Ty Ranks the 2019 NFL Teams: Pineapple Pizza Division

We are a mere few days away from preseason NFL football, so that means I am going to spend the next 2 weeks talking about the NFL and college football. Much like the past, with the NFL, I am going to rank the teams from 32 to 1, in my personal order. I will give a few brief sentences as to why I have a team where I have them, and what I think their season will look like.

I do need to say, the NFL is getting tougher and tougher for me to watch. The people at the top do not care about the safety of players, the refs are dreadful, Roger Goodell is an absolute dolt and players who abuse women and children seem to get off scott free. It is so irritating and ridiculous. Colin Kaepernick cannot even get a tryout with a team, but guys like Richie Incognito and Tyreek Hill get chance after chance after chance. It is disgusting. My NFL watching can be boiled down to The Redzone Network. I do not watch full games anymore, unless it is the playoffs or Super Bowl, and the NFL is more about Fantasy Football for me than anything else now. College football is much different, but I will explain more about why when I get to my NCAA football preview.

Anyway, I do like doing these rankings, so lets get to it.

At number 32 I have the Arizona Cardinals. I do not think I have seen a franchise fall so hard so fast. Things in Arizona are bleak right now. I cannot believe they gave Kliff Kingsbury, a guy that got fired from Texas Tech, and has a losing overall record, the head coaching gig. I assume he got it because he is buddies with Sean McVay, but that doesn't make him Sean McVay. If he lasts one season I will be stunned. I loved Kyler Murray in college, but he is going to be begging to go back to baseball halfway through the season. He is going to get just as abused as Josh Rosen did last year. Also, why did they give up on Rosen so quick? He had nothing at all, besides Larry Fitzgerald and David Johnson, and yeah he struggled, but I thought he looked better than other rookies like Sam Darnold at times last year. He was not given a fair shot. The aforementioned Fitzgerald and Johnson are back, but dos it matter. I love Fitzgerald, but he is very, very old. And Johnson is not the back he was before tearing his ACL. Also, I don't think Kingsbury will use him properly. They have no o line as I already stated, and outside of Johnson and Fitzgerald, I cannot name one other skill position guy. Their defense is not very good either. Tyrann Mathieu left 2 years ago, Patrick Peterson wants out and everyone else is very blah. The Cardinals stink, and I cannot believe they think Kliff Kingsbury is the answer at head coach. This team is an absolute disaster. I will be stunned if they win 3 games this year, and they retain Kingsbury at season's end.

At number 31 I have the Oakland Raiders. You may see that and think, but they got Antonio Brown and he and Derek Carr will click. And, they drafted Josh Jacobs to be their running back of the future. And Gruden is bringing in veteran leadership. I say no to all of that. Antonio Brown is a great receiver, but he is 31 years old, and he is a diva. Derek Carr is awful and loves Jesus far too much to take football 100 percent seriously. Josh Jacobs is already at odds with the coaching staff, and I don't know if he is even signed yet. And the "veteran leadership" is Richie Incognito and Vontaze Burfict. I mean, Jesus Christ is that scary, and not in a good way. Those two will surely put multiple teammates in the hospital because they "looked at them wrong". And Jon Gruden might be the most overrated head coach in the NFL, by about a thousand miles. The game has passed him by, and last year showed that big time. He still thinks he runs the show, and that the players will buy into his nonsense. They won't. The first time he tries to say something to Brown, or criticize Carr, they will fight back. Well, Brown will at least. The Raiders have become the Knicks of the NFL. They used to be important, but now they are a joke of a franchise. The gap between them and the Cardinals is not as far as you may think. The Raiders front office disgusts me with their offseason signings, and how they have handled the whole Josh Jacobs situation. Also, while I think Clelin Ferrell is great, he was a major reach at number 4 in the draft. The Raiders are lost. They will not win anymore than 5 games this year. But, they will be the most dysfunctional team in the NFL.

The two New York teams will close out the rankings today. At number 30 I have the Giants. The Giants made the worst reach of the draft this past draft when they took Daniel Jones at number 6. He is like Eli Manning right now. Not past Eli, and not kind of still had it Eli. I mean current Eli. Jones is supposed to be the future, but he has bust written all over him. He is tall, slow and not very accurate. He also won nothing in college. He is 2019 Jay Cutler, except Cutler was even better coming out of college. Daniel Jones is not going to be a good pro. What the Giants do have is Saquon Barkley. He is great. But, he is a running back, and he can only do so much. I fear that they will overwork him, and by the time he is 27 or 28, he will be out of the league. He is dynamite right now, but all those hits he is taking will take a toll. They have no receiving threats now that Odell Beckham is gone. Corey Coleman is done for the year, Golden Tate is suspended for the first games and who knows when Sterling Shepard will be back from his injury. The o line is suspect and the defense is terrible. The Giants are very far removed from being in the Super Bowl. They are even further removed from being a playoff contender. They are just a bad football team right now, and their future does not look very bright. Unless Saqoun Barkley turns into Bo Jackson, the Giants will be a 4 or 5 win team, at best. Even when Daniel Jones takes over for Eli Manning.

My final team for the day is the Jets. This front office is almost as bad as the Raiders front office. Todd Bowles did not get a fair shake, and now they are letting Adam Gase run the whole franchise. That sentence should send shivers down Jets fans spines. Gase is a mediocre NFL coach, and he is going to ruin this team for years to come. First off, they way overpaid for LeVeon Bell this offseason. Sure, he was great in Pittsburgh, but they had an o line there, and James Connor proved that Bell might not be as great as many perceived him to be. Also, he has not played football in a year, and while he may be rested, he hasn't been hit at all, and he lost an entire year of his prime. His holdout, while it worked in the end as far as getting paid goes, really backfired on the field. I mean, he is now on the New York freaking Jets. Sam Darnold is pretty far away from being the franchise QB they were hoping for when they drafted him 4th overall last year. He makes far too many mental errors with the ball. As I said, they have no o line to speak of. And I cannot name one single receiver. Bell will get his touches, but when he is routinely facing 8 men fronts, it won't matter. Their defense is best known for having a player that tackled, and injured, a mascot at the Pro Bowl last year. This team is a mess too. Adam Gase is a dumb dumb, and the Jets are going to be bad once again. They just don't have the guys to win many games. I'd say their ceiling is about 6 wins.

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. Let’s not forget that two years ago Ty and the head editor had the Cardinals and Raiders on the cusp of the Super Bowl. My, how things have changes.

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Richie Incognito Again? What the Hell NFL?

Yesterday I heard some very, very troubling NFL news, yet I am not shocked, which is a problem in and of itself. I heard that Richie Incognito was coming out of retirement, and he had signed with the Oakland Raiders.

I mean, what in the hell?! This is absolutely insane to me. I cannot believe that this steroid infused, racially insensitive bully gets what seems to be his one millionth chance, while Colin Kaepernick is still unsigned, and it seems like no team is even willing to give him a chance. The fact that a horrible human being like Richie Incognito gets yet another shot drives me up the wall. And, this isn't coming from a place of dislike for his college team, Nebraska. No, I am not a fan of the Nebraska, but I could care less that he went to school there. What makes me so angry is his off, and on field attitude, and the fact that he just keeps getting chance after chance after chance, no matter how awful his personal life gets.

Let’s break it down. We are talking about a guy that bullied a former teammate so much that he was contemplating suicide. Now, I know all about the former teammates misfortunes after leaving football, it is awful, but I feel like Incognito was the one who pushed him over the edge. He pulled the final straw. You then look at his on field stuff, he is out of control. He is just as liable to pull a guy's helmet off as he is to make a block. If someone on the line does something he doesn't like, he will ream that player out on the field, during the game. He is a head hunter. He throws illegal blocks. He is a dirty player playing a very violent sport. He is also a terrible racist. He has made it clear that he loves the current "president". He, I'm sure of it, wears confederate flag stuff. He is the epitome of a pick up truck driving hillbilly. He is just a miserable human being.

I know Incognito is trash from a personal encounter.

