Super Bowl Champs Pull Out a Squeaker, NFL Back on Top

The NFL season is upon us, and the first game of the year certainly didn’t disappoint. Big Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers overcame the Titans 13-10 in overtime. But it came with a price, former USC Trojan Troy Polamalu went down and will be out approximately 6 weeks. As the biggest impact player on the Steelers defense, his presence will be greatly missed. These two big physical teams certainly showed that they’re two of the best teams in the NFL and will probably be hanging around at the end of the season. This was probably a preview for the AFC Championship game. Although the Patriots defied all odds and went undefeated, it’s near impossible to win every game, and the Titans will certainly rebound.

In terms of popularity, NFL is still the undisputed heavyweight champion. The season-opening game received incredibly high rating of 17.75 rating. To put that in perspective, it’s the highest TV rating by about 5 points in the last several months. People are aching for football and the NFL has masterfully turned their product into a year-round anticipatory experience. I’m as unbiased a fan as I can possibly be, but I would’ve dropped everything to watch a Raiders vs. Rams opening game, but to see the two of the four AFC powerhouses battling for a good foothold on homefield playoff advantage in September, that’s almost the best opener you could ask for.

There’s really about 4 or 5 teams in the AFC that are relevant and everyone else can be forgotten: Pittsburg, Tennessee, New England, Indianapolis, and Baltimore. AFC Playoffs: #1 Pittsburg (assuming they can still win without Polamalu over the next few weeks), #2 New England, #3 Tennessee, #4 San Diego (because of a weak division), #5 Baltimore (Wild Card), and #6 Indianapolis (Wild Card) – although the Texans might surprise some people and beat the Colts out for this spot.

The NFC is a little more complicated. They’re more like the NBA’s Western conference, there’s a lot of good in the top half, as opposed to the other conference’s top three. The NFC East is going to be a nasty division and the best one to watch. I’ll go ahead and predict the Giants making it to the NFC Championship game and coming out of the division on top, but Giants, Eagles, Cowboys, and Redskins… someone could potentially win 11 games in that division and not make the playoffs. I’ll go ahead and make my playoff prediction though, but will also refer to the major disclaimer in my previous syntax. NFC playoffs: #1 Giants, #2 Seattle, #3 Minnesota, #4 Carolina, #5 Dallas, & #6 Arizona.

I’ll stick by my AFC predictions, but if my NFC predictions fall through, I’m deleting this post. Enjoy the NFL season everybody. Football is officially back.