Official 2010 Football Predictions

AFC Championship: Steelers 23, Colts 21

The Steelers are coming off of a 9-7 season that was played without Troy Polamalu. This season they return without their starting QB, Big "Medium-Sized" Ben Roethlisberger, for the first handful of games. They also return Antwan Randle-El to the team after a brief stint in Washington. He will join Hines Ward and Mike Wallace to form a solid receiving corps. Rashard Mendenhall was much better than expected last year and should provide the perfect run/pass balance that Steelers fans have come to expect. On the opposite side of the ball the vaunted 3-4 will be back in full effect with pro-bowlers featured in both the 3 and the 4. With the return of Polamalu, the Steelers have essentially the exact same defense as they did in 2008, which gave them the #1 ranking. I expect the Steelers to go 1-3 before Roethlisberger returns to lead them on a 9-3 flurry to close the season and his fresh legs and rested arm drag them to Dallas.


The Colts are a machine, with Payton Manning running the show and the emergence of Pierre Garcon, I expect their offense to operate as efficiently as it did last year. On defense they should be Super Bowl-caliber again, with no major off-season departures. Only the enevitable decline of Reggie Wayne and a bit of an uncertainty in the offensive line prevents this team from returning to the Super Bowl.

NFC Championship: Falcons 28, Packers 13

This is the year that Aaron Rodgers finally puts it all together. The Packers figure to field one of the league's most explosive offenses this season, thanks to Rodgers, talented receivers and coach Mike McCarthy's ability to push the envelope, exploit matchups and usually run a step ahead of opponents. On defense I see this unit gelling together to really become a force in the NFC North. With their ability to stop the run, and teams like the Bears, Lions and Vikings entering the season with significant questions at receiver, I see the Packers defense really playing a pivotal role this year. The problem for the Pack is that their schedule isn't favorable enough for them to get home field advantage, and I don't like the prospect of them playing in Atlanta in late January.

BCS Championship: Alabama 34, Navy 7

Yes, I get that having Navy in the national championship game looks crazy. But hear me out. The Midshipmen will be favored in every game except Notre Dame. Even though Army should be much, much better, closing out with Central Michigan, Arkansas State, and Army is a fantastically favorable end to the season. If they can get past Maryland and Notre Dame ... we are looking at an undefeated Navy. Would that put them in the title game? You can be sure that John McCain and Rodger Staubach will do everything in their power to make sure that a few computers don't prevent a service academy from playing for the title. Last year there were losses to Hawaii and Temple that should’ve been layups. Two years ago there was a loss to the FCS’s Delaware, in 2004 there was a clunker against Tulane, and in 2003 it was Delaware. This year, the team is so much better that there is really no team they should lose to.

As for Alabama, the offense will be unstoppable from start to finish, Mark Ingram will rush for 1,200 yards, Trent Richardson will rush for more than 1,000 yards, Greg McElroy will become Alabama's first 3,000-yard passer, and Julio Jones will smash Alabama's single-season record for catches. I understand that the non-conference schedule includes a difficult challenge—a September 11th home date with Penn State, plus Florida and travels to Tennessee and LSU in back-to-back games. But the Crimson Tide’s did more than re-load when it pulled in a recruiting class that is one of the best in the nation, highlighted by defensive back commitments Keenan Allen and DeMarcus Milliner.

SuperBowl XLV: Falcons 14, Steelers 3

The division that Atlanta is faced with this year shouldn't be all that difficult to finish in the top half of. The Falcons went 11-5 in 2008 and while they took a step back last year, with Michael Turner injured, they still finished with a respectable 9-7 record. QB Matt Ryan should have a huge year, and with Turner back, expect to see the Falcons offense firing on all cylinders. All signs point to DE John Abraham having a huge bounce back campaign after a down season last year. Between his new offseason workouts and training regimen, he should look more like he did in 2008 than he did in 2009. That will make a monumental difference up front. Although on paper the Falcons look to have a tough early schedule, Pittsburgh will be without Big Ben, and Philly no longer has McNabb. It is after the Week 8 bye that Atlanta really needs to make its move, as three home games accompany road games against St. Louis, Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Seattle. Expect this team to ride an 8 game win streak into the playoffs and with the best record in the NFC expect them to have home field throughout.

Honorable Mention: Minnesota Vikings 8-8, Brett Favre throws 30 interceptions