When the Rams were still in Saint Louis, my mom worked at a battered woman and children's center. She used to coordinate a 5k every year, we showed up to support her, and the Rams would send a player or two. One year they sent 2 guys, one of which was Incognito. The other guy they sent, his name escapes me at the moment, was also an offensive lineman, and he had previously played in Jacksonville with a high school friend of mine. I was very intrigued to talk to this gentleman because I wanted to know how my buddy was doing in the NFL. My mom brought me over to introduce me to the 2 guys, and upon hearing who they were, I said hello to Incognito, and then I kind of cornered the other guy because I wanted to talk about my friend. When I did this Incognito looked like he felt disrespected. He had this look of awe and anger on his face because he was supposed to be the big name at this event. First off, he was only there because he had just gotten in trouble for assault against women, and the Rams sent him to try and smooth things over. I'm sure he would've rather been anywhere else that day. Second, I could've cared less that he was there. I had zero interest in talking to him about anything. I know that the two of us have nothing in common, so why would I waste my breath on a person that would just upset me. That seemed like a waste of time to me. Third, he couldn't have been more of an asshole to everyone there that day. We are talking about people who do a very hard, very tough job, and Incognito just had this air of arrogance about him. He was, for lack of a better term, an asshole. I don't like to associate with people like that. So, my dislike for this move is so much more than just the college team he played for.

Richie Incognito is everything that is wrong with the NFL. He is the exact opposite of what the NFL should be going after. He is abusive and rude and arrogant and a clown and a bully and racist and just a bad, bad person. The fact that he is getting another chance, or that Chad Kelly, go look up stories about this monster if you want to be appalled, is getting another chance, but Colin Kaepernick has had to lose his career for a peaceful protest, I am getting to a point where I just can't do it with the NFL anymore. For the Raiders and Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock to think that this would be okay is astonishing to me. This is disgusting and despicable. If Roger Goodell wasn't such an awful commissioner, and a coward, I would hope that he would have vetoed this. Of course he didn't, and now I have to read stories about a horrible person.

This is bad, and the NFL is going to lose even more viewers. This is also a slap in Colin Kaepernick's face. He was a peaceful protester, and he has lost his career. Meanwhile, guys like Chad Kelly and freaking Richie Incognito continue to get signed. What a crock.

Ty

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

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing. 

The Why's of the Antonio Brown Trade

Antonio Brown has been traded. This was going to happen, and even when it seemed like it happened, the whole Buffalo thing, it only took 2 more days for it to actually happen. Brown was traded to the Oakland Raiders for a couple of later round draft picks. And as of a report today, he is going to get a decent raise. All of this leaves me with a good amount of questions.

I think Brown is great. I need to state that up front. He has good hands, gets yards, scores TD and is a matchup nightmare from time to time. But, he is 31 years old. He is now on a team that is being quarterbacked by Derek Carr. He is on a team that really has no other offensive threats. He is on a team coached by Jon Gruden. He is on a team that is about to move to Las Vegas. And he has had one of the weirdest and self inflating off seasons that I can remember. I haven't seen anything like this since Terrell Owens did a workout in his front yard for reporters when he wanted out of Philadelphia. How did that work out for him? Owens was once great, but that was the downfall. That signaled the end of his NFL career.

I simply cannot help but see almost the exact same thing happening for Brown, but on a much worse team. The Raiders were just downright awful last year. The best player they had was Marshawn Lynch, and they didn't feed him the ball enough, and then he got hurt. Also, their coach thought it would be a brilliant move to trade Khalil Mack before the season, then Amari Cooper during the season. Then, this offseason, they hired Mike Mayock, a TV analyst, as their new GM. They also have had a very hard time finding a place to play this upcoming season.

Also, I cannot overstate the fact that Derek Carr is their god damn QB. Look, I loathe Ben Roesthilberger as much as anyone can. He is a scumbag, a diva, a sexual predator, overrated, slow and super old. I want him to go away. But, he is better than Carr. Hell, Josh Allen, the Bills QB, has more potential than Carr. In fact, the other teams named, the 49ers and Packers, to the best of my knowledge, have way, way better QB's than Carr. Yet, after the trade, Brown seemed thrilled to be playing with Carr. He said, and I quote, "it is like love at first sight". What the hell is he talking about.

Now add on the fact that Jon Gruden is the coach. He still thinks it is the early 2000's, and you win with defense and ball control. Also, he's insane. How is Brown going to fit in with that team. And he doesn't really have much help on offense as well. I hope Lynch will be back, I adore him, but he is old too, and got hurt too much last year. Jordy Nelson is trash. Jared Cook is going to sign elsewhere. The O line is not great. And again, Derek freaking Carr is the QB. Sure, I have heard that they covet Kyler Murray, but is he really the answer. He is better than Carr, but he will be a rookie that would get thrown straight into the fire, and even the best QB's in NFL history struggled mightily in their rookie years. Murray is going to struggle too. Just like Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen and pretty much every other rookie QB in the history of the league.

Which brings me to my final point. Brown is 31 years old. While that is not old in real life, that is ancient in the NFL. The NFL is a cold and brutal business, and when you get too "old", they kick you to the curb without thinking twice. I fear, for Brown, this move to the Raiders is going to be his swam song into oblivion. Sure, it will be talked about a ton this offseason, and even when the season starts. But, when the Raiders start to play poorly, which should be week one by my calculations, Brown and Carr and whatever rookies they take and Gruden and Mayock will all be forgotten.

While this move is flashy now, I just see it being all for naught. Brown got what he wanted, but I just don't think it will be worth it in the long run. Oh well, lets see how this all plays out, but I have to say, I think it will be forgotten by week 10, at the very latest.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He wants to remind everyone once again that the Raiders are quarterbacked by Derek FREAKING Carr. Do you all understand now?

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Ty Ranks the 2018 NFL Teams: Gas Station Cappuccino Edition

Before I get into day 4 of my NFL preview, I need to say RIP to Aretha Franklin. She was one of, if not the, greatest souls singers of all time. She had a magnetic voice, and I loved every song she sang. Her version of "Respect" is wonderful. Her "A Change is Gonna Come" is fantastic. She was amazing, and she will be sorely missed. Rest in Peace Aretha Franklin, you are a legend.

Okay, lets get into my NFL preview.

Today I have teams 20- 17. Some people may see these teams and think, why are they so high or low. It needs to be stated that I think none of the teams I mention today are playoff contenders or hopefuls. These teams will win 9 games at the very, very best. Okay, on with it.

At number 20 I have the Chicago Bears. I view the Bears pretty much the exact same way I view the 49ers. I know I had the 49ers at 21 and the Bears at 20, but they are pretty much interchangeable. Both teams have a QB that is getting a ton of hype. I don't believe in Jimmy Garropolo, as I stated yesterday, but I really don't believe what is being said about Mitch Trubisky. I do not think he is good at all. He is a bust. I pretty much have no doubt about that. He is inconsistent and, for being considered a dual threat, kind of plodding. Playing out of shotgun may help, but I don't think so. Some may think he will have a Jared Goff type jump in his second year, but I don't. Also, Goff has a hell of a running game behind him, which leads me to what I actually like about the Bears. They have a great 1-2 punch at running back. Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen are perfect compliments for one another. Howard is more the traditional type bac, and Cohen can run and make catches. They are good. I don't really believe much in their pass game, mostly due to Trubisky. But, they don't really have many solid receivers. They lost their best one last year, Alshon Jeffrey, and they never really replaced him. The Bears defense is okay, but not great. Their best player is a rookie that they just signed. Roqoun Smith is awesome, and I have mad respect for him for fighting the team until he got what he wanted. But outside Smith, the Bears defense is thin. They will give up points, and the offense won't be able to utilize their best aspect, the run game, as much as they should. 7 wins seem like the ceiling, and that is sad because I bet Bears fans would kill for 7 wins.

At number 19 I have the Cincinnati Bengals. Sorry RD, I don't know if this is too high or low (ed note: Way too high), and that is the problem. Also, I cannot believe they brought Marvin Lewis back. (ed note: ughhhh) What has he done to continually get contract after contract after contract? It's confounding. He's an okay coach, but he has done all he can do with this team. Which leads me to the rest of the team. They are, for the most part, just like Lewis. Andy Dalton is trash, and he will never be the franchise QB they thought he was. How have they not cut him yet. Their run game is as bland as baked chicken. Gio Bernard is not nearly as good as he was that one year. Also, Joe Mixon shouldn't be in the league. Tyler Eifert is going to get hurt. The only solid player they have is AJ Green, and he deserves so, so, so much better. They should trade him, but they won't, or if they try, they will find a way to screw it up. The Bengals defense is dirty, and not good. Vontez Burfict is already suspended. They have no secondary. This team is just dry and boring and not very good. I feel like they will win, maybe, 6 games, but somehow that will be enough to get Marvin Lewis another extension. Sorry Bengals fans, you guys are in some type of awful purgatory. Maybe it will end soon.

