Saints Maintain Dominance in the NFC South

FoxSports.com: Bold Predictions for the 2012 NFL Season

No Sean Payton. No Jon Vilma. No Mickey Loomis. No Carl Nicks. No problem. As long as Drew Brees is under center, the Saints will be just fine. The Saints lost forgettable games to the Rams and Buccaneers last year, ultimately costing them home field throughout the playoffs. They’ll be focused, angry, and motivated this year. They’ll lose in the NFC Championship Game, falling one game short of hosting the Super Bowl. - Peter Schrager (AP Photo/Bill Feig)

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Gazing into the ... We’ve now seen three weeks of preseason football, which is all the evidence Peter Schrager needs to make his official “Bold and the Beautiful Predictions" for the 2012 NFL season. Browns and Jets fans? Hide your eyes. - Peter Schrager (AP Photos)
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Packers Beat Ste... I know, I know. Not so bold, but it's bold enough. Rodgers and the Packers get home field in the NFC with another outstanding regular season, but this time, defend their Lambeau turf with playoff wins over the 49ers and Saints. The Steelers win the AFC North, beat the Bills in the wild-card round, then top both the Texans and Patriots on the road en route to New Orleans. Packers win 34-28 in a shootout. - Peter Schrager (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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Pierre-Paul and ... There’s an incredibly promising young crop of young pass rushers in this league right now. Jason Pierre-Paul and Aldon Smith are two of the best. Both will top 20 sacks, but will fall short of Michael Strahan’s single-season record. Someone else will break that record. That man is...- Peter Schrager (AP Photos)
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DeMarcus Ware Br... When Ware implied that he could break Strahan’s record earlier this offseason, members of the media went bonkers saying that he was arrogant or brash. Well, he’s right. That record will be broken soon, if not this year by Ware. With a full offseason to embrace and learn his role in Rob Ryan’s 3-4 attack, Ware’s going to flourish. He can’t be stopped by one lineman and with passing attempts only rising league-wide, opportunities to take down the passer will only be more plentiful. - Peter Schrager (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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Andrew Luck Will... The Colts’ defense could be putrid, but the offense won’t be bad at all. That’s because of Andrew Luck, the most NFL-ready quarterback to enter the league since Peyton Manning in 1998. The Colts won’t be a playoff team, but they’ll be competitive. Luck’s going to put up big numbers. - Peter Schrager (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
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Saints Maintain ... No Sean Payton. No Jon Vilma. No Mickey Loomis. No Carl Nicks. No problem. As long as Drew Brees is under center, the Saints will be just fine. The Saints lost forgettable games to the Rams and Buccaneers last year, ultimately costing them home field throughout the playoffs. They’ll be focused, angry, and motivated this year. They’ll lose in the NFC Championship Game, falling one game short of hosting the Super Bowl. - Peter Schrager (AP Photo/Bill Feig)
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The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Browns Finish at... Another rebuilding year in Cleveland. The bright side for Browns fans? The NFL Draft is only seven months away. - Peter Schrager (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
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Cowboys and Gian... The Giants won the Super Bowl last season, but they enter the 2012 season with worse Super Bowl odds than the Cowboys and Eagles, the Jets are the local media obsession, and few experts are picking them to defend their crown. I think they’re an 11-win team in 2012 and will defend their NFC East title. The ‘Boys secure a wild-card berth with Tony Romo slaying December demons down the stretch. - Peter Schrager (AP Photos)
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Ravens Sneak int... Baltimore has a tough-as-nails schedule and the season will come down to four must-win December battles at Washington, home against Peyton Manning and the Broncos and the defending Super Bowl champion Giants, and a season finale with the upstart Bengals in Cincinnati. They’ll win ‘em all, secure a wild-card spot and be the hottest team — and media favorites — entering the playoffs. - Peter Schrager (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
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Randy Moss Has a... And both wide receivers have much, much, much better years than Chad Johnson. - Peter Schrager (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
