team back since he was picked to coach them. I still think they are above .500, but I don't think they will supplant the Colts just yet. I like this team a lot, but I think they will finish 9-7, but it will be the most competitive 9-7 in all of football.

Come back next week for the rest of my countdown.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Want to know what Ty has to say about the Olympics? Check out the new X Millennial Man Podcast premiering tomorrow. Ty has a twitter, go follow him @tykulik.

Ty's (first) Annual NFL Playoff Predicitions

Playoff football and chili. Must be January

The NFL playoffs start this weekend and I have given a preseason (NFC, AFC, and postseason) and a mid season report, now I want to give a playoff preview and prediction. Both my preseason and mid season picks were way off the mark, I'm looking at you Indianapolis and Green Bay. But, with the playoffs now set, I'd like to give it one more crack, maybe this time I'll do better.

This upcoming Saturday we get the AFC first round playoff matchups between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans and the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals. Both these games should be decent, but I think it's pretty obvious who the winners will be. In the Chiefs-Texans game you have one team, the Chiefs, riding a 10 game winning streak. The Texans were in the AFC South, so 9 wins easily made them the division winners. The AFC South is a joke of a division and while the Texans have a pretty good defense, they have zero offense. They've used way too many quarterbacks this year that are all below average NFL starters. They have had no running game since Arian Foster went down for the season and save for Deandre Hopkins, they have no threats in the passing game. Hopkins is great, but if you can hold him to a 6 or 7 catch game, you can pretty easily beat Houston. The Chiefs aren't much better on offense, but they have way better playmakers. Alex Smith is a much better QB than anyone Houston will throw out there. They have struck gold with their backup running backs, Charcandarick West and Spencer Ware, after losing Jamaal Charles to a torn ACL. They also have a receiver that's almost as big a threat as Hopkins in Jeremy Maclin and they have a much better tight end in Travis Kelce. Oh, and there defense is just as good, if not better than the Texans. Sure, JJ Watt may get a couple of sacks, but what will Houston do with the ball on offense and will they be able to totally shut down the Chiefs? I don't think so. The only thing they have as an advantage is, they're playing at home, but that won't matter. Chiefs win by 10, with the final being 20-10. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati could have been a game, if not for the Andy Dalton injury. Cincinnati gets short changed every season. Sometimes it's their fault, other times, injuries derail this team. They have an okey running game with Giovanni Bernard and Jeremy Hill and they have one of the best receivers in the game in AJ Green, but that won't matter with AJ McCarron throwing and handing the ball off. The Bengals defense is top notch, but they have no one that will be able to slow Antonio Brown even a little bit. The Bengals line may stuff the run and even pressure Roethlisberger a bit, but he will still find Brown. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, has an elite offense clicking at the perfect time. They don't have their typical stout defense, but they can and will outscore opponents. I may not like the person, but Ben Roethlisberger is playing elite football right now. And, as I've mentioned before, he has Antonio Brown to throw the ball to. He also has Markus Wheaton, Heath Miller and Martavis Bryant to throw too as well. They lost LeVeon Bell earlier this year and DeAngelo Williams appears to have gotten injured in their finale, so that leaves the running game to Fitz Toussaint, former Michigan running back, but the Steelers don't need to run to win, In fact, I bet they run only 10 to 15 times the whole game. Steelers win in Cincy, crushing the Bengals playoff dreams in the first round once again, final score of 28-14. 

