Femi's Five Bold Statements about the 2011 NFL Season

Things are almost back to normal in the NFL these days. With the lockout well behind us, preseason football has now taken over. What's even more exciting is that the regular season kick-off between the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers is less than a month away! Just like last season, I'll be giving my five bold statements about the upcoming NFL season. So without further ado, here are my bold statements.

5. The Houston Texans will not win more than 8 games this season.

A lot of people have been buying the Texans' stock this offseason. They made a great move by hiring Wade Phillips as their defensive coordinator. He's one of the best defensive minds in the game. With that said, Phillips is bringing a new 3-4 defensive front. I don't like the personnel that the Texans have for this scheme. Their best defensive player Mario Williams will be playing out of position, and their second best defensive player Demeco Ryans will be playing Mike linebacker in this defense. Overall, I only see them winning two more games than they did last season. I'm not a believer.

4. There will be at least four new division winners in the NFL.

Last season the division winners in the NFL were the Bears, Falcons, Seahawks, Eagles, Patriots, Chiefs, Colts, and Steelers. Off the top of my head I can already see that half of those teams will not repeat in 2011. Some of them may not even make the playoffs. One of the great things about the NFL is that we see different teams in the playoffs all the time. This is the reason why football reigns supreme in America. Look for much more of the same this season.

3. At the end of the season, the Arizona Cardinals will regret trading as much as they did for quarterback Kevin Kolb.

Once the season ended, it was pretty much inevitable that Kevin Kolb would get traded from Philadelphia to Arizona. Kolb was even spotted working out with Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald throughout the summer. I'm actually one of the few sports talking heads who isn't high on Kolb. I think he's unproven and when he did play for the Eagles, he simply didn't look good on tape. The Cardinals gave up a second-round pick and corner back Dominique Roders-Cromartie for Kolb. I think Arizona will finish the season below .500 which may cause Fitzgerald to hit the free-agent market in the offseason, and cause the Cardinals organization to shake their collective heads.

2. Due to the lockout during the offseason, we're going to see sloppy play in the first month of the season.

Unfortunately we had a "work stoppage" this offseason which meant no minicamps and not offseason team activities. The people most affected by this are rookie head coaches and players. They will have to adapt to the NFL pretty much on the fly. Even veteran coaches and players in new situations will have to get used to each other. I think we may see more penalties and mental errors in the first month of the season because of the lack of preparation. I'll make sure to keep an eye on it as we start the new campaign.

1. The self-proclaimed "Dream Team" Philadelphia Eagles will not represent the NFC in this season's Super Bowl.

The winners of the offseason Super Bowl aka free agency, rarely win the Super Bowl that actually matters. Philly was gung ho once the lockout was lifted. Their biggest acquisition was Pro-Bowl corner back Nnamdi Asomugha. They already have an explosive offense which directed by quarterback Mike Vick. There is a lot to like about this team, but their are also some things not to like. The Eagles pass rush wasn't good when they didn't blitz last season. I haven't seen much improvement since last season so I'm expecting much of the same. Philly also has a shaky offensive line which isn't good because Vick is naturally prone to injuries. Last but not least, the Green Bay Packers will be better and the New Orleans Saints will be much better. Those are my two preseason favorites in the NFC.