At number 18 I have the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders were like the Buccaneers to me last year. In fact, I had them in the AFC title game. Boy was I wrong. They imploded last year. Derek Carr totally regressed. They had no real run game, even after signing Marshawn Lynch. Amari Cooper dropped every pass that was thrown his way, except for the one game that I sat him on my bench in fantasy football and he went off. Their O line, their supposed strength, was not great. I don't know how they remedy all that this year. And on defense, they are in the dumbest kind of stand off with their best player, and team leader, Khalil Mack. Mack is a great, great linebacker, and the Raiders are being so dumb with the contract negotiations. Also, they have no one, and I mean NO ONE, that is near his talent level. They need Mack if they want any semblance of a defense. They have an old secondary, an even older D line and only Mack at linebacker, who they will most likely trade. Also, they gave Jon Gruden a 10 year 100 million dollar contract to be their coach. What the hell?! That is nuts. He was never really that good a coach. Yes, he won a Super Bowl, but that seems lost in the wind. Besides that one year, he was worse than average. And he has been away from the game for a decade. Jon Gruden will not be a viable head coach. The Raiders are a mess again. They had their window, and it seems like it has already closed. Please trade Mack to the Packers. That would be awesome.

My final team for the day, at number 17, I have the Los Angeles Chargers. I need to get this out of the way first, I'm sick of every other football writer, for what seems like the last 3 or 4 years, saying that the Chargers are their "sleeper" team. The Chargers always shit the bed, so why is this year any different? Well, they do have a very good defense, with some young, super talented guys. That defense should be enough for a couple wins. They have an exceptional pass rush as well. No, the defense is not the problem. What the Chargers lack, and what will continue to hold them back from being a "sleeper" team, is their QB. While I think Phillip Rivers is better than some other guys out there, namely his draft mate Eli Manning, he has never, in his entire career, played in a big time playoff or regular season game. Sure, he puts up numbers, throws for 4,000 yards a year and 25 plus TD's, but it all feels hollow to me. He is old. He has taken too many hits. He talks too much shit for a dude that has never won an important game. He blames everyone around him. Rivers is old, and I feel like the Chargers need to move on. As far as the rest of the offense goes, Melvin Gordon had a much better second year, but he is not the player the Chargers thought they were getting when they drafted him top 15 two years ago. He also fumbles a lot. They do have Keenan Allen, but he is a few concussions away from being out of the league. Oh, and Antonio Gates is back again, but he isn't a quarter of the guy he was 5 years ago. The Chargers are a lot like the Bengals on offense. They are stuck back in time, and have no intentions of changing. That will continue to hold them back. Phillip Rivers has done all he can for this franchise, which is nothing, and they need to find his replacement now. I'm sure other writers will still call them a "sleeper", and claim that this year they will finally "make the leap". Well, I don't buy it. 8-8 looks like their best case scenario.

That does it for today. Come back tomorrow for the next 4 teams. We are getting oh so close to real playoff contenders.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has way too much faith in the Cincinnati football team. Winning is bad for the Bengals. That means more people will come to the Queen City and see their terrible tax payer funded stadium. The Bengals don't want that.

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This Jon Gruden Raiders Thing Will Not Be What Everyone Thinks it Will Be

Some new/old feet on the Raiders Sideline

Tomorrow Jon Gruden will be returning to the NFL as a head coach. The Oakland, soon to be Las Vegas, Raiders are giving him a 10 year, 100 million dollar contract.

Sigh

I think that all of this is nuts, and that it will blow up in the Raiders face. It needs to be said too, I like the Raiders. I think the NFL is better when blue blood teams like the Raiders are competitive. When you get that whole "Black Hole" fan base thing going on, it is a good. But, all this Gruden stuff, I am not buying any of it at all.

I know that he was successful his first go round in the NFL. He had a pretty decent team when he first coached the Raiders, and he won a Super Bowl when he moved on to Tampa. Granted, he inherited one of the greatest defenses in football when he took over the Tampa job, but still, he won a ring. Then he just up and left. After winning his ring, he stuck around for a few more 9-7 seasons and after hearing the chants die down, he bolted for the broadcast booth.

People thought he was great at this. I did not. He offered nothing of importance to me as a viewer. In fact, I found him grating and annoying. I loathed his whole "Gruden's QB Camp" bull shit show he had on ESPN. It was a half an hour to an hour long episode of him yelling and grilling soon to be rookie QB's. That show, or special, or whatever the hell it was supposed to be was dreadful. I also thought he was a terrible in game announcer. If he was calling a game with someone coaching that he knew, or even worse, a family member, it was horrible. He always sided with the coach, especially if it was his brother Jay. It was never the coaches fault, always the players. He was so, so, so bad at this. It got to the point with me that I had to mute the games when he called them. He wasn't as awful as Cris Collinsworth, no one is, but he is a solid second choice as worst sports announcer out there.

Then, nearing this playoff season, his name started to pop up for head coaching gigs. I heard his name attached to Tampa, but that ended pretty quick when it was announced that the Buccaneers were sticking with Dirk Koetter for one more year. The University of Tennessee stuff was a pipe dream that I never bought in to. And then I did not hear his name attached to any other openings, or possible openings. Then, after the disaster that was their 6-10 season, and the way they ended the year, the Raiders, one year after giving Jack Del Rio an extension, fired him. I thought this was nuts, and then Gruden's name started to come up again. All the broadcasters and writers were frothing at the mouth at the possible return of Gruden to Oakland. I just kept thinking to myself, hasn't the game passed him by? Isn't he happy with the money he is making now, and doesn't he enjoy being terrible on "Monday Night Football"? Isn't this a better overall life than becoming a NFL coach again?

Well, I guess not. He hasn't formally accepted the job yet, that comes tomorrow, but he has signed the contract. That is the only thing I can think of as to why he would come back. Ten million dollars a year for 10 years! He'd be crazy to not take that kind of money. ESPN can't offer him that. I also believe he now owns a stake in the team. This contract has everything that Gruden could have ever wanted.

I want to try and answer the questions I just asked. First off, why leave the booth. I guess, because he is horrible at that job. He is a joke. He's a gimmick. He is a worse version of Dick Vitale. His takes are garbage, and he just fat out doesn't know how to do it. Maybe coaching is better for him, or maybe not. As far as the game passing him by, I say YES to this. He has not coached in a decade. The players now, especially the QB's, are entitled. They make more than anyone else, and they are coddled more than anyone else. He won't be able to, try as he might, break Derek Carr down and force him to be the type of player he wants him to be. Carr won't take to that kind of coaching. I think Derek Carr is who he is, which is an average QB. Gruden won't take that lightly, and he will probably run him out of town. That would be horrible. How is he going to deal with a player like Michael Crabtree, Amari Cooper or Marshawn Lynch? All these guys are crucial to this team, but Gruden will come in thinking he is the end all be all, and that isn't the case anymore. Players in the NFL are more important than coaches. I'd even go so far as to say that Tom Brady is more important to the Patriots than Bill Belichek is. Derek Carr is no Tom Brady, and Gruden is nowhere near the coach that Belichek is. Returning now is going to be a big time kick in the ass for Gruden. Just wait until he gets roasted on Twitter or Facebook by die hard Raiders fans. He is going to HATE it, and there is nothing he can do about it. As far as life being better, maybe he likes the misery of being a coach. Coaches don't get sleep. Coaches are always the ones to get blame. Head coaches have to game plan every aspect of the game. Is Gruden really ready to jump head first into all that right away? No way.

Enjoy the honeymoon period while it lasts Raiders fans, because this is going to blow up like a bomb in your faces. While Gruden is a big name, I just do not think he is going to be that successful in the modern NFL. He is an old school coach, and the NFL is becoming a young man's game. I'd much rather have Sean McVay than Jon Gruden as my head coach right now. That is just the way I see it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is looking forward to the day when Gruden is run out of town for a one hundred year old Jon Madden. That would be newsworthy. 

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Ty Ranks the 2017 NFL Teams: The "Yes, The Empire Strikes Back is Still the Best" Edition

Today is the final day of my countdown. I have my top 4 teams for you. Tomorrow I will do a whole postseason, playoff, Super Bowl and award winners piece, but today, I have the best of the best that I think the NFL will have to offer. These are my 4 true contenders. All 4 of these teams, given the perfect chance and with some luck, can win the Super Bowl. Some have flaws, some don't. But, I feel like these are, far and away, the top 4 teams for the upcoming 2017 NFL season.