This Sunday we get the NFC first round matchups of Green Bay and Washington and Seattle and Minnesota. Both should be good, hard fought, close games. Green Bay travels to Washington to face the DC team on a roll right now. Whoever thought Kirk Cousins would be this good is a god damn liar. They have an okay run game, but they like to throw and they play some solid defense. Green Bay is a total enigma. They can never seem to get it going until it's too late, or they play to their ability and they blow out inferior opponents. Green Bay cannot protect Rodgers, their run game is non existent at times, but can also be great and their receivers can't get open, or if they do it's too late because Rodgers got sacked. Rodgers deserves a lot of the blame too for those sacks. Sometimes, when he does get good protection, he just holds on to the ball for way too long. Green Bay's defense is sub par at best. One week they totally shut a team down, the next, they give up big plays This is a total toss up, but I'll take Green Bay because of experience in big games. Washington's players haven't really been in big time playoff games and Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers have. Maybe I'm blinded by my fandom, but so be it. Green Bay wins 17-14. In the other game we get Minnesota and Seattle. Everyone and their mother is back on Seattle's bandwagon, but not me. I have to give credit to Bill Simmons for this, I was listening to his podcast this morning, and reminded me that the Seahawks just lost, only scoring 10 points at home to the Rams 2 weeks ago. Everyone wants to forget that because Russell Wilson has been putting up big numbers and their defense is playing better, but the Rams went to Seattle and owned them. The Vikings are a better version of the Rams. They have a better QB, receivers and a better, albeit a child abuser, running back. Their defense isn't as good as the Rams, but it's still good. The game is in Minnesota at noon as well. That means in Seattle, it's 10am. I know that doesn't sound like an advantage, but it is. I truly believe that Minnesota can replicate what the Rams did even better and I think they win this game. That would be great so everyone, including Chris Collinsworth, can shut the hell up about how great the Seahawks are. I'll take the Vikings in a very low scoring game, 14-10.

The following week we'd get the second round games in each conference. The four teams that had byes will all be in play and the big time games start happening. In the AFC the matchups will be Chiefs-Broncos and Steelers-Patriots. The Broncos will lose this game if they start Peyton Manning. Sure, he came in relief last week and they won, but it was their run game and their number one ranked defense that won, not Peyton Manning. Brock Osweiler deserves his shot. The Chiefs are good, as I mentioned above, but I cannot trust Andy Reid to win a big time playoff game on the road, I just can't. The Broncos have a stable of running backs, they have DeMaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders to throw to and they have the best defense in all of football. I don't see how they lose this game, unless they rely on Peyton Manning to make plays. He's a Hall of Famer, but he's done. Let your young QB start, rely on the run game and let your top of the line defense send you to the AFC title game. Broncos win 20-13. The Patriots-Steelers game will be interesting. Pittsburgh is elite offensively, but so is New England, if healthy. They have Gronk, Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and a rejuvenated Steven Jackson on offense. But, their O line is very bad and are Gronk, Edelman and Amendola really healthy. Also, Brady took a hit in the Miami game, so who knows if he'll be one hundred percent. Neither of these teams are great on defense, but the Patriots are better. That won't matter because no one can guard Antonio Brown. Sorry New England, but the Steelers will steal this game in Foxborough and head to the AFC title game. Final score, 35-30.

The NFC will feature Green Bay-Carolina and Minnesota-Arizona. Carolina is on fire right now. They're 15-1, they have the MVP in Cam Newton, they have decent and very tall receivers and they have a pretty great defense. They also control the clock with their elite run game. Green Bay is a sitting duck. They've already been beaten once by Carolina this year, one of two teams with a winning record that Carolina has beaten, and they have not learned a thing from that game. Green Bay's season will end and it won't be pretty. Cam Newton is playing fantastic football and they will grind this game out and walk away with an easy victory. Carolina wins 20-7. Arizona and Minnesota will also be a blow out. Arizona has a better defense, a better QB, an equally as good run game and much, much better receivers. Carson Palmer in the runner up MVP and playing some of the best football of his career. Larry Fitzgerald has morphed into the best blocking receiver and best slot guy in all of football. David Johnson has filled in quite nicely for Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington and their offensive line is the best in the NFL. Minnesota had a good run, but it ends in resounding fashion in Arizona. Cardinals win 35-10.

