NFL season preview, award predictions and more
By Josh Sanchez
AFC Champion
Patrick Allen: New England Patriots — They’re in the mix every year and 2013 won’t be any different. The Patriots seem to get stronger when everyone expects them to falter so look for Bill and Brady to respond to an offseason of adversity with a tremendous season. Besides, who is going to challenge these guys in the East? The Bills? The Jets? The Dolphins are the only other halfway decent team in the division but they aren’t beating the Pats to the East crown.
Josh Sanchez: Houston Texans — The Houston Texans have the top defensive player in the league and their upgrades on offense this season should allow them to continue the momentum they built last season to finally break through and make a Super Bowl appearance. Matt Schaub has the talent to lead the offense and DeAndre Hopkins’ presence will only take pressure off of Andre Johnson. Then, you have J.J. Watt. There is nothing this man can’t do and, as they say, defense wins championships.
Mike Dyce: Denver Broncos — Peyton Manning takes down the New England Patriots and gets back to the Super Bowl. The Broncos are already relying heavily on the pass and they brought in Brady’s favorite target Wes Welker. The running group is better around the goal line with Montee Ball. Von Miller’s absence will hurt the defense early in the season but Manning knows what it’s like to try to consistently outscore opponents in shootouts.
Bryan Rosa: Denver Broncos – this was a tough call as it could really be a toss up between Denver and the New England Patriots for me. The loss of Von Miller and the unstable running back situation for Denver almost made me side with the Patriots, but they have such a cream puff division they shouldn’t have any problem getting a bye week and may get home field throughout. AFC East isn’t exactly knocking any doors down either in fairness to New England. You could honestly go either way.