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NO WAAAAHHHHHHHHHH... okay. smile

I'm sorry if I came across kind of snippy before. We do disagree, but no two human beings agree on everything, and I'd be lying if I said I did not believe in other things that also could not be empirically proven.

nice

I have no arguments with the ESPN "power rankings", i do wish carolina was higher but thats mainly just favriote team bias, but i did find Vegito's almost laughable (so did my brother who acctualy did bust out laughing when he saw the falcons on there twice at 2 different spots). There will probaly be some teams that surprise us (like every year).

2 things.

1. For Oreion, I understand that it is laughable especially when I had the Falcons on 2 times (my mistake and will look to see where I have it wrong now), but as to why you have the rest as laughable I have to ask as to why. I stand by my predictions and all but 2 teams last year from my picks ended up more than 3 spots from my original predictions.

2. Now for the real part here.

Boston, I have the Pats at 8 for a few reasons at this moment.
a. Tom Brady is coming off what could have been a career ending injury along with a surgery that will keep him down for about two years until it is truly fully healed. Along with that the psychological aspect is the worst part about it. He suffered severely with that injury and he will have that in his mind the whole time. Then comes the trust factor. While he was injured due to the opposing player, it should also be in his mind that it was his own team mate that pushed that player into him. So he will have to truly trust his O-Line. Until then he will be shakey and push a lot when he thinks someone is on his back (that is the same with every QB who ever had that surgery for that kind of knee injury). Then comes the chemistry from his weapons. They have to re-learn to play with him again and him the same. They got comfortable with Cassell last season and they will need that again this year.
b. While this team is chock-full of talent, that talent is also on their last legs in the league anymore. The average age of that team did not go down last season but up. I will check on it later, but they are very likely averaging over 29 3/4yrs old for the whole team. That would put them as probably the second or third oldest in the whole league with most likely only the Raiders and the Redskins older than their team. Now with that, you also have to understand that those players will also get tired faster and not be on the field as often as they used to be and therefore their effectiveness will be greatly reduced as well. No amount of coaching will be able to undo that part. So while they will have the experience factor on their side, they will be lacking in terms of their physical prowess and effectiveness on the field. ex. Brian Dawkins.
c. Final one I have time to touch on at the moment. They will be facing a division that has a team that finally popped over the rim last season and beat the patriots (who were healthy as a team and only missing Brady) both times. They also have to realize the Dolphins are no pushover and their Wild Cat Offense really was only taken apart by the Ravens. They have rectified their biggest flaw in that offense by getting a QB/RB hybrid for their offense that will greatly enhance their offensive strenght/style/effectiveness. The Patriots defense will need to be a lot faster in order to keep up with that offense which is designed for misdirection and speed.

Age/Injury will catch up to this team this year unfortunately and they will not be as good as last year. Plus it looks like their schedule is not as favorable in matchups as Miami's is.

Thanks Indy. I hope I am as accurate as I was last season. But there are a few things that could throw a wrench in my list. But I will have the official list out when the Pre-season ends. I do not think there will be any true difference other than a few teams moving within a spot or two of themselves.

new england should be first

Yup they will. And I have no issue saying I am wrong when they do. I have proven that more than once on here. LOL.

Anyway, I just dont see how those teams other than either a severe meltdown (which is never that rare) or a cinderella team type year (which is rare for teams that high and talented) will do more than two spots higher or lower than I ranked them.

Hey Lap!! You have to remember that this guy is just like we were when we were younger. COMPLETELY BLIND TO THE OVERALL FACTS. So basically all we can do is teach him the error of his ways and to understand fairness.