Now we are down to four teams. In the AFC championship we have Denver-Pittsburgh. One relies on offese, the other on defense. Denver has some great corners capable of shutting down Antonio Brown, but I feel like typical Broncos will show up and blow this game. They should win easily. They can rely on their run game to chew clock and keep Pittsburgh offense off the field, but John Elway, Gary Kubiak and Peyton Manning will try to win with Manning being the hero and it will back fire. This game will be close, but Pittsburgh will pull it out and win 27-20. Arizona and Carolina could be a close game, but it won't. Carolina will finally see up close and personal what a real NFL team looks like, with a real offense and a legit defense. They will shut Newton down, they will force them to pass and that will cause turnovers. On offense, Arizona will do whatever it wants. This will be a runaway for the Cardinals. Arizona wins 38-14.

So that leaves us with a Pittsburgh-Arizona rematch in Super Bowl 50. Arizona has the one corner, Patrick Peterson, that can actually give Brown some trouble. They also have an offense that will light up a weak Pittsburgh defense. This game also has the makings of a blowout. I think it will be close until midway through the third quarter and Arizona will run away with the game. Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald will finally get their rings and Bruce Arians will be recognized as one of the best coaches in the NFL. Cardinals roll to a Super Bowl win, final score 35-20.

I feel good about this one.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is working on a fifth alarm for his big game four alarm chili. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty is not impressed with the undefeated Carolina Panthers

This is how scary the Panters are right now

Yesterday I gave a lot of love to the undefeated Golden State Warriors. Today, I'm going to talk about another undefeated team, this time in the NFL, that hasn't impressed me.

I heaped a ton of praise on the Warriors, rightfully so, but the Carolina Panthers may be the most suspect 10-0 NFL team that I've seen in quite some time. Sure, Cam Newton is playing like an MVP this year. And their defense is about as shut down as they come. But, their run game has been spotty, at best, and they have no real receivers since Kelvin Benjamin went down in the preseason. Devin Funchess has turned it on as of late and Greg Olsen is, right now, the second best tight end in the league behind Rob Gronkowski. But, the main reason they are undefeated is, their schedule has been one of the easiest in the NFL. The ten teams that they've beaten are as follows; the Jaguars(4-6), the Texans(5-5), the Saints(4-6), the Buccaneers(5-5), the Seahawks(5-5), the Eagles(4-6), the Colts(5-5), the Packers(7-3), the Titans(2-8) and the team from Washington(4-6). The rest of their schedule has the Cowboys(3-7), Saints again, the Falcons(6-4), the Giants(5-5), Falcons again and their season ends with the Buccaneers. For those of you keeping track at home, that's 2 teams with a winning record, the Packers are good, but the Falcons are not. That's 4 teams that are at .500. The best of the .500 teams may be the Seahawks, and they've given up big leads at home, Marshawn Lynch is hurt, Russell Wilson is STRUGGLING and they don't know how to effectively use Jimmy Graham. The Buccaneers are shockingly a .500 team, but they're led by a rookie QB. Sure, Jameis Winston has looked good lately, but he's still a rookie. The Texans stink. I don't care that they recently beat the Bengals, they have no offense and, other than JJ Watt and Vince Wilfork, their defense stinks. And the Colts have been the biggest disappointment in the NFL. The rest of the teams they've beaten are all below .500. The Jaguars have won two straight, but it's still the Jaguars. They are about four or five years away from competing for anything important. The Saints play absolutely no defense. None whatsoever. They are awful. The Eagles are just as bad as the Saints, if not worse. They have no clue what to do on offense because Chip Kelly is an idiot and their defense just gave up 45 points, at home, to the Buccaneers. The Titans have nothing. They have a rookie QB, no running game, no receivers and no defense. They will probably end up with the worst record in the NFL this year. And the team from Washington is a joke in every sense of the word. They are an irrelevant franchise at the moment.

So, when you look at who the 10-0 Panthers have beaten, it's by no means a murderers row. We are talking a combined record of 45-55. That's pretty bad. That's really bad actually. They've also had to squeak out victories over the Titans two weeks ago, the Saints in week three without Drew Brees, they needed overtime to beat the Colts in week 8 and they needed a game saving interception to beat the Packers after they squandered a huge fourth quarter lead. The only real blow out came last week when they trashed Washington. A lot of teams have crushed Washington this year.

