NFL Division Picks for the 2006 Season

The NFL machine is getting oiled up for another exciting season. The period officially known as the pre-season and unofficially known as “for godsakes, keep your starters from getting injured” has begun. Tune in to see your favorite stars take the field…for all of about five minutes, then scamper off to be replaced by a bunch of guys whose names you never heard and will promptly forget. Watch some spectacularly poor execution on both offense and defense while the coaches try to stay awake and the commentators take perverse pleasure in reminding you yet again about the utter pointlessness of pre-season games.

However, to the experience connoisseur of the game, the pre-season is a treasure trove of information. Not that it’s great information, or consistent information, but it’s a start. Enough for the annual exercise known as the divisional winner prediction. So here goes nothing.

AFC East. This used to be known as the “Nobody Can Touch New England” division, but time has passed and New England has gone the way of Ozymandias. The average age of New England playes is…well past retirement. The skills are still there. The experience is still there. Which is why New England would make a great team of halftime commentators, but as a football team, they are going to be severely challenged by Miami, a young team with a great coach and a solid quarterback hungry for days of glory. The Jets and the Bills are not going anywhere – both teams need to undertake some severe rebuilding, so other than some fireworks from Miami this division will not be terribly exciting.