The Commishs 2005 Midseason NFL Update

The Commish’s 2005 Midseason NFL Update:

No doubt you’ve been waiting for this with the same anticipation that you have for the Carolina Panther cheerleader trial on CourtTV.  Let me say this now and for the record regarding the Carolina Panther cheerleader scandal…  Woo hoo!

Quick sidebet – Who will win the bidding war for this one, Playboy or Penthouse?

Moving on to less titillating news…

Hey Philadelphia….  I.  TOLD.  YOU.  SO.

The rest of the NFC East is markedly better than I anticipated.  Looks like the next three weeks will decide this division.  Now that Philly has plucked out thine eye, they will be hard pressed to climb over the Giants and Skins.  I look for the Cowboys to disappear from the playoff chase first.

I pretty much pegged the NFC South, with Carolina stepping up with five wins in a row and looking like the most balanced team in the NFC and Atlanta looking like they’re also playoff bound.  Tampa started strong, but Chris Simms has been a train wreck at QB, and the entire New Orleans season has been a wreck.  

The NFC West is a little more intriguing.  Seattle has impressed, and the Rams are starting to enjoy life after Martz.  I look for the Rams to make a late season rush when Bulger and the receivers get healthy.  As I thought, the Cards and the Niners suck ass.  

My NFC Norris picks were 50-50.  I figured this as a down year for Green Bay, and didn’t think Minnesota was as good as many others did, but I had no idea that da Bearss would become the Ravens of ’05.  A team built around a stout defense and methodical boring offense apparently is good enough to prevail in this mediocre group.  And if Jeff Garcia had played the whole year, Detroit would have two more wins and would be challenging the Bearss.  As it is, at least Detroit will host the Super Bowl, if not have any players in it.

Standing by my prediction here  

• IF TO is playing for Philly come playoff time, they win the NFC easily. The only team that can beat TO-less Philly in Philly is… Carolina.

Now that TO has gotten himself suspended for the season, Carolina will win the NFC.

In the AFC…  I.  TOLD.  YOU.  SO.

This is the Colts year.  Plain and simple.  OK, I didn’t think they’d be undefeated, but I knew that they seemed to get better and the Pats didn’t.  Last week, I said the Colts would roll over the Pats by 17, they won by 19.

Even with the dismantling yesterday, the Pats will win the woeful East.  I thought the Jets would make a run, but the injury to Chad ended that hope.  Buffalo and Miami are awful.

Indy rules the South.  Jacksonville is second.  Tennessee and Houston bring up the rear.  Any questions?

Cincy was my pick to leap up to title status in the North.  Bingo!  Pittsburgh is clearly playoff bound as well, though the Maddox/Batch combo might dictate otherwise.  And I never thought I’d say this, but Baltimore really missed Kyle Boller.  Scoop up Todd Heap if he’s available.  Cleveland must be wondering why they wanted the Brown back around now.

I predicted the entire AFC West would be around .500 and aside from Jake Plummer NOT playing like Jake Plummer, that would be about right.  Dick Vermeil made a great call against the Raiders to pretty much squash the Raiders playoff hopes, and vault the Chiefs into the playoff hunt.  The Chargers also suffered through a horrific schedule and look bound for the 8-9 wins I predicted.  

Here was my AFC prediction

- Division champs will be New England (may have more trouble than you think), Cincy (!), Indy (slam dunk), and uh… uh… I’ll get back to you on that.

Sticking with that 100%.

All in all, I’ve done pretty well with my projections (including the TO-Philly divorce).  I’d say my Indy, Cincy, and Carolina predictions are the best and my Bearss, Lions, and Jets predictions bringing up the rear.

Book your tickets now to Super Bowl XL.  Final Score: Indianapolis Colts 27, Carolina Panthers 17.  Your Super Bowl MVP is Edgerrin James with 118 yards and two touchdowns.