The NFL, in review

Here's a look at the NFL teams I picked in September to win their respective divisions, with the actual winners in parentheses:

AFC East - New England (Miami)
AFC North - Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh)
AFC South - Indianapolis (Tennessee)
AFC West - San Diego (San Diego)
NFC East - Dallas (N.Y. Giants)
NFC North - Minnesota (Minnesota)
NFC South - Carolina (Carolina)
NFC West - Seattle (Arizona)

So, four of eight ain't terrible. I also must note that I said Miami "will be much improved, and to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if they get into the playoff mix."

But 50 percent ain't good either. I also said this about Atlanta: the Falcons "have some of the worst skill-position talent in the NFL this season." Sorry about that Matt Ryan and Michael Turner and Roddy White.

My prediction for the playoffs? Pain. (More on this later).

Also, in short:

Dallas - The inclination will be for pundits to blame the Cowboys' implosion in Philly on Tony Romo and Wade Phillips. And some of that is merited. But really, Dallas' soft o-line, undisciplined receivers and highly overrated o-coordinator Jason Garrett should be on the hook for this one. Roger Staubach and Tom Landry wouldn't have looked much better with that gutless bunch.

Detroit - The best thing about this season for Lions' fans is that it came to an end. Not that 2009 figures to be much better.

Tampa Bay - Godspeed to Cadillac Williams. I haven't seen a more snakebitten running back since Ki-Jana Carter. In other news, the Bucs looked awful over the final month. If Eric Mangini was canned for the Jets' horrid performance down the stretch, how does Jon Gruden manage to avoid the hot seat?

Houston - Mark my words: the Texans will tease their fans again in 2009, only to come up short of the postseason.