Great Prediction of the AFC for Colts Fans

Since my dad is from the Bay Area, there has always been a part of me that has loved the Raiders, and their way. Of course, in recent years, I have tried to hide that, as the Raiders sucking has perfectly coincided with the Colts rise to the top, it has been easy. Anyway, I frequent the SB Nation Raiders blog (Silver and Black Report), and in their weekly column, the writer has an AFC preview. It is a really good preview, especially for the Horse!

Props to Silver and Black Report for this:

AFC East:

1. Patriots (12-4)- Brady's back, Taylor gives them a good running game if Brady isn't his usual self. Defense is still formidable, though secondary is incredibly weak.

2. Dolphins (9-7)- I know they won't take anybody by surprise this year, but they still have a great running game, Pennington is still one of the NFL's most accurate QB's, and an already stout Fins D just got an upgraded secondary.

3. Bills (7-9)- T.O. makes the Bills a relevant team in the NFL, but not a contending one. Lynch is back and healthy, the defense is looking to be a pretty good one, but the offensive line suffered a major blow by getting rid of one of the top OT's in the league in Jason Peters.

4. Jets (7-9)- Expect a top-10 defense from the Jets this year. Good D-Line, amazing linebackers, top-10 secondary. Throw in the best defensive minded coach in Rex Ryan and this defense will be stellar. But with a rookie QB, no receivers outside of Cotchery, and a still aging Thomas Jones, the Jets offense will struggle.

AFC North:

1. Steelers (13-3)- Still the best team in the NFL. Great all-around but that offensive line is still mediocre at best. I question how many more hits a battered Roethlisberger can take.

2. Ravens WC (10-6)- The Ravens got worse this offseason, and significantly so. No real receiving threats not named Todd Heap, a Chris McAllister-less secondary, a weakened linebacker corps, and the loss of the best defensive mind in the NFL. They get to the playoffs purely because of their running game and run defense.

3. Bengals (6-10)- The Bengals had a great draft and suddenly everyone has them as a potential 8-8 team. I don't see it. The defense is getting really good, but Palmer has lost a lot of his edge with so many injuries, Chad Johnson (I refuse to call him Ochocinco) is no longer a great receiver, they don't have a good running game, and their O-Line now revolves around a rookie OT who's better fit for the right side than the left.

4. Browns (2-14)- You're looking at your #1 picking team. How an already bad team makes themselves so significantly worse is beyond me.They lost two good linebackers from an already bad run defense (McGinest and Davis), they got rid of a top-10 TE, they didn't do anything to help a very old and battered Jamal Lewis, both Stallworth and Jurevicius are gone, they failed to get any receivers leaving Edwards the lone threat, so on and so forth. This team is so amazingly terrible, that if it wasn't for a great offensive line, I'd say they could go 0-16.

AFC South:

1. Colts (13-3)- The Colts are going to be an amazing team this year. Though Harrison's gone, Gonzales now gets his chance to shine, and shine he will. Their D-Line looks much improved with Moala and a highly acclaimed run stopping DT in Terrance Taylor added in the draft alongside two elite DE's. Brown and Addai look to be a good running back tandem as well that might actually give Indy a decent running offense. The weak linebacking corps is the only weakness to the Colts

2. Titans WC (11-5)- Despite the loss of Haynesworth, the Titans will still have an amazing defense. With the best safety tandem in the NFL, top-flight corner tandem, and an elite group of linebackers, Tennessee is still a top-10 D. The running game is still superb and is running behind a top-10 offensive line. With a much improved receiving corps, don't be surprised to see the Titans and Colts switch places.

3. Texans (8-8)- I have a hard time finding a reason why this team won't have a winning season, but two major problems stand in their way. Schaub's injury problem, and the secondary. Schaub can never stay healthy and when he's out the team struggles big time. Then there's the secondary. The only bright psot is Robinson, and one man a secondary does not make.

4. Jaguars (4-12)- The Jaguars got a much better offensivel ine, but they lost a key linebacker in Peterson and I have major doubts that Jones-Drew can carry the full workload for a run heavy Jags team. Still not receivers.

AFC West:

1. Chargers (10-6)- Good running back tandem, great passing game, great O-Line, outstanding defense though a questionable secondary. Norv Turner keeps them from being a 12-4 team.

2. Raiders (7-9)- Great running game, still questionable passing game and O-Line. Worst DT tandem in the NFL. Great pass defendng but not run stopping LB. Possibly the best corner trio in the league. Safety still questionable.

3. Broncos (5-11)- Way to many changes for this team to get everything right in one year. Next year they could be dangerous though.

4. Chiefs (2-14)- Exact same as Broncos except they have a much worse roster.

Again, the guy is like reading my mind, except I would flip Tennessee and Houston, have Cincy as the last WC team, have Balt slightly worse, and the AFC East worse as a whole other than NE.

Anyway, I just wanted to show you that there is somebody out there that has some love for the Colts, This guy should replace Don Banks. Thoughts?