Now, it's hard to win 10 straight games, and just as I stated yesterday, you need luck and teams to blow games to have streaks that last this long. What the Panthers have done is very good and a bit intriguing, but if I was a team coming to play them in Carolina for a playoff game, I wouldn't be that worried about them. They don't have a very good home field advantage. They don't strike fear in their opponents. Put Cam Newton on any other team, the Panthers would be lucky to be 5-5 right now. For an example, put him on the Titans, and they'd be a 5-5 or 6-4 team right now. That's how good he's been this year. I didn't think he'd make much of a pro, but he's gotten better every year, and he's become an MVP candidate. But, he doesn't scare me when it comes to the playoffs.

This has happened with the Panthers before. Two or three years ago, they were the surprise of the NFL, winning their division with a 12-4 record. They seemed like a lock to get to the conference championship, but they got crushed in their playoff game and became an after thought. They have a real chance to go undefeated this year though. Their schedule the rest of the way is very easy, with their toughest game coming next week at Dallas. They should win that easily. So, let's say they finish the regular season 16-0. They'd be the number one seed and have a first round bye. They'd also have home field advantage. And let's just say they win that second round playoff game to advance to the NFC title. They'd either get the Green Bay Packers or the Arizona Cardinals. Those are the three best teams in the NFC in my opinion. I'd take the Packers, I picked them to win the Super Bowl, or the Cardinals in a second over the Panthers if I were a betting man. I know, the Panthers already beat Green Bay, but the end of that game showed me that the Packers know how to score on the Panthers. And the Cardinals, I think they'd absolutely crush the Panthers in a playoff game. They have an excellent secondary that would shut down their mediocre receivers, and someone will cover Greg Olsen. And the Cardinals offense, if healthy, I could see them scoring 40 by the end of the third quarter. They will beat them with the run, and their receivers are bigger and more physical than the Panthers secondary. It would be a totally lost season for the Panthers.

I will say again, good for you Carolina for being undefeated this late in the year, but until you win some games against quality opponents, I'm not impressed. The Warriors you are not Carolina, sorry. Good luck, and I hope Cam Newton continues to get better because he's fun to watch, but I just don't see them as a viable, fear inducing opponent to whoever they will face in the playoffs. The Panthers will have a very good regular season, possibly an undefeated one, but they will crap out in the playoffs, that's what they do.

They aren't champions yet.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He just recently learned there is a North and South Carolina. What's next, a New Mexico? Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik. 

Ty Needs to Change his Super Bowl Picks: NFL Midseason Redo

Ty made some cookies to apologize about the Colts pick

Much like my blog yesterday, I'm going to tackle the NFL at the midway point.

Week 8 just ended and most teams have played 7 or 8 games. You can definitely get a sense of who is a legit contender, and who are the bottom of the barrel teams. I'll go over my previous division winners and I'll pick who I think will win their division now, and the wild cards from each conference. I'll also pick the MVP, coach of the year, offensive and defensive player of the year and offensive and defensive rookie of the year compared to my season preview.