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Dez, Julio, A.J,... Heading into the 2012 season, there are two clear-cut elite wide receivers in the NFL — Calvin Johnson in Detroit and Larry Fitzgerald in Arizona. Roddy White, Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz, Andre Johnson and Steve Smith are hovering in that second tier. This season, Dez Bryant, Julio Jones, A.J. Green, Torrey Smith and Vincent Jackson make the leap into that conversation. Bryant, though he’s had his issues off the field this summer, is having an incredible camp. Jones and Smith just finished their first full — non-lockout — NFL offseasons to work on their games and playbooks. Jackson, with a new contract and quarterback, looks terrific in Tampa Bay. - Peter Schrager (AP Photos)
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Jets Offense Won... Former Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer was made into a scapegoat and fired after last season’s December collapse, but that catastrophe was by no means all his fault. The offense appears to be much worse this season. There’s no serviceable right tackle on the roster, no depth at wide receiver and giant question marks around a ground-and-pound philosophy in an era where passing is clearly king. Oh, and then there’s Tebow. What a mess. - Peter Schrager (AP Photo/David Kohl)
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Matt Ryan and Jo... Five thousand yards might not be the same ridiculous milestone that it once was. Prior to the 2011 season, only two quarterbacks had ever thrown for 5,000 in a season — Drew Brees in 2008 and Dan Marino in 1984. In 2011, three players — Brees, Matt Stafford and Tom Brady — eclipsed the mark. If the preseason has been any indication, both the Ravens and Falcons will be passing, passing, and passing in 2012. Ryan’s got a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, two elite wide receivers, and a dome environment. Flacco? 5,000 yards? Sounds crazy, right? Well, the new father has looked dazzling all summer, possesses a bona fide emerging star in Torrey Smith as a deep threat and owns the respect of his locker room. Ryan and Flacco are going to have big seasons. Alas, Ryan fails to win a playoff game and Flacco fails to get to the Super Bowl. Some things don’t change. - Peter Schrager (AP Photos)
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Vikings Start th... The Vikings start the year with seven or eight winnable games on the schedule, including meetings at home against Jacksonville and on the road versus Indianapolis in the first two weeks. Their bye week is Week 11 and at that time, they could be 6-4 or 5-5, they’ll be feeling good, the fans will be excited, and fantasy football owners will be going gaga over Kyle Rudolph. We might even get one of those fun puff pieces where we get to meet Christian Ponder and Toby Gerhart and learn their hobbies and offseason workout tips. And then boom … the epic slide will begin. Minnesota ends the year with two games against the Bears, two versus the Packers, and one against the Texans in Houston. That’s five losses in the final six weeks of the season. There’s always next year. - Peter Schrager (AP Photo/Genevieve Ross)
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Texans' Defense ... There’s been a lot of ink spilled over the loss of Mario Williams and DeMeco Ryans in Houston, but Wade Phillips’ defense will be just fine. In Brian Cushing, Connor Barwin, Bradie James and Brooks Reed, the Texans boast the best linebacker corps in the AFC. Phillips coached James in Dallas and the inside linebacker has already taken on a leadership role in the locker room. J.J. Watt, a rookie in 2011, is already one of the best 3-4 defensive ends in the entire league and Johnathan Joseph is one of the top corners. Another guy to watch this year? Second-year cornerback Brandon Harris. The former University of Miami star has been a stud all summer. Houston will win the AFC South with ease in 2012. - Peter Schrager (AP Photo/Dave Einsel)
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This is the Year... No, really, I mean it. The Bills haven’t been to the playoffs since 1999 and the starting quarterback in that game (“The Music City Miracle”) was Rob freakin’ Johnson. Buffalo started off the 2011 campaign with three straight wins -- including a 34-31 thriller over New England -- only to see the campaign careen off the road due to an unheard of rash of injuries to 13 starters. They’re healthy now, they added Mario Williams, Stephon Gilmore and Mark Anderson in the offseason, and they finish the season with the following seven games — Miami, at Indy, Jacksonville, St. Louis, Seattle, at Miami, New York Jets. They’ve also got the Browns and Cardinals this season. The Bills are a wild-card team. - Peter Schrager (AP Photo/Doug Benz)
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