Lets get to it. At number 4, I have the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers are absolutely loaded on offense. They may have the best offense in the league. I know that Ben Roesthielberger talked about retirement, but no one believed him. He wasn't going to leave behind a team this stacked. I despise him, but he can play QB. I think he is wildly overrated, and one of his Super Bowl wins is definitely tainted, but the dude produces. I actively and openly root against him, but he can still play and he is still hard to take down with one tackler. Although, I love when he gets smacked by multiple defenders on a sack. It brings me so much joy. The group of receivers that they have is incredible. Antonio Brown is probably the second best receiver in the league, behind only Julio Jones.  Brown is nearly impossible to cover and he puts up big time stats. Martavis Bryant is back, and he will open things up even more for this offense. He is s good wide out. Jesse James has stepped into that Heath Miller role with ease. He is very, very tall too, making him a hard cover. LeVeon Bell may love weed, but he is also a tremendous runner. He is so good at waiting for holes to open and then taking the ball through that hole and getting 5, 6, or 7 yards every time. I know he hasn't shown up to camp yet, but he will be fine. He doesn't need camp. The O-Line is very good too. They can protect and run block. Where the Steelers fall off a bit is their defense. Sure, they still have guys like Ryan Shazier, who is extra dirty, James Harrison, who is old, but still in tremendous shape and Alvin Dupree, who really started to show flashes at the end of last year. But, the rest of the D is kind of blah. Names like Sean Davis, Stephon Tuitt, Mike Mitchell, Cameron Hayward and William Gay fill out the rest of the roster. Those names are not that threatening. They won't make offenses think twice about stuff. The Steelers offense is going to be the reason this team makes the playoffs and has a possible deep run. They will score a ton of points and teams will have a hard time stopping them. They are lethal on that side of the ball.

At number 3, I have the Oakland Raiders. This is another team that is going to score, score again, then score one more time. They are as stacked as the Steelers, except the Raiders are younger everywhere on that side of the ball. The O-line proved they can be good last year. They protected Derek Carr very well, until week 16, when his leg looked like it was broke in half. We will see how Carr recovers from that, I think he will be fine. He is a very good, young QB. I already think he is better than guys like Andrew Luck, Eli Manning, Alex Smith and Ben Roesthilberger. He is becoming a top level NFL QB. He has a very good arm and a great sense of the game. He also has guys like Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper to throw to. Crabtree is still a very solid receiver. He has kind of had a rebirth in Oakland. Cooper is looking like he will be the next in a line of very good Alabama receivers. Last year he really broke out and the Raiders benefited from his awesome performances. I also think that signing Cordarelle Patterson is going to be a big get for both parties. He is going to love playing in Oakland. The Raiders also got Marshawn Lynch to come out of retirement to play for them. I know he is in his 30's and took a year off, but he is still big, fast and bruising. He is also playing in his hometown, which I love. And Jalen Richardson is a fine second option at running back. The Raiders do have a similar problem that the Steelers have. Their defense is very suspect. Khalil Mack is awesome. When he is on the field, this defense has a leader, and he gets the most out of his teammates. Mack is tremendous. But, after him, it is a bit murky. Gareon Conley might be good, but he has a big time injury past. Bruce Irvin is solid, but he is not the same player he was in Seattle. The D-line is very average. They do not get much pressure. The secondary is young, but has a chance to be decent. The Raiders will score a ton. That has been established. They need everyone on that offense to stay healthy though. They will be in a ton of shoot outs, make the playoffs, but that defense will be the key to how far they go, and may be the deciding factor in a possible Super Bowl run.

At number 2 I have the defending Super Bowl champs, the New England Patriots. The Patriots return the majority of their super powered offense.  Tom Brady is still there, and he is the GOAT of all QB's. As long as he is the starting QB, the Patriots will always be contenders. He and Belichek, even though they like douchey, horrible people, are 2 of the best to ever play and coach. In fact, they are the 2 best ever at their respected spots. They still have Gronk, and if he can stay healthy, he is the best tight end in the league. By far. He is unstoppable. He is big, fast and has great hands. Julian Edelman is probably the best slot receiver in the NFL. He is getting too many concussions, which is problematic. But, he is still very productive. Danny Amendola has been very good since signing with the Patriots. They also got Brandin Cooks this offseason. He is going to thrive in this offense. They have a stable of running backs that play the exact way the Patriots want them to play. Guys like Dion Lewis and James White are the perfect for what the Patriots want to do. Their defense lost some guys, Logan Ryan for example, but they replaced him with some super talents. Stephon Gilmore is awesome. He is going to be a great addition. Malcolm Butler is playing for a contract, so he is going to ball out. Donta' Hightower is hurt, but he will be fine, and he will produce. Kony Ealy was another great addition for the line. Alan Branch is a stout D-lineman. Trey Flowers is an okay lineman. The Patriots are the type of team that can plug in and play anyone and they will produce. They don't need stars. They need players, and they get players. Players that want to win. The Patriots are great, and will continue to be as long as Belichek is the coach. They could win another Super Bowl this year and I wouldn't be surprised.

My final team, my number 1 team, my beloved Green Bay Packers. I may be seeing this through rose color glasses, but I think they are the best team in the league. They have the best offense, if they can stay healthy, in the league. Aaron Rodgers is the best QB in the league right now. That's right I think he is better than Tom Brady. He has a tremendous arm, laser accuracy, can run and leads the offense to perfection. Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams are all very good, solid options at wide out. They can really spread the field out too. They also have Richard Rodgers and they signed Martellus Bennett. That is a lethal combo at tight end. Rodgers is enormous and Bennett is all around excellent. The run game is suspect, but I think Ty Montgomery is going to be good. He will be a threat to run the ball and catch it out of the backfield. He will add a totally new dimension to this offense. The O-line lost some guys, but this team also plugs and plays guys, and they produce. The defense is going to be better this year too. Clay Matthews and Jake Ryan make for a very solid linebacking duo. Matthews can rush and Ryan is a tackling machine. Quentin Rollins is a solid corner. HaHa Clinton Dix is fast becoming an elite safety. Kevin King was a great pick at corner. Nick Perry has his moments. The defense is going to produce and play a hell of a lot better than last year. The only thing that scares me is Mike McCarthy. He is a horrendous coach. But, this group of players should more than cover up for his shortcomings. The Packers are going to be awesome this year. I hate to put so much shine on my favorite team, but I have a great feeling about this team, and I'm ready to say that they could, and should, win the Super Bowl this year. They are loaded.

There you have it, my 2017 NFL countdown. Tell me who I was wrong about and why in the comment section, but this is the order I see the teams finishing this year. Let's play some football.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His love of the Packers blinds him to the absolute awesomeness of the Sam Bradford led Vikings. That is the most pathetic thing the head editor has ever written on this website. I am going to go to my shame corner now.

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Ty's 2016 NFL Playoff Predictions

Ready to tee up with the playoffs

The NFL playoffs are set, and I'm here to tell you who I think will walk away as Super Bowl 51 champs. I was obviously wrong in my preseason predictions. The Panthers, and Cam Newton, had an atrocious season. They looked pretty bad all year long. I was way, way off on that one. I was right about the Patriots though. I did not think Brady's suspension was going to affect them that much, and it didn't. They went 3-1 without him and 11-1 with him, giving the Patriots the best overall record in the league at, 14-2. I was off on the Cowboys though. I thought they would not be good, no matter who the starting QB was, but they have a tremendous offensive line, and Ezekial Elliot and Dak Prescott played like seasoned vets all year. Will it happen in the playoffs? We will have to wait and see. With all that being said, lets get to how I see this playoff playing out.

I'll start with the AFC. From 6 to 1, we have Miami, Oakland, Houston, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and New England. Only 2 of these teams, in my opinion, have a legit shot to go to the Super Bowl. The Wild Card matchups in the AFC will be Miami vs Pittsburgh and Oakland vs Houston.

Miami has had an okay season, but they have not beaten anybody all that decent this season. They might have the shadiest 10 wins in all the NFL. They have a good defense, but not great. Their offense, especially with Ryan Tannehill out, who I do not think is that much better than Blake Bortles anyway, is not very good. They have excellent receivers, but with Matt Moore leading the offense, it doesn't matter. Jay Ajayi exploded in the middle of the year, but since then, he has been average. The Steelers, on the other hand, have a lethal offense. Even though he is a horrible, god awful human being, Ben Roesthelisberger can still sling it, and he always gets help from the refs. He has his whole career. LeVeon Bell is one of the best running backs in the league. Antonio Brown is one of the best receivers in the league. The Steelers have a decent offensive line. Where they struggle is defense. They get gashed a lot. But, with Matt Moore being the QB, and Ajayi coming down to Earth, I do not see the Steelers short comings on defense giving the Dolphins a shot in this game. Steelers win this game fairly easily, 28-14.