Let's start with the AFC. The AFC East is being led by the New England Patriots at 7-0. The Jets are 4-3 and the Bills and Dolphins are 3-4. I was wrong about this division, picking the Dolphins. They've kind of gotten back on track, but they were just destroyed by the Patriots and they were a mess before firing Joe Philbin. The Jets and Bills are both middle of the road, but the Jets are playing much better than I thought with Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB. The Bills are a typical Rex Ryan team. They play good defense, have a subpar offense and blow games. The Patriots are clearly the class of this division. They're on a war path since the stupid "deflate gate" bull shit and Tom Brady and Bill Belichek are playing and coaching with anger, and they thrive that way. I don't think they'll go undefeated, but Tom Brady is playing like the MVP and they'll win this division easily. I shouldn't have doubted them. In the AFC North, the Bengals are leading the division with a 7-0 record. They're playing lights out defense right now, but they have to prove it in the playoffs before I trust them. The Steelers are 4-4 and just lost LeVeon Bell for the rest of the season, they're toast. The Browns are exactly what everyone, save for ESPN, thought they'd be. They're mediocre on offense and defense and people still talk about Johnny Manziel like he's an important player. The Browns stink. The Ravens are a shockingly bad 2-6. They've blown games that they should've won, and they look pretty bad on defense without Terrell Suggs. They're the most disappointing team in the NFL in my opinion and they just lost their best receiver for the year with Steve Smith SR tearing his ACL. The Bengals will run away with this division, no problem. The AFC South is a joke and this division made me look like a moron with my preseason preview. The Colts are in first place, but they're tied with the Texans at a dreadful 3-5. Andrew Luck is clearly hurt and their defense stinks. Screw you Indy for making me look like an idiot. The Texans are terrible. Their "vaunted" defense can't stop anyone, and their offense is bad and just got worse with Arian Foster going down with a season ending injury yet again. The Texans stink. Jacksonville and Tennessee have three wins combined. They're playing as everyone thought they would. Blake Bortles may not be that good of an NFL QB and the Jags defense is not good. The Titans are being led by a rookie QB, I know he's missed the last two games, and they may not win another game all season. Mariota is going through growing pains and he has no weapons on offense and their coach is pretty bad, and just got fired. I'm still picking the Colts to win this division, but they may only win 6 or 7 games and they will get crushed in the playoffs. The AFC West has been surprisingly competitive. The Broncos are still the best team and they're undefeated. Something is going on with Peyton Manning, but the Broncos are winning with their league best defense. They're lock down on that side of the ball. The Raiders are 4-3 and in second place. Derek Carr is a star in the making and now he has Amari Cooper to throw to. Their defense is playing halfway decent led by ageless wonder Charles Woodson. The Raiders may actually be good. The Chiefs had a brutal schedule to start the season and started 1-5, but they've won their past two and look better, even with Jamaal Charles out for the year. They have a good tight end in Kelce and a deep threat in Jeremy Maclin. Their defense is good as always. Unfortunately for them, they dug themselves to deep a hole and they won't be able to get out of it. The Chargers are a team in flux. They don't know if they're moving to LA, and they have no fan base. Phillip Rivers is on the back half of his good playing days, and Melvin Gordon hasn't lived up to the hype. The Chargers aren't a threat anymore. So, the playoff teams from the AFC will be division winners, Denver, Indy(UGH!), New England and Cincinnati. The Wild Cards will be the Jets, I can't believe I just wrote that and the Raiders, I really can't believe I just wrote that. I was wrong on Miami and Pittsburgh has suffered some brutal injuries, but other than that, I think I did okay. The Patriots are coming out of the AFC with little push. Denver is the only team that can compete, but they won't be able to beat New England in Foxborough. The Patriots will represent the AFC again in the Super Bowl. 

