Playoff Predictions!
AFC North - Steelers: 11-5
Easily the most difficult division to predict.
I think that the Bengals are in for a real slide this year. I think Andy Dalton has been grossly over performing in the regular season and is set for a fall back down to earth. The Offense is technically better, fortifying the line and committing to putting the ball into Bernard's hands more, but I think Andy Dalton will make the offense on the whole worse by having a drastic reduction in production. Other losses include DE Michael Johnson, who has no suitable replacement (Gilberry has no talent, Hunt is a 2nd year player who failed to impress in his rookie year, and Clarke is a 3rd round rookie who doesn't seem to be much more than "competent starter"), and James Harrison will make a previously scary defense look much more tame.
Steelers on the other hand look really good. Le'Veon Bell and Blount are going to avoid punishment on their DUI charge for at least a year while it goes through the court system, so don't anticipate them missing even a single game until next season. Le'Veon Bell is a stud and had he not missed the first four games of the season last year he was statistically better than Eddie Lacy. The loss of Emmanuel Sanders is a huge blow, but Heyward is good and they grabbed Martavis Bryant who is like raw talent waiting to be molded into a top receiver.
They also have a damn easy schedule with only 4 playoff teams from last year on the slate, of those being expected declines Kansas City and Carolina (excluding the Bengals obviously)
AFC East - Patriots - 12-4
The 2014 Patriots are going to be even better than the 2013 Patriots who walked away with the division. This is a no brainer pick. The next most talented roster is probably the Bills, but come on... they're the fucking Bills. It'll take a miracle for the Patriots to not walk away from this season with 12+ wins, another bye, and an easy road to ANOTHER AFC Championship game.
AFC South - Colts - 9-7
Good god this division is terrible and the Colts simply win it by default of being the least terrible. The Colts aren't that great and IMO they're going to wear Andrew Luck out with his billion sacks because once again they failed to address the O-line AT ALL. I would never hope for an injury but I would be surprised if Andrew Luck got through all 16 games. The Houston defense will be stout, but no team will ever be brought to the playoffs by Ryan Fitzmagic, and Arian Foster is a huge injury liability. Jaguars finally look to be on the upswing, getting what looks to be their first real quarterback in... ever? Unfortunately they're at least a year removed from the rest of the roster becoming strong enough to be a real contender. The Titans are like the 20th best team in the league with Jake Locker in, and when he inevitably gets piledrived into another injury, they will be the worst team in the league by far.
AFC West - Broncos - 12-4
The Broncos are mortgaging not only their own future but the future of a few of their neighbors too on Peyton's last couple of years. Their schedule is more daunting this season, having to play the entirety of the NFC West, but they should still be good for easily 12+ games and, you guessed it, another visit with the Patriots in the AFC Title game. The Chargers are the next biggest threat as the Chiefs are unlikely to overperform again and suffered a couple of losses. In last will be Oakland who will put Schaub in the game week 1, be laughed into oblivion and finally put McGloin or Carr in week 2 and win a few games with competent QB play. Like Jacksonville, they seem to have found a real QB in Carr but the rest of their roster is too meh to make much noise.
WildCard 1: Bengals - 10-6
Still a really talented roster even if I think they will lose out to the Steelers in the division race.
WildCard 2: Chargers - 10-6
Have only gotten better during the offseason. In the AFC South or AFC North they'd be division contenders, but ain't no one taking out the broncos in the West.
============================
NFC North - Packers - 13-3
Homerism pick! But seriously this division is so stacked. Packers fortified their O-line some and Bulaga is back from his ACL tear, so Rodgers won't be as likely to get sacked, and the defense is likely to get better too with Clay Matthews being healthy (and Raji being injured... that position could use new blood cause Raji is overrated). The Bears and the Lions are real threats though and are just as ridiculous in the NFC North offensive arms race. The Vikings are not a bad team per-say, they are just in the same boat as the Cardinals / Rams in that they are in a wickedly tough division and are clearly not the best in said division.
NFC East - Eagles - 10-6
The Cowboys and the Giants got worse over the offseason. The Eagles and Redskins got better. I still think that the Eagles will win this division despite losing D Jax because Foles / McCoy are studs, but I don't think the Redskins are that far off, given that they will have a fully healthy RGIII and have a really potent offense. Neither of the defenses are all that notable, so I think that this division comes down to who has the better offense which IMO is the Eagles.
NFC South - Saints - 14-2
Goddamn the saints look scary. Probably the 3rd best offense in the league (Behind the Broncos and Packers), and a seriously underrated defense, I think that with their decently easy schedule they should EASILY be able to walk away with the #1 seed in the NFC (Only the NFC North games should be all that difficult for them as I think they outclass the entirety of the AFC North and they were 2nd in division which means easy pickings on teams like the Cowboys). The Falcons are like "Saints Light", having a good, but worse than Saints offense, and a decent but worse than Saints defense. The Bucs suffered a lot of losses during the offseason and really squandered the 3 years where they had a super good / young roster because now they have to actually pay their players. The Panthers are paying for previous management's terrible payment decisions and are in for a serious decline on both sides of the ball.
NFC West - Seattle - 13-3
The Hawks didn't lose much of anything on either side of the ball and are going to still be really good. I have them as the 3 seed if only because their schedule is REALLY daunting. They obviously play in the NFC West which is going to account for at least like a 4-2 record, and they play the Packers / Broncos / Eagles. I expect them to go 2-1 in this slate of games, losing the tie breaker with Green Bay. But I could easily see them going 1-2. The niners are on the decline and I personally don't think they'll make the playoffs this year. I think the Cardinals are a better team on the whole, even though Carson Palmer is going to throw infinity interceptions, the defense will be there to bail them out with a cakewalk schedule the Cards have (beyond the NFC West games the only real threats they play are the Eagles / Broncos). The Rams are the worst football team in the best division in football and not only that but they lost Sam Bradford AGAIN, so they have no chance whatsoever.
Wild Card 1 - Cardinals - 11-5
I think they have an easier schedule than the Niners and are equal to if not better than that team.
Wild Card 2 - Bears / Lions - 10-6
It's really hard for me to determine which of these teams will be the other wildcard. Both of them are really good candidates and I wouldn't even be surprised if one of them ousted the Cardinals for the spot and both teams made it in.