The other game would have been a blowout, had Derek Carr not broken his leg 2 weeks ago. I still think the Raiders are better, but that was a crushing loss to this team. The Raiders now have to rely on either Connor Cook or Matt McGloin. Yeesh. They still have Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree and Latavius Murray, but no Derek Carr is brutal. Their defense, while Swiss cheese at times, has played better lately. They did not look great yesterday, but they have stepped up since earlier this season. Houston is a laughingstock. They do not belong in the playoffs at all. They are more bogus than the Dolphins, but since they are in such a crappy division, they get to go to the playoffs with only 9 wins. They have no offense, except DeAndre Hopkins. But, he barely sees the ball since both Osweiler and Tom Savage are mediocre. They also have no running game and their defense is a joke. As I said, the Raiders will win, but this game will be ugly. Final score of 13-3.

So that would pit the Steelers vs the Chiefs and the Raiders vs the Patriots. These should be good matchups. I think the Steelers-Chiefs game could be great. I think the Chiefs will pull out the win, but it will be tough. The Chiefs have a better overall team, and their defense is much better than Pittsburgh's. I also think that the Chiefs will be able to hold onto the ball and run at will against the Steelers, thus making the Steelers strength, their offense, moot. Andy Reid will not blow this chance, and he will pull out a hard fought victory, 21-17.

The other game is going to be a bloodbath. The Patriots, after Brady's suspension, are out for blood. They want to destroy anyone in their way so that Roger Goodell has to hand them the Lombardi trophy. Unfortunately for the Raiders, without Derek Carr, they will be the Patriots first victim. Sure, the Patriots do not have the best defense, but it is serviceable, especially against a team without their star QB. And this Patriots offense is surgical. Brady picks apart secondary's. He has made guys like Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola household names. He's doing the same with Chris Hogan and Malcom Mitchell this year. They also seem to have limitless options at running back. They can go with Legarette Blount for power, James White for speed and Dion Lewis for a bit of everything. And even though they lost Gronk to injury, they have Martellus Bennett, and he is awesome, and very tall. The Patriots are ready to beat the shit out of some people. I have the Patriots winning big, 34-10.

That would give us a Chiefs-Patriots AFC Championship. This will be a good game. The Chiefs are the one team in the AFC that can compete with this Patriots team. They have guys that can shut down the Patriots skill players, but they do not have any real game changers, except maybe Tyreek Hill, on offense to score with the Patriots. I think it will be a very good game, maybe even come down to the wire like last year, but Andy Reid will rear his ugly head at some point, and Belichek will capitalize, as he always does. This will be a low scoring, hard fought Patriots win, 20-13. The Patriots will represent the AFC in Super Bowl 51.

As far as the NFC goes, the seeding from 6 to 1 goes, Detroit, New York, Green Bay, Seattle, Atlanta and Dallas. I legitimately feel like almost any one of these teams can make a run to the Super Bowl, and yes, I am including the Lions in the discussion.

The Wild Card matchups will feature the Lions vs the Seahawks and the Giants vs the Packers. The Lions are an enigma. This team had no business even being competitive this season, especially after Calvin Johnson retired. They had no running game. Stafford had never put it all together. The defense is good, but spends too much time on the field. But, somehow they managed to get 9 wins and make the playoffs. The Seahawks have been incredibly inconsistent all year. At times they look like the clear cut favorites, at other times, they look mediocre at best. They have a good defense, but they are not what they were 2 years ago, and they are missing some key pieces. They also do not get pressure like they used to. The offense is very average. Russell Wilson has not taken that next step towards the upper echelon of starting QB's. He may be hurt, but he just does not look like the guy that many thought he would turn out to be after the Seahawks won 2 years ago. I think he is a better version of Colin Kaepernick, but not by much. Their offensive line stinks. They cannot protect the QB, and they do not open up running lanes. They have good receivers, like Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse, but they lost Tyler Lockett to a broken leg, and now they have no deep threat. They have also never really figured out how to use Jimmy Graham. He has become a mid tier tight end since the trade. With that being said, the game is in Seattle, so I do think the Seahawks will win, but it will be a very ugly game, much like the majority of the NFL this year. It will also be very low scoring, with a final of 10-6.

The other matchup, being a Packers fan, is my nightmare. I hate the Giants, and it is because they always seem to pull out some miraculous win, no matter how bad Eli Manning plays, or where the game is played. My only hope this season though, Tom Coughlin is gone, and Bob McAdoo is the coach, and he is as predictable as they come. Green Bay is also on a roll right now. Aaron Rodgers, after his selfish calling out of his teammates, has played lights out. So has Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams. Ty Montgomery has been a revelation. The offensive line is clicking. Hell, even the defense is playing better during their 6 game win streak. I'm always nervous when the Packers have to play the Giants though. I bad mouthed McAdoo, but Mike McCarthy is just as bad, possibly worse at times, but I do think the Packers will pull out the win. They have a better team, with much better skill players(yes, I think the duo of Nelson/Adams is better than Cruz/Beckham Jr), and I think Eli will make a big mistake. I have the Packers winning 28-23.

So that would give us second round matchups of Seattle-Atlanta and Green Bay-Dallas. Atlanta should easily beat the Seahawks. They have a better QB, better receivers, a better line and a better running game. They also do not have the injuries that Seattle has. I think Matt Ryan should be the regular season MVP. He's been great. So has Julio Jones. He has been un guardable at times. He is so tall and so fast and has great hands and runs great routes. The revolving door at running back works for them, and Devonta Freeman is coming on at the right time. Atlanta is a serious threat in the NFC. I have them beating Seattle fairly easily, 24-10. It will be close for a half, but Atlanta will pull away in the second half.

The other side has Green Bay-Dallas. This is supposed to be Dallas' year, right? They have everything going for them. They have home field throughout the playoffs. They have had a dominating year on the offensive side of the ball. They have the best offensive line in all of football. Ezekial Elliot and Dak Prescott are the future. Dez Bryant is playing better without Romo. This is supposed to be the year for them Cowboys, right? I do not know if it is my blind love for the Packers, or what, but I think the Packers will beat them, and I do not think it will even be close. The Cowboys will come out hot, but this is a team led by rookies, and I don't know about you, but I'd much rather have vets like Aaron Rodgers, Jordy Nelson, Julius Peppers, Davante Adams, Clay Matthews, some of which have won a Super Bowl, than rookies leading my team in the playoffs. This is not meant to take away from Dallas' great season, but I think the moment will be a bit too big for them. They have won a lot of games, 13, but some have been very ugly, and I just think their luck is going to run out. Maybe it is my blind love, it totally is, and my hatred for the Cowboys, it is that as well, but I think the Packers will go to Jerry World and win this game. I also think they will win by 2 scores, with a final of 28-17.

So that would give us Atlanta and Green Bay in the NFC Championship. this is where the Packers win streak ends. They have no one that can guard Julio Jones, and Matt Ryan is playing so god damn great right now. This will be a very high scoring game, close to the end, but Atlanta will win, 38-35. This game is going to be filled with offensive fireworks, and Atlanta has the better weapons on offense to do just that.

Super Bowl 51 will pit Atlanta and New England. This is a pretty good matchup, or at least I think so. Both teams have so so defenses, but they each have explosive offenses. The Super Bowl will be very high scoring, but in the end, I think New England puts it away, and Goodell has to hand that trophy over to Belichek and Brady. Atlanta will keep it close for three and a half quarters, but New England, behind Legarette Blount, not Tom Brady, will put this game away in the fourth quarter. I think the Falcons will be so keyed up to stop the Patriots pass game that it will open up the run game for New England. Blount is going to have a big game. He is the best of the three running backs the Patriots use, and they will ride him to a win in the Super Bowl. I expect him to go for over 100 yards and, at least, 2 touchdowns, and win the Super Bowl MVP. Like I said, it will be close for awhile, but New England will put it away early in the fourth, and win 38-28.

There you have it, my 2017 NFL playoff preview and picks.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. With the Packers and Wolverines, 2016 saw a lot of sports heartbreak. 2017 will not be a repeat for Ty's teams. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty's 2016 Midseason NFL Redo

As we approach week 8 of the NFL season, I need to do my annual mid season revision. I did a 3 day preseason NFL preview, and like last year, I have some stuff that I got right and some stuff that I got wrong. Today, I want to pat myself on the back a little bit, but also eat some crow, especially with my Super Bowl and MVP pick.

