2012-13 NFL Playoff Predictions

Your favorite plagiarizer (I mean guest columnist) is back!

The team here at NKY Sports World used to post our predictions for the upcoming NFL postseason prior to the beginning of the season (let's pretend like the Wednesday opener didn't happen). See below for the rules:

As we've done in the past, your picks will be graded on a point basis awarding:

5 points for every playoff team selected
5 points for each individual award winner
20 points for a Super Bowl winner

Listed below is my WINNING prediction:

AFC East: New England Patriots
AFC North: Baltimore Ravens
AFC West: Denver Broncos
AFC South: Houston Texans
AFC Wildcards: Cincinnati Bengals, Oakland Raiders (surprise team)

NFC East: Dallas Cowboys
NFC North: Green Bay Packers
NFC West: San Francisco 49ers
NFC South: New Orleans Saints
NFC Wildcards: Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons

Super Bowl: Green Bay Packers over New England Patriots

NFL MVP: Ray Rice
Coach of the Year: Jason Garrett
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Trent Richardson
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Luke Kuechly

What's Your Prediction?

Almost Bengals Season?

Here we are on August the 6th, the Cincinnati Bengals will be opening up the pre-season this Friday with the New York Jets yet there is little buzz in the air about last years team defending their playoff season. Most of that has to do with the fact the Cincinnati Reds are currently one of the best teams in baseball. But as we go into the pre-season there are a few areas that I will be keeping an eye on:

Quarterback: There obviously is no controversy here Andy Dalton will be the starting Quarterback this season. I will be curious to see if her can avoid the ever so present "sophomore slump." I personally think Dalton is above that. With another year of Gruden to fine tune the west coast offense I love Dalton as a game manager and have faith in his abilities. He may not have the explosive arm but he makes good decisions and reads the defense well. As long as he can keep his interceptions down I think he will be primed to have a very successful year.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis: The free agent running back from New England will take over for Cedric Benson. Benson was a very reliable and serviceable running back on the field for Cincinnati and they will undoubtedly hope that Green-Ellis can bring the same production to the table. I am curious to see how they use him in the offense and how they will work in a healthy Bernard Scott. I would guess that they would use Green-Ellis on the goal line but I am interested to see how he responds to the #1 role in Cincinnati.

 Defensive Secondary: Watching the scrimmage on Saturday it is clear that Taylor Mays is a freak athlete. He was a first round selection who the Bengals picked up for pennies on the dollar. He was just listed today as the #1 SS and I hope he continues to progress on his coverage because I think he can be a difference makers. I will also keep a close eye on the progress of Leon Hall from injury. There should also be a sprited battle between Nate Clements, Terrence Newman and Jason Allen. There is a lot of experience in the secondary and Mike Zimmer has done a great job of keeping our defensive players fresh.

Bengals Defense: I personally think that this is the best thing we have going for us into this season. From what I have seen in this short training camp our defense has been playing solid and we have built off of a upper echelon defense from last year. I expect solid line play from Peko, Atkins and Dunlap and would love to see an expanded role for another young talent in Pat Sims. Our linebacking core is lacking the big name but a more experienced and hopefully focused Rey Maualuga can anchor a linebacking core than has the ability to be a force. WHO DEY!

We're Baaaaaaaaack!

Back from dead is an attempt to revive the greatest sports blog ever created. And we will come back at a perfect time. Our beloved Cincinnati Reds have the best record in baseball, the Bengals are coming back from a playoff run with youth and talent, the Wildcats won a National Championship, and the Bearcats have had no arrests in the last few months. Needless to say this is a great time for a sports fan in Cincinnati. Even with all of this going on I find myself captivated by the Olympics. My favorite this year has been Beach Volleyball particularly with Treanor and Walsh. Beach volleyball is a great sport for television. I wish they would show it year round. I've also been into watching most of the random fringe sports that we dont give a shit about most times of the year. MattGrass and I caught ourselves on the edge of our seat for a fencing match last week. Who does that? At any rate this post is an attempt to stretch the legs and revive this great blog that once had it's glory days. See you soon America.