To the NFC. We will start with the NFC East. This division is a joke. The Giants are leading it with a 4-4 record, and they just gave up 52 points to the Saints. One week they look good, the other they look bad. The Eagles and the Washington professional football team have matching 3-4 records. How they got there is different. The Eagles play awesome defense, but their offense is bad. Chip Kelly is supposed to be an offensive genius, but he doesn't use DeMarco Murray properly, he relies on Sam Bradford too much and he has no real receivers. The Eagles are bad. Washington is lucky to be where they are. Kirk Cousins got way too riled up after a comeback victory over Tampa Bay. He's a terrible NFL QB, but who else do they have? Their defense is not very good either. Basically, they got very lucky three times and that luck is going to run out. The Cowboys have been plagued by injury and stupidity. Tony Romo and Dez Bryant missed multiple games. Joseph Randle is facing punishment for drugs and they're now starting Darren McFadden. Greg Hardy is a lunatic and doesn't belong in the league. And Jerry Jones, boy is he going nuts. The Cowboys may be the best team in this division, but that's not saying much and they are too far behind at 2-5 to win this division. The Giants will win the division and they will probably do it with only 8 wins. The NFC North is led by my beloved Packers at 6-1. They've looked pretty bad on offense the past couple of weeks though and the Broncos just throttled them on Sunday night. They'll fix what ails them, but they need a quick fix. They also need to use Eddie Lacy more, if he's healthy. The Vikings are playing pretty well, with a 5-2 record. But, let us not forget why their star player, Adrian Peterson, was out all of last season for beating a child. Announcers seem to have forgotten this, but I haven't. He's a monster. The Vikings are winning with good defense and the emergence of rookie receiver Stefon Diggs and smart QB play from Teddy Bridgewater, not child abuser Adrian Peterson. The Bears and Lions are equally bad. The Bears are 2-5 and as long as they have Jay Cutler at QB, they'll continue to be mediocre. The Lions are a dreadful 1-7 and they can't catch a break. They're also poorly coached and Matt Stafford is not a franchise QB, he's barely a starting QB. Calvin Johnson deserves better than this. The Packers will win this division. The NFC South has been surprisingly decent. The Panthers are 7-0 and playing awesome defense and Cam Newton is playing fantastic football. They also have a really good run game. The Falcons are 6-2, but they're not that impressive, save for Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman. Those are the catalysts of this team, not Matt Ryan. He's been erratic all season. The defense is serviceable. The Saints are 4-4 and Drew Brees is beginning to look like his old self, but he doesn't have any real weapons. Mark Ingram has been solid, but he's not a star and Ben Watson has been playing good at tight end, but that's it. And their defense, woof, they're bad. The Buccaneers round out this division at 3-4. They've played better than I thought they would and while Jameis Winston has looked bad at times, he's had his moments and Doug Martin may be turning his career around. But, they are still a bad team led by a rookie QB. Carolina will win this division. The NFC West has been as competitive as I thought it would be. The Cardinals lead it with a 6-2 record. Carson Palmer has been lights out and so has Larry Fitzgerald and Chris Johnson. They have a potent offense. Their defense is still really good too. Barring injury, this team should be considered a legit contender. The Rams are 4-3 and they look good one week, but bad the next. The emergence of Todd Gurley should definitely help this team out. He's been awesome. And their defense is still one of the league's best. The Seahawks are 4-4 and they've looked very unimpressive. Russell Wilson is not living up to the contract he got. Marshawn Lynch can't stay healthy and they don't know how to use Jimmy Graham. He's the best tight end in football, save for Rob Gronkowski, and he's only getting 4 or 5 targets a game. Their defense is giving up fourth quarter leads as well. They do not look like the "dynasty" that a lot of people predicted them to be. The 49ers are a total mess. They're benching Kaepernick in favor of Blaine Gabbert. WTF! He's a terrible pro. They have no running game, they traded away Vernon Davis and they can't get the ball to Torrey Smith or Anquan Boldin. Their defense is okay, but when you're on the field for 45 minutes of a 60 minute game, you get tired and when you get tired, you give up points. The 49ers stink. Cardinals win this division. So the NFC playoff teams will be division winners, New York Giants, Green Bay, Carolina and Arizona. The two wild Cards will be Minnesota and Saint Louis. This means I was wrong about the Eagles and the Seahawks. Neither will make the playoffs. I'm torn between Arizona and Green Bay, but Arizona will suffer some kind of injury and the Packers will figure out their offensive problem and they will win the NFC.