Before I get started, I know that RD is putting up a big piece about this soon, but the NFL has been absolutely atrocious this season. I'll let RD do the majority of expounding on that, but I have eyeballs, and what they have seen has been terrible. The game is watered down and the teams are not that good. This first half of the season has been abysmal. Thank goodness for college football, which I will touch on tomorrow, at least that has been fun this year. Anyway, let's get to my mid season NFL review.

So, as you all know by now, I had the Panthers as the Super Bowl winners. I thought that they would come out and slay pretty much everyone in front of them. I thought that they would be pissed at how they performed in last year's Super Bowl, and want to make up for that. I thought Cam Newton would trash any defense that came his way. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. The Panthers have been terrible this season. They are 1-5 as we speak. Their defense is dreadful. They cannot get off the field, and teams are putting up 30 plus points on them with ease. I did not think that they'd miss Josh Norman as much as they do. Luke Kuechly has been very, very average this year. Their D line is getting little to no pressure. They stink. The offense isn't much better. Cam Newton looks miserable out there. He is not playing with the joy that turned me into a fan. He is getting head hunted, and the NFL is doing nothing about it. But, he also seems more concerned with what kind of celebration he is going to do when he scores instead of just getting in the end zone. They have no running game. Their passing game, which added Kelvin Benjamin, has been pretty porous. The Panthers have been the biggest, by far, disappointment in the NFL this year.

Outside of the Panthers, the NFC is not really great. The Vikings are probably the best team in the NFC, but they just got absolutely shut down by the Eagles last week. They have an other worldly defense, but their offense is very bad. The Cowboys, very surprisingly, have been right near the top of the NFC this year. Ezekial Elliot is currently leading the NFL in rushing. The receivers, minus Dez Bryant, have been very good. Dak Prescott has been exceptional. He is doing the best job of managing the game. He makes no mistakes, hardly ever, and dinks and dunks all the way down the field. I'm not a Cowboys fan, but I hope that when Tony Romo and Dez Bryant come back totally healthy, they stay on the bench because you should not rock the boat. This team is 5-1 for a reason. Who knows what Jerry Jones will do, but he needs to keep Prescott in there, as long as this team keeps winning.

As far as some other NFC teams, the Cardinals have been very disappointing. Carson Palmer looks like a shell of himself. Larry Fitzgerald is still good, but getting older. Michael Floyd drops more than he catches. David Johnson and their defense has been their saving grace, but they are 3-3-1. The Seahawks are probably the most underwhelming 4-1-1 team in the NFL. Their offense is mediocre, but their defense, who gets away with penalty after penalty, week after week, is still good. They are dirty, but still elite. The Packers are mediocre. Their defense is average and their offense has been mind numbingly frustrating to watch. The Lions, Saints, Eagles, Buccaneers and Falcons are at, or near .500, but they will make no difference in the long run.

As much as I hate to write this, I think the Cowboys, if they stick with Prescott and the running game, will become the team to beat in the NFC. They could very well make the Super Bowl this year, that is how bad this season has been.

The AFC, while not much better, does have the very best team in the NFL. The Patriots are leaps and bounds above all 31 other teams, and they are filled with holes. Their defense is very mediocre. they do give up some big plays a bit too often. After his ridiculous 4 game suspension, Tom Brady has looked like a man possessed. He is the front runner for the MVP right now, after only 3 games. He has lit up the 3 teams he's faced. He is on pace, in 12 games, to surpass 4,000 passing yards. That's crazy. Gronk is fully healthy, and he is just as unstoppable as ever. Martellus Bennett is a great addition, and takes pressure off Gronk. The slot receivers that fill the rest of this offense are perfect for the Patriots system. LeGarette Blount has been a great runner for them this year too. He's on pace for 1,300 plus rushing yards and 15 plus touchdowns. They also have James White, great out of the back field and Dion Lewis will be back soon. The Patriots, even with their holes, are the cream of the crop in the NFL. Eat it Roger Goodell.

 As for the teams not playing at Gillette, the Broncos have a great defense, but their offense is very much below average. They can't sustain drives, and unless their defense gives the offense primo field position, they usually punt. That should rule out a return trip to the Super Bowl. The Steelers, who I was very high on before the season, are minus their QB for another 3-5 weeks. Try as he might, LeVeon Bell can only do so much. Without Roesthilberger, this team will not go very far. But, 9-7 could win that division, so who knows. The Raiders, another team I was very high on, have been great offensively so far, but terrible defensively. The still hold a 5-2 record, and I'd love to see them in the playoffs, but I worry that their defense will make it unlikely. The Chiefs, who I was not so high on, have been pretty good so far. Sure, they got thumped by the Steelers a few weeks ago, but other than that, they have played pretty well. The Bills are well on their way to another 8-8 or 9-7 season. The entire AFC South stinks. The Texans are the worst division leader in all of football. The Colts and Jaguars are bottom feeders and the Titans are so bad on offense, that will hold them back. The Harambes, AKA Bengals, have been very mediocre, and I'm sure RD will agree. The Chargers are bad, but actually kind of fun to watch either blow games late or win games late. The Dolphins and Ravens are destined to be .500, and the Browns may not win a game all year long. The Patriots are, not only the best team in the AFC, but the best team in football. They are 100 percent going to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl this season, barring any major injury.

That means I have the Cowboys playing the Patriots in Super Bowl 51. Yikes. The Patriots should win it going away, if this turns out to be the matchup. I have the Patriots as my new Super Bowl champs. I also have Tom Brady as the MVP. David Johnson might be more deserving, or Julio Jones may put up unprecedented numbers, or Ezekial Elliot may rush for 1,800 yards, but what Brady has done over 3 games, and will continue to do, just to twist the knife in Goodell, will win him the MVP. He is the greatest QB ever, and this season will prove that even further. As far as rookie of the year, I was way, way off on LaQuon Treadwell. This is clearly Elliot's to lose. He has been as good as advertised, and as much as I may dislike his demeanor and the way he carries himself, he has been great this year. I still have Jack Del Rio as my coach of the year. He has the Raiders at 5-2, as I already stated, and they are relevant again. But, I would not count out Bill Belichek. He won 3 of 4 without Brady, and now, they want to crush everyone in their path, as they should. And defensive player of the year should, and probably will be Von Miller. He is incredible and playing incredible. He should own this award for many years to come.

So, that does it for my mid season review. I got some stuff right, but way more wrong. I'm pissed about my love for the Panthers, but happy about my feelings for the Raiders. The NFL is in a rough place, but I still watch and will continue to watch. Come back tomorrow and I will have my mid season college football review. That will be much more fun to write.  

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He may think the Cowboys ccan make the Super Bowl, but in his heart he knows Jerry Jones will ruin the teams chances. Romo is Jones's guy after all. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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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: Shirt Fresh Out of the Dryer Edition

It's a new week, so that means we are back to my NFL countdown. I started last week with the worst and worked my way all the way to 4 teams that have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs this year by the end of the week. Starting today, I have 12 total teams left, so we are near the cream of the crop of the NFL. Today, I even have some division winners. I also have a few surprise teams, based on where I have them ranked. This is the good part of the NFL. These last 12 teams are all hyper competitive, and they have full fledged stars, and up and coming super talents. Okay, on with the countdown.

Coming in at number 12, I have the Indianapolis Colts. This team was ravaged by injuries last year, namely to Andrew Luck. I really think Luck is a great NFL QB. He is going to take that next step to the upper level, and I think it will happen this season, if he stays healthy. He had a ruptured spleen last year, and you could tell just by watching that he was in some serious pain. The fact that he even played as many games as he did was remarkable. The problem with Luck though, he does take way too many chances and that causes costly errors. The Colts also don't really have a running game. Yeah, they signed Frank Gore last year, but he was past his prime a few years back. He is still serviceable, but not the threat he once was. He still grinds out tough yards, but he has no break away speed anymore, not that he ever really had any at all. Gore also doesn't have that great of a line to run behind either. They also don't protect Luck all that well, he was sacked a lot last season, when he played. What the Colts do have, besides Luck, is a decent group of wideouts. T.Y. Hilton has become a household name for NFL fans. He is a deep threat, but he is also a very good possession receiver. They also have Donte Moncrief, who is a taller version of Hilton, just not as polished yet. They also have the ageless wonder, Deion Branch at receiver. He is old, but he is still good. The Colts have names on defense, but the results are not there yet. The defense has guys like Robert Mathis, Vontae Davis and D'Qwell Jackson, who are all good, but they still give up a lot of points. If the defense can shore it up, they have the talent to be in the top 10 of the league. They do also have the best kicker, maybe in the history of the NFL, in Adam Vinateiri. He is as automatic as they come. The Colts should win their division. As I said last week, the Texans and Jaguars are coming, but the Colts still have Andrew Luck. I say they rebound from last year, go 11-5 and win the division.

