I AM TALKING NFC! by MP!!!

I am ready for some football! Are you??? You have to be....the MLB season could NOT last any longer. How many times can the Yankees or Red Sox be pronounced out of the pennant race? Let's talk yours and my language and here is my NFC preview for the upcoming 2010-11 NFL Season!

First Round Byes or (Division Winners) will be: New Orleans NFC South, Dallas NFC East, Chicago NFC North, and Seattle because someone has to win the NFC West.

My Wildcards are: The New York Giants from the East and Carolina Panthers from the South.

Here are my takes. I think Dallas wins another wild one in the East primarily due to their whole team minus Tony Romo. In spite of Romo they will do it. Felix Jones is a beast, Miles Austin is solid and watch out for Dez Bryant as a big-time play-maker as a rook. You still have old reliable in Jason Witten and Marion Barber is tough on the goal line. On D they are tough too. I think their secondary is weak, so they will give up some points, but still win a lot of shootouts. Lookout for Anthony Spencer who they liken Rickey Jackson and of course the always scary DeMarcus Ware. Their division competition will be the G Men who are gonna grind it out with the best of them. I like Shanahan and the 'Skins to win a few surprises, but they will duke it out with the E A G L E S at the bottom of the division, still 2 tough teams though! The 'Boys will win their division but still have Tony Romo and will not win the big game. They will either blow it in the 2nd Rd or Championship game.

The NFC West is weak. San Fran is better, but Seattle should win it. I am certainly not a Pete Carroll fan but that division is horrific. Arizona doesn't have a QB and now Fitzgerald is banged up, St. Louis is an embarrassment and will get Sam Bradford killed, and then you have SF. I like the fire from Mike Singletary and I really like Frank Gore and the 1 year add of Brian Westbrook. I also think that Michael Crabtree, Teddy Ginn and TE Vernon Davis are some good weapons. However, Alex Smith is going to be tough to overcome and will make too many key mistakes which is why I favor the Seahawks by a nose. If for some reason Seattle goes with Charlie Whitehurst as QB, all bets are off!!!!

The NFC North is tough. You have Chicago, Green Bay, and Minnesota who are all beasts. Detroit may be improved too, and yes of course Dad I listen to ya! I think with or without Favre, I rate Minnesota and Detroit behind Chicago and GB. The Pack have the best QB, but lack some other skill positions and are declining on defense. These are the main reasons I take Da Bears!! I think Mike Martz will have the offense humming with a much improved Jay Cutler at QB. I really like the young back Matt Forte, and they have some decent outside guys at WR. The D is improved with the pickup of Julius Peppers and the improved health of Brian Urlacher and Tommie Harris.

The NFC South will still go marchin' through to New Orleans, but a much closer race. I think Carolina and Atlanta will make it interesting this year. Atlanta has the more and more comfortable connection with Matty "Ice" Ryan and Tony Gonzalez, to go with Michael Turner, some good WR's and a decent D. Carolina are my Wildcard choice because of the duo of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart in the backfield. The defense is usually tough in Carolina and John Fox has to win to keep his job. They were decent with Jake Delhomme over the past few years so I am not worried about them being questionable at QB with either Matt Moore or Jimmy Clausen. The Saints will be the class though, polishing the impressive offense that we all saw last year. Expect the Saints defense to be a little better this year too with another year under Coordinator Gregg Williams and DE Will Smith getting after the opposing QB's.

The whole deal will go through New Orleans! I predict the Saints coming out of the NFC after a bruising and tough battle in the Championship against Daaaaa Bears!!! The Saints will be primed for the Bowl, especially if they get the keys to the medicine cabinet from Sean Payton!

Around the Horn: Time to own up and pay up! VC I think did a tinge better in the PGA than I did. He had Rory McIlroy and Steve Stricker and The Big Easy, Ernie Els, who all did fairly well and better than my best. Great work VC! Hey how about a nod to my Dad who had Rory, Jim Furyk and a few others who made a nice run. I am still proud of Phil who went out in style shooting 67 in the final round, though we all know if he was in contention it would have been 77 in the final round!! Hey speaking of the PGA.....what in the heck was that? Sorry I didn't realize spectators could stand in a fairway bunker! I feel for Dustin Johnson. It may have been a rule, but still borderline. Since we are talkin' borderline....did Bubba really go over the water at the flagstick with the title on the line? I was expecting him to drop another and not leave 'til he hit it on!! Come on Bubba! This is running on or I would add more....thank you for reading and feel free to add any comments!!