2010-2011 NFL Season Preview and Team Predictions

The road to Super Bowl 45 in Dallas kicks off tomorrow night in New Orleans as the Minnesota Vikings take on the Super Bowl defending champion New Orleans Saints. The opening weekend of the NFL kicks off Sunday, September 12, 2010. I don't know about you, but I'm excited for the new season. The NFL is by far the most competitive league in sports. Unlike the MLB and the NBA, every year there seems to be a new contender, a surprise team and a contender who falls back into the pack. They called it parity. It's a formula that's kept fans coming back for more every year. Without further ado, its time preview some of the 2010-2011 NFL season storylines and predict how the teams will fare this season.

Here's some of the headlines headed into 2010-2011 NFL season:

The Rams will be starting a young and talented rookie quarterback named Sam Bradford who just happened to win the Heisman trophy as a sophomore at Oklahoma in 2008, but also had shoulder surgery before the 2010 NFL draft after suffering a 3rd degree AC joint sprain against BYU in 2009. One of the goals for the Rams this season is to keep its 50 million dollar quarterback upright.

The Dallas Cowboys will try to become the first team in modern history to play the Super Bowl in its home stadium lead by mediocre head coach Wade Phillips.

Are the New York Jets Super Bowl worthy or just talk?

Chad Ochocinco and T.O. will lead the league in the most entertaining touchdown celebrations; however can they put their love of the spotlight aside and focus on the team goal of getting the Bengals to the Super Bowl?

With a full season behind him since his horrific knee injury, can Tom Brady lead the Patriots back to the Super Bowl despite playing behind a questionable offensive line and a super par defense?

Brady's nemesis Peyton Manning is on a mission to get back to the Super Bowl and cement his legacy as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game.

The 49ers with the firm and steady leadership of head coach Mike Singletary hope to take what's rightfully there's as the NFC West champions in a very weak division.

Brett Favre will try to duplicate his phenomenal 2009 season (4,202 yards passing, 33 touchdowns, 7 inceptions) after being begged to un-retire by his teammates Jared Allen, Ryan Longwell and Steve Hutchinson for the 20,000th time. Favre is a wily old veteran who can still the play at a high level when he stays within the team game plan. The Vikings signal caller will be without his main target Sidney Rice for at least the first six weeks of the season because of hip surgery and his most explosive weapon Percy Harvin has been battling migraines throughout the summer. Favre has been battling his own health problems this off-season, most notably an ankle that had Favre seriously retiring for good.

The Raiders brass and fans are keeping their fingers crossed that quarterback Jason Campbell is the apart of the solution instead of the problem in Oakland.

Everyone in the league knows the Saints are capable of scoring in bunches, however can Drew Brees avoid the Madden cover curse? The Saints defense will need to force as many turnovers as last year to have a legitimate shot to return to the Super Bowl.

The Eagles hope that Kevin Kolb can develop into the next Aaron Rodgers for them, if not he'll get booed worse than Santa Claus and Donovan McNabb combined.

The Steelers will have to return to a familiar formula of success of running the ball with Rashard Mendenhall between the tackles and playing great defense to win games without suspended quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for four games.

Here's how I see the divisions and wild card spots shaping up in the 2010-2011 NFL Season:

AFC North

1. Baltimore Ravens

2. Cincinnati Bengals

3. Pittsburgh Steelers

4. Cleveland Browns

AFC South

1. Indianapolis Colts

2. Tennessee Titans

3. Houston Texans

4. Jacksonville Jaguars

AFC East

1. New York Jets

2. Miami Dolphins

3. New England Patriots

4. Buffalo Bills

AFC West

1. San Diego Chargers

2. Oakland Raiders

3. Kansas City Chiefs

4. Denver Broncos

AFC Wild Card: Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals

NFC North

1. Green Bay Packers

2. Minnesota Vikings

3. Chicago Bears

4. Detroit Lions

NFC South

1. New Orleans Saints

2. Atlanta Falcons

3. Carolina Panthers

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFC East

1. New York Giants

2. Dallas Cowboys

3. Philadelphia Eagles

4. Washington Redskins

NFC West

1. San Francisco 49ers

2. Arizona Cardinals

3. Seattle Seahawks

4. St. Louis Rams

NFC Wild Card: Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings

Team with the best record: San Diego Chargers (14-2)

Team with the worse record: Buffalo Bills (3-13)

Super Bowl Contenders: Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts

Super Bowl Pretenders: Dallas Cowboys, San Diego Chargers and Minnesota Vikings

At the end of the day, no one knows who will the represent the super bowl from each conference and which victorious team will have its name written in glory as the eventual Super Bowl 45 champions. As any NFL fan can attest, the season is full of surprises. That it in itself should make for another exciting season of football.