At number 11, I have the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs may be the most milquetoast team in all of football, but they win games. Andy Reid is a very good regular season head coach, so this team can always put together a very competitive team, they just don't win playoff games. Alex Smith may be the best game manager QB in the NFL. He makes the check down play a bit too much, but he usually makes the right throw. He very rarely gets picked off, which is huge for this team. Jamaal Charles, when he is healthy, is one of the best backs in the league. He's fast, he's shifty and when he is the open field, forget about trying to catch him, he's gone. But, he does get injured a ton. He has torn ACL's, suffered multiple concussions and gets nicks and bruises all the time. They have a good tight end in Travis Kelce, but he is a very poor man's version of Gronk. He doesn't have the size and speed or the hands of Gronk, but he is a reliable tight end. The Chiefs finally have a good receiver in Jeremy Maclin. He is very fast and has good hands. But, much like Charles, Maclin gets hurt a lot. He also alligator arms passes sometimes, leading me to believe that he doesn't like contact. But, he is still a very good receiver. Other than Maclin though, the Chiefs are thin at receiver. On the other side of the ball, the Chiefs are very stout. They have great players on defense with guys like Derrick Williams, Donatari Poe, Eric Berry, Justin Houston, Marcus Peters and Tamba Hali, amongst others. The Chiefs defense can get pressure, stop the run and cover the pass. The Chiefs are good, but they are the third best defense in their own conference, that's the problem. The Chiefs division is very, very good. I say they finish 10-6, but that will only good enough for third and they will miss out on the playoffs.

Coming in at number 10, I have my biggest mover from last season, the Oakland Raiders. Now, before you laugh this team off, they have gotten really good the past couple of seasons, and they have done most of it through the draft. First off, I think Derek Carr is a very serviceable QB right now, but I believe that he will become one of the better QB's in the league very soon. He has a great arm, makes good choices most of the time, and finally has some threats at the skill positions. Derek Carr is one of the better draft choices that the Raiders have made in a long, long time. Another great draft pick they made happened last year when they took Amari Cooper. Cooper proved in his rookie year that he was as advertised. He does the dirty work, i.e., going over the middle and jumping up for poorly thrown balls. Cooper also has speed, runs great routes and finds open spaces all over the field. Amari Cooper is awesome. They also have Michael Crabtree, who is still a very viable receiver, when he has a good QB. At running back, they looked thin, but Latavius Murray really showed up last year when they needed a good running back. He runs hard and grinds out yards. Their offensive line is also very, quietly, good. But, this Raiders defense is on the verge of being one of the top defenses in the NFL. They are so good, so fast, attack the other team, and they aren't dirty about it anymore. The defense is led by another great draft pick, Khalil Mack. Mack is so, so good. He is a dominant linebacker. He can tackle, he can cover and he is the leader of this unit when they are on the field, and he excels at all these things. They also signed Bruce Irvin this offseason away from Seattle, and now he is teaming up with Mack. Oof, that is a devastating duo at linebacker. They also have a good defensive line and secondary, but this defense is led by the linebackers, as defenses should be. I really like what the Raiders have done, I hope they don't move to Las Vegas, and they've done most of it through the draft. This team is good, and they should win 11 games this year, and compete for a playoff spot, but it will be from the wild card. I really enjoy this Raiders team.

At number 9, which is a fall for them, I have the Seattle Seahawks. I kind of feel that the shine is off this Seahawks team. They don't seem to be as dominant as they were 2 years ago. I feel that some people on their team, Russell Wilson, have let their ego get in the way of their game. Wilson was a fine game manager, but when he was the QB of a Super Bowl championship, I feel like he got way too much credit, and he let that get to his head. you could see it in his play last year. He tried to make throws that he can't possibly make. He also started to blame everyone else on the team for his short comings. Wilson is a slightly better version of Colin Kaepernick, he just happened to be on a team with one of the greatest defenses of all time. Then, they let Marshawn Lynch essentially walk away for nothing because he and Wilson couldn't coexist. They chose the QB over, at the time, the best running back in the league. I know Lynch was hurt a lot last year, but when he was in, he was great. Then, they struck gold with Thomas Rawls, who was a revelation, but he broke his ankle. The running back position is a big, big problem for this team, and they rely on the run more than any other NFL team. At receiver, they have just okay players. Tyler Lockett and Doug Baldwin are fine, but they are just kind of blah to me. They have Jimmy Graham, but they use him more for blocking than receiving, and that is not his strength. He is not a good blocker at all, but he is an all world receiver. They need to figure out how to use him properly. Their o line stinks as well. They simply cannot protect anyone. The defense is still good, but people have figured out how to neutralize their weapons. They lost Bruce Irvin, but they still have Bobby Wagner and KJ Wright. They are fine, but they are not Bruce Irvin. They do have a good d line, with guys like Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril. They can stop the run, but their days of pressuring the QB seem to be gone. The secondary is the best part of their defense, but it is not the "Legion of Boom"(what a stupid, self proclaimed nickname) anymore. Richard Sherman is great, but not like he was a few years ago. He gets beat deep more now, and he doesn't put fear in opposing QB's like he used to. Earl Thomas is a very good safety, but he also has lost a step or two over the past couple of years. Brandon Browner, in my opinion, has become a better over all cornerback than Richard Sherman, but no one talks about him. But, the cream of the crop in the secondary is Kam Chancellor. He is a great hitter and ball hawk. Chancellor may be one of the best secondary players in all the NFL. The Seahawks can still win this porous division, but they will probably only win 10 games. They still have a very stout defense, which will keep them in games, but the offense is not as good as some will lead you to believe, and they will continue to regress. Also, Pete Carroll is not as good a coach as some writers think he is.

Come back tomorrow for the next four teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His dislike for the Seahawks is legendary, but he will still give credit where it is due. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Happy Retirement to Charles Woodson, the Greatest Player Ever

It is an honor calling Charles Woodson a Wolverine

Yesterday Charles Woodson announced that he's retiring at the end of this season. Woodson has been in the NFL for 18 years. I wrote last week about him, comparing his and Peyton Manning's careers. Today, I'm going to heap praises solely on Charles Woodson and what has been an illustrious career.

First and foremost, Charles Woodson is my all time favorite football player. He's passed Barry Sanders within the past five years. Woodson is the man. Let's start all the way back at his late high school career. He was an all world recruit coming out of Ohio. Everybody wanted him to come play football at their school. Some wanted him to play running back, where he also excelled, but a select few wanted him to play corner back or safety. One such school was the University of Michigan. In what has been one of their best recruiting signings, they signed Charles Woodson in 1995. His first two years at Michigan were stellar for him, but the team was finishing 8-4 or 9-3. They were good, but not as good as they could be. During his freshman year at Michigan, Woodson saw the field quite a bit as a cornerback and in their nickel coverage. He was great. He won Big Ten Freshman of the Year. He was an All Big Ten performer and led the team with five interceptions and eight total takeaways. Pretty great freshman season. During his sophomore year, he was the man in the secondary. He set a then record with 15 pass breakups. He was named the Chevrolet Defensive Player of the Year and was named an AP first team All American. He was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe award, given to the top defensive back in college football. He also garnered first team all Big Ten honors. A star was born.

During his junior year, Woodson blew up. He was the leader and the best player on one of Michigan's all time great defenses. He also expanded his game to punt and kick returns and played some receiver. Michigan opened the season as a top 20 team, I think they were preseason number 19, but we all know how that season ended. Michigan played suffocating defense, they had a great running game and Brian Griese and Tai Streets dominated in their passing offense. Michigan defeated Washington State in the 1997 Rose Bowl and won the National Championship. I will not say co champs because Missouri beat Nebraska, although the past scores will say different. Michigan played a tougher schedule and beat a tougher opponent in their bowl game. Prior to their Rose Bowl win, Charles Woodson won the Heisman trophy. He beat out Ryan Leaf, Randy Moss and Peyton Manning. This was unheard of at the time. He was, and still is, the only primary defensive player to win the Heisman. Sure, he had some great moments as a receiver and his punt return against Ohio State is one for the ages, but he was such a lock down cornerback, the voters thought that was sufficient enough to give him the Heisman. He lived up to the award in the Rose Bowl, intercepting Ryan Leaf in the end zone to secure the national title for Michigan. Also, go back and look at the pick he had against Michigan State earlier that season, best interception I've ever seen.