So, that gives us a Green Bay and New England Super Bowl. I'm going to stick with the Packers. They're the one team that can beat the Patriots. As far as the awards go, I was wrong on almost all of these. First of all, the MVP is Tom Brady. He's torching this league and he's on a mission. I picked Aaron Rodgers, but he's struggled lately and Tom Brady has not. Brady will also win offensive player of the year. Defensive player of the year will be Charles Woodson, not Ndomakong Suh. Woodson is still playing at an elite level and he makes the Raiders a real threat. Winning this will put him in the conversation as greatest defensive back of all time. Coach of the year is still Jeff Fisher in my opinion. He'll lead this team to a Wild Card spot and that alone gives him the award. I picked Melvin Gordon as offensive rookie of the year. He's been not so good mid way through the season. However, Todd Gurley looks to be a beast. He's setting records and rushing for a lot of yards on a good Rams team. Gurley is, hands down, the offensive rookie of the year. I picked Bud Dupree as defensive rookie of the year, but he has just blended in with the Steeler defense, he hasn't really stood out. Marcus Peters, however, has been a pretty good cornerback for the Chiefs from day one. He's my pick for defensive rookie of the year.

So, there you have it, my mid way NFL picks, Some are the same, some are different. Tell me why I'm wrong and give me your picks in the comment section.

Thanks

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He thinks Tom Brady is over inflating footballs just to screw with the NFL. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik

Ty's NFL Preview 2015: NFC

Game is on, get ready to...why is Ty's drink still green?

The NFC is also made up of four divisions as well, the East, West, North and South. The NFC East is made up of the, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, the team from the region of Washington DC and the New York Giants. The Cowboys completely shocked me last season. I didn't see them playing that well at all, especially on defense. DeMarco Murray was awesome, but he's gone to the Eagles and Dez Bryant is good, but he's got Tony Romo throwing him the ball. That's a bummer. Jason Witten is reliable, but old. The defense will take a step back for sure. The offensive line is good, but as I mentioned before, DeMarco Murray is gone and Darren McFadden won't ease the loss. The Cowboys are going to take a big step back this season and probably only win 9 games. That may be enough to win this division. The Eagles have had a very odd offseason. Chip Kelly traded away a lot of great players like, LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin and Nick Foles. The only one he really "replaced" was McCoy by signing Murray. Sam Bradford seems to be their starting QB, but he CANNOT stay healthy (I am from St. Louis, I know this). He's a liability. They also brought in Tim Freakin Tebow. That guy is not an NFL quarterback, he's just not good. The Eagles defense is pretty good and should keep them in games. They will either win 11 or 5 games, who knows. I will split the difference and say they get to 10 wins, but barely. The New York Giants aren't a very good football team, and the recent news that Eli Manning wants to be the highest paid player in football is laughable. Sure, he's won two super bowls, but what have you done for me lately besides lead the league in interceptions and stupid faces. They have no running game. They do have Odell Beckham JR and Victor Ortiz, but that doesn't matter when Eli is throwing it to the other team. Their defense is not good either. They will be lucky to get to 7 wins this year. Until they are willing to change their name, the team from Washington will get no love from me. They stink anyway and 4 wins would be a shocker. The Eagles will win this division and get the pleasure of being blown out by whoever they play in the first round of the playoffs.

The NFC West is one of the best, if not the best, divisions in the NFL. First, you have the Seattle Seahawks. They have the best defense in the league and it's not even close. All three phases are lights out, and while I may not like the players in the secondary, they are shut down corners and the safeties are heavy hitters. The offense is run by the overrated Russel Wilson. That offense is truly run by Marshawn Lynch. He's the current best running back in the league. He's truly a beast. They don't have great receivers, but they traded for Jimmy Graham this offseason and that will only make them better. They will easily get to 11 wins this year. The St.Louis Rams are up and coming, but I don't know how they'll play with expectations. They also have a great defense and one of the best defensive lines in the league. They drafted a great running back in Todd Gurley and replaced the oft injured Sam Bradford with Nick Foles. He's an upgrade at QB. The receivers are small, but explosive. If they can put it all together, they won't be able to challenge the Seahawks yet, but they could win 9 or 10 games. The Arizona Cardinals are another good team in this division. If Carson Palmer can stay healthy, they should be good on offense with him throwing to Michael Floyd and Larry Fitzgerald. The running game was in flux, but they just signed Chris Johnson to a one year deal. If he can do half as good as when he was with the Titans, they should be set. Their defense is awesome led by cornerback Patrick Peterson. They are really good, but they seem to get bitten by the injury bug every season. They should win 10 games, barring any big injury, but someone will inevitably get hurt, so they'll probably only get 8 or 9 wins. The San Francisco 49ers round out the division. This team seems to have gone into rebuild mode. They changed coaches, lost Frank Gore, Patrick Willis retired along with a lot of players on defense and Michael Crabtree left in free agency. They still have Anquan Boldin and Colin Kaepernick, but this team is going to take a huge step back. They will only get 5 or 6 wins this year. This division will be won by the Seahawks again, but it will be very tough.

