Yeah, I pencil Denver as third in the West this year, barring something weird happening. I'll take the Raiders to win it, with the Chiefs in a dogfight to the end and getting a wild card spot.
In fact...
AFC:
West: Oakland
North: Pittsburgh
East: GEE I ****** WONDER...
South: (quick Hellbie, pick someone at random) ...Tennessee?
Wild Cards: Kansas City, Baltimore
NFC:
West: Seattle
North: Green Bay
East: Washington (UPSET SPECIAL)
South: (again, pick at random) Atlanta
Wild Cards: Dallas, Carolina
After the Preseason so far, I think my predictions will end up being:
AFC:
North: Ravens. Despite Pittsburgh winning the division last year, I can't forget that they didn't beat the Chiefs so much as the Chiefs let themselves lose that game. I haven't seen a lot of improvement from that team this year, but the Ravens look better than before.
East: Patriots. Yawn. More interesting prediction: Bills for last in the division.
West: Chiefs. The offense looks improved in all phases this year so far. The Raiders have to beat the Chiefs to win the division, and that hasn't happened in a while.
South: Titans, by virtue of having a QB whose name I recognize without that being a bad thing. Texans honorable mention, because apparently having a QB whose name I don't recognize is their biggest major failing as a team.
Wild Cards: Raiders, Texans. Neither the North nor South look strong enough to put two teams in, with Pittsburgh maybe being good enough.
NFC:
North: Vikings? I feel like the Vikings are half of the Schrodinger's Cat paradox, in that if you ever observe them their QB dies.
East: Cowboys, for being the most complete team with a good quarterback and very good OL, and also not trying to actively screw over their starting QB (Washington) or being the post-Reid Eagles.
West: Seahawks. They look good this year, and their competitors are the 49ers (lol), Cardinals (lol), and... um. Help me out here?
South: Falcons. 28-3 happened, but they
did just play in the Super Bowl, and it's not like refs are going to suddenly forget to call roughing on Matt Ryan all season.
Wild Cards: Packers, (comedy option) Lions. The NFC North plays the NFC South and AFC North this year. The NFC South recently had the Panthers win three straight division titles without even having three straight winning seasons. If the Browns suck as bad as they always do, the Bengals repeat last year, and Pittsburgh regresses as much as I think they might, the NFC North is the division to be in.