Woodson left for the NFL after his junior year and was the fourth overall pick in the 1997 draft by the Oakland Raiders. His first run with the Raiders lasted from 1998-2005. He was exceptional from the start. He won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award. He started every game and led the team in tackles from a defensive back. He was third in the league with five interceptions, returned one for a touchdown and forced a fumble. He was selected to the Pro Bowl and was named an All Pro by the Associated Press. Much more of the same accolades and production from Woodson for the next couple of seasons. In 2003, after getting over a shoulder injury, he started every game for a Raiders team that made the Super Bowl. He had an interception in a losing effort against the Buccaneers. Previous to this Super Bowl, Woodson was involved in one of the most controversial calls in playoff history. Woodson appeared to strip sack Tom Brady and the Raiders looked like they would make another Super Bowl by beating the Patriots, but that's when the "tuck rule" was created. The officials said that Brady was bringing the ball back in, so they called it an incomplete forward pass, instead of a fumble, and the Patriots kicked a chip shot field goal and went on to the Super Bowl and won. Woodson caused that fumble, I will go to my grave believing that. Later in his Oakland career, they hired the god awful Bill Callahan and he and Woodson did not get along. His contract was up at the end of the 2005 season and he signed with the Green Bay Packers. He was revitalized, although he didn't need any revitalization. He was with the Packers from 2006-2012. His first year with the Packers Woodson led the league with 8 interceptions. He also got back to retuning punts and did a fine job, averaging almost 10 yards per return. In 2008, after putting up stellar numbers once again, Woodson was named to his fifth pro bowl team, first while with the Packers. For his fantastic 2009 season, Woodson was named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year. His stats improved every year with the Packers and he was a much better player there than with Oakland, and he was great in Oakland. In 2011, Woodson was lock down all the way through the season and playoffs, helping the Packers reach the Super Bowl. He hurt his shoulder in the first half of the game, but was integral to the Packers winning that Super Bowl. He had tremendous season and was capped off with a Super Bowl ring. In 2013 Woodson retuned to Oakland. He wanted to end his career were it started. The Raiders were not very good, but he has helped turned that team into a viable NFL defense and they are on the verge of their first .500 season since Woodson was last there.

Charles Woodson announced yesterday that he will hang it up at the end of the year, and I truly believe that he is the greatest defensive football player of all time. Look at all the accolades. Heisman trophy and national title and multiple all American nods in college. In the pros, He's won a Super Bowl, the Defensive Player of the Year, 8 pro bowls, Rookie of the year and a member of the all decade team in 2000. He's a stud. He is the GOAT and he does it all with class and grace. No showboating and trash talking. He has let his play do his talking for him. Thank you for all the many, many productive years of football that you've provided me over the past 21 years. You are a sure fire Hall of Famer and you are the greatest defensive football player to ever step on a field.

Thank you again and enjoy your retirement.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His views on the 1997 College Football co-champs has been warped by the editor's love of Mizzou football. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Charles Woodson is the greatest player to come out of the Peyton Manning draft

We all know a wolverine could tear a volunteer in half

I was watching Sports Center or NFL Network or something where they were talking about football. They were previewing the upcoming Broncos-Raiders game and they kept showing pictures of Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler, comparing the two quarterbacks. My wife was watching with me and, the longer we've been together, the more she knows about football. She asked me, during the preview of the game, "why are they only talking about Peyton Manning? Why aren't they talking about Charles Woodson more, he's had a better overall career than Peyton Manning, right?".

Now, Charles Woodson is my all time favorite football player, and yes, he is a University of Michigan alum and yes, I'm a diehard Michigan fan, so naturally, I agreed with my wife. Then, I looked much, much further into her statement and yes, I do believe, with no bias, that Charles Woodson has had a better overall career than Peyton Manning. Let's look even further into it though. Sure, Peyton Manning is the more famous player. He is a quarterback, he has way more endorsements, he has hosted SNL multiple times and he's won a Super Bowl. But, Charles Woodson won the Heisman over Peyton Manning in 1997, he too has won a Super Bowl and been to a second one and he's stayed healthy and productive his entire career. He's still producing at an All Pro level and he's the captain and leader of the resurgent Raiders defense. Peyton Manning was recently just benched, some will say due to injury, for a back up QB from Arizona State. But, was the injury the only reason Manning was benched? I've written about Manning before on the website and I think that blog speaks many truths on his benching. His ball has no more zip. He throws multiple interceptions per game. He cannot move in the pocket anymore. He's a Hall of Famer, but I think his time is done. Charles Woodson on the other hand, he's still picking off passes and making open field passes. In fact, when the Raiders and Broncos met earlier this year, when Manning was still the starter, Woodson picked him off twice in that game. No praise was heaped on Woodson and how well he's still playing for a 39 year old in the NFL. The announcers only talked about how Manning will always be a great pro and these interceptions were just a flash in the pan, he'd bounce back for sure. But, as we all know now, he didn't bounce back. Woodson has produced every week for the 6-7 Raiders. That doesn't sound so great, but when was the last time the Raiders sniffed a .500 or even a winning record? They have a legitimate shot, albeit an outside one, to make the playoffs this year. The Broncos are a lock, but it's not because of Manning, it's their defense. Sure, the Raiders have a good young QB in Derek Carr and a great young receiver in Amari Cooper, but they are led in their defensive backfield by Charles Woodson. Their defense is middle of the road in the NFL, but I say again, when was the last time the Raiders were relevant? I truly believe that Charles Woodson has a real chance to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He's been lockdown all season playing out of position as a safety.

Lets go back and look at their Super Bowl wins. I will give you the fact that Woodson didn't play in the Packer Super Bowl win, he had a separated shoulder. But, he was the anchor of that defense all season, leading them to the Super Bowl. If I remember correctly, he hurt his shoulder making an important tackle or even interception in the NFC Championship game. He laid it all on the line for that Packer team and he definitely helped them win that Super Bowl. Sure, Peyton Manning was playing when the Colts won, but they played a sorry Bears team led by Rex Grossman in their Super Bowl win. Also, the game was a sloppy mess and Manning didn't win the game for them, their defense and running game was the determining factor. The two of them also lost a Super Bowl. The Manning loss was solely on him. The Colts had a chance late against the Saints, but we all know about the game sealing pick six that he threw to secure the win for the Saints. When the Raiders, that's right, this is Woodson's second go around with the Raiders, lost to the Buccaneers, it wasn't their defenses fault, Rich Gannon threw multiple picks and took multiple sacks in that game. But, Peyton Manning will go down as the more remembered player. He is a QB and they're stars. That's the way it is in the NFL. Woodson has been solid for 18 seasons now, but he plays defense and, what's worse, he plays cornerback and safety. And, if you don't constantly run your mouth like any secondary player on the Seahawks, you don't get noticed. But, I think that's the way Woodson wants it. He won a title in college. He beat out Manning for the Heisman. He was the best and most important player on one of the all time great Michigan teams and he's done it with little to no fanfare.

Manning has been great, as I said before, he is a sure fire Hall of Famer, but it big moments, he's choked more than he's succeeded. In college, his Tennessee Volunteers could never beat Florida and got trounced by Nebraska when they had a shot at a national title. In the pros, he's won a Super Bowl, but it wasn't because he had a great game. Peyton Manning will go down as one of the all time greatest QB's in NFL and college football history, but will he be remembered as the greatest QB of all time? I don't think so. He's not even the best QB in his draft class, that title is firmly in Tom Brady's hands. But, Charles Woodson may very well be the greatest defensive back of all time in the NFL or college football. He's had a stellar career and he continues to produce. I 100 percent agree with my wife's assumption that Charles Woodson has had the better overall career than Peyton Manning. Look at all the reasons that I mentioned above. It's not just my love for Woodson, the facts can't be ignored. Tell me why I'm wrong in the comment section. 

I will go to my grave thinking Charles Woodson is not only better than Peyton Manning, but he is the best defensive back to ever play football.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He once benched Rex Grossman on his fantasy team for Drew Henson. Not because Henson went to Michigan, but because Grossman stinks. 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