The NFC South is the exact opposite of the West. This division could be won by a team with 8 or fewer wins. The teams are, the New Orleans Saints, the Atlanta Falcons, the Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Saints still have Drew Brees, but he's old and they got rid of his best weapons. Their defense is terrible as well. 6 or 7 wins would be ideal for them. The Falcons have Matt Ryan,  Roddy White and Julio Jones, but they have no running game and they don't even try to run the ball and this is a team with another pretty bad defense. If Matt Ryan plays well and gets the ball to either White or Jones, they could outscore teams on their way to 8 wins, but 6 wins seems more likely. The Panthers do have Cam Newton and while he's inaccurate, he has a big arm and he's hard to tackle when he's in the open field. They have a so so running game led by DeAngelo Williams and they have upgraded at receiver with Kelvin Benjamin and rookie Devin Funchess. They do have a decent defense led by linebacker Luke Kuechly. They could win 9 games this year. The Buccaneers are still in rebuild mode and will be led by rookie QB Jameis Winston. Rookie QB's struggle and while he does have Vincent Jackson and the big receiver from Texas A&M, they have no run game and a god awful defense. 3 or 4 wins is the bar for the Bucs. The Panthers will win this division with only 9 wins this year.

The final NFC division, the NFC North should and will be won by the Green Bay Packers. The defense improved last season and will take another step in the right direction this season. They have the best QB in the league in Aaron Rodgers and he has weapons on offense like Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb. They also have a good running game led by Eddie Lacy. The Packers should win 12 games and the division easily. The Minnesota Vikings will be better. They get child abuser Adrian Peterson back and, while he hits little children, he's a good running back. But, he's a terrible person. Teddy Bridgewater looks like he's going to be good and if he can get some help from receivers the offense could look good. The defense is decent, but nothing to write home about. They could get to 9 wins this season. The Detroit Lions will continue to baffle me. Matthew Stafford is so inconsistent, but when you have a receiver like Calvin Johnson, he'll make you look good. They got a great running back in the draft in Ameer Abdullah. He'll immediately be better for them than Reggie Bush was. The defense lost Suh and Nick Fairley, so they'll take a step back. 8 or 9 wins seems like their destiny. The Chicago Bears round out the division and they're a total mess. They did hire John Fox, but he won't be able to fix the mess that is the Bears in one season. They have no defense, no receivers, a shitty QB in Jay Cutler and poor Matt Forte can only do so much. The Bears are like a worse version of the Chiefs. At least the Chiefs are competitive. The Bears will be lucky to get 5 wins this year.

So, the NFC playoff teams will be the Seahawks, the Packers, the Panthers and the Eagles, the four division winners. The two wild card teams will be, I'm going to go out on a big limb here, and pick the Rams and the Vikings. I even see the Vikings beating the Eagles in the first round and the Rams fighting, but losing late to the Panthers in the playoffs. The Vikings will see their season end at the hands of the Seahawks and the Panthers will get mercy killed by the Packers. This sets up a rematch of the NFC title game from last year, and the Packers will avenge their loss with a big win and advance to face the Colts in Super Bowl 50. 

Coming up next, Super Bowl and awards.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and co-host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The editor appreciates his hopes for the Vikings. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.