AFC 2012 Preview

Paully D

Hey lads, fairly bored at the minute so thought I'd put together a preview of the AFC this season for the Boards franchise. If I have time over the weekend I'll get an NFC one done or maybe someone else will fire ahead with it if they want?

Anyway, I'll start off with my favourite division in football, the AFC North which contains:

Ravens (Pudsy)
Steelers (ET)
Bengals (Neko)
Browns (Mike)

In what is a welcome occurance for the franchise this year, the vast majority of divisions look very even and the AFC North is no different. All players will fancy their chances of winning the division.

I know pre-season isn't a great indicator, but it already looks like ET could be very dangerous with Big Ben. He has thrown for almost 100 yards more than his nearest AFC opponent so far and with his last season in Madden 12 was superb moving the ball with Drew Brees. It looks like Neko will be focusing on the passing game too as Dalton has racked up an impressive 370 yards and 6 passing TD's. His defence are absolutely flying at the minute too although I am not sure if this is because they are being given more game time, if not then the statistics are seriously impressive so far. Pudsy went with his Ravens and his ability to keep opponents guessing as he mixes the Ray Rice running game with plenty of Flacco throws and play action will be tough to counter. Unfortunately Mike hasn't had the chance to play any pre-season games but is a veteran to AFC North football and will no doubt be a tough opponent who will fancy his chances of running himself into a chance of the division crown with Trent Richardson.

Overall it looks like this will be a division that will rack up some impressive offensive yards, but with all players capable of beating one another and a very difficult schedule which includes the NFC East and AFC West (arguably the two toughest divisions in the franchise) I can't see a wildcard coming here.

Prediction - Steelers to take the division with a record of something like 9-7.

Next up is the AFC West, sorry but I'm selfishly putting my own division ahead here:

Chiefs (Berty)
Broncos (Perrin)
Chargers (Paully)
Raiders (ibmax)

This beats the NFC East as the toughest division in the franchise for me. 2 of the best players in the league in Berty and ibmax, I had one of the better human v human records (applause please :pac:) and Perrin has come into the franchise and from what I have experienced anyway has really tested me in numerous friendlies along with beating me on a couple of occasions with AFC West teams.

The games the vast majority of neutrals will enjoy seeing is Berty v ibmax. ibmax beat Santry last year in the franchise so it will be great to see how these two heavyweights get on against each other.

Starting with my own team, I wasn't too optimistic at the start but have played with them a lot, switched up playbooks a bit and got a very nice FA signing in Plaxico Burress which gives a lot of options to Rivers. I think my aim will be to mix the throwing game up with runs from Matthews and Brown to keep my opponents guessing. I'll need all the ammo I can get against the lads in my division anyway! Perrin leads a number of categories in the West through preseason, such as rushing (Moreno has 263 yards), receiving (Dressen has 14 REC's, 190 yards) and on defense D.J Williams leads all defensive players. Berty and ibmax can do a number of things exceptionally well and will keep opponents guessing all day long, but I think they will both look to utilize the talents of Charles and McFadden this season as their QB's aren't the best.

Similar to the AFC North, the West have a tough schedule as they face the aforementioned AFC North and NFC South which contains experienced Boards campaigners such as Raoul and Matthew.

Prediction - Difficult to say until we see the first matchup between Berty and ibmax, but I think those two will finish first and second. I'll give Berty the benefit of the doubt and say that he wins this division with a record of around 14-2 but many games will be a lot closer than people may expect.

Next up is the AFC East:

Patriots (DavetheRave)
Jets (DangerDave)
Bills (Brianon)
Dolphins (HeartofTheCity)

A tough division to review this as we have two very welcome additions to the franchise in Brianon and HOTC.

DavetheRave had first pick this year and went with the Patriots. Arguably the best QB in the game, some fantastic receiving targets and an O-line which can allow Brady to have tea and sandwiches in the pocket at times will make them a big threat for whoever they play. Looking at the preseason stats the Patriots have clocked up almost 500 yards with Mallet and are leading the East's rushing stats too. It's certainly impressive even in preseason and looks good for when Brady is starting every down. Dave gets his Jets and I was gutted as I originally had them number 2 on my list and was loving playing with Tebow and having shut down corners. Looking at his record in the Boards community I don't think Dave has been beaten yet so will be a very formidable opponent here. As for HOTC, well Matt Moore has a 91.7 QB rating through preseason and Reggie Bush and Lamar Miller seem to have a nice little 1-2 going on at the HB position. Kellen Winslow was a great FA signing and IMO exactly what they needed. He and Fassano will come up with the goods against many defences if given the chance and with Long protecting the left side of the line I quite like many parts of their offense. Brianon took the Bills and CJ Spiller has looked very dangerous thus far. Spiller and Jackson at HB will wear down many a D-line and Tarvaris Jackson and Fitzpatrick have thrown for a lot of yards too, however, interceptions seem to be a problem for the Bills. Brianon will be hoping that gets sharpened out in preseason and if they cut down on them in the regular season will be an offensive threat. You look at the D then and they have Mario Williams, Nick Barnett, Kyle Williams etc who form part of a formidible defense.

Prediction - Given Dave (Jets) record over Madden 12 and so far in Madden 13 it's hard to see this one going any other way than a Jets win. However, I think this division has the potential for some huge scoring games so should be very entertaining. Jets to take this with a record of around 12-4.

Wrapping up the AFC preview we have the AFC South:

Colts (Guns4all)
Texans (Nerd)
Titans (Heli)
Jaguars (Mikey)

Another interesting division here and again one that looks to be very even. As far as I know Mikey has played in the Boards franchise before, Nerd and Heli definitely have and Guns is a welcome addition.

Starting with Heli who went for his Titans over the Seahawks and Chargers. Matt Hassleback has thrown for an amazing 800 yards in preseason so far although he has thrown more INT's than TD's. Heli will be hoping he can get CJ2K out of his slump and back to breaking through defences at will. If this happens then whoever wins the Titans QB job will be able to mix it up nicely with throws to Britt and Cook Jr, and CJ to pound the ground. Nerd took the Texans and has a great defense to work with plus a very good QB and receivers in Johnson and arguably the best HB in the game in Foster, also Ben Tate is no slouch! When you combine all of those things then the Texans could be end up going quite far this season. Mikey takes his Jags, and as far as I know it's going to be Tebow Time in Jacksonville this season? I love Tebow on this game and mixing the run option with him may well be the perfect way to get the best out of the highest rated HB in the game, Maurice Jones Drew. Unfortunately I don't know Guns at all so can't comment on his style of play etc, but the Andrew Luck project is sure to be an interesting one.

Prediction - I'm going to go for Nerd here. That defense plus offensive options such as Johnson, Foster and Tate wins out over Heli's experience for me. I predict a record of around 10-6 for Nerd.

That's it for the AFC preview then. Hopefully it will get a bit of discussion going if nothing else

helimachoptor

Paully D wrote: »

Wrapping up the AFC preview we have the AFC South:

Colts (Guns4all)
Texans (Nerd)
Titans (Heli)
Jaguars (Mikey)

Another interesting division here and again one that looks to be very even. As far as I know Mikey has played in the Boards franchise before, Nerd and Heli definitely have and Guns is a welcome addition.

Starting with Heli who went for his Titans over the Seahawks and Chargers. Matt Hassleback has thrown for an amazing 800 yards in preseason so far although he has thrown more INT's than TD's. Heli will be hoping he can get CJ2K out of his slump and back to breaking through defences at will. If this happens then whoever wins the Titans QB job will be able to mix it up nicely with throws to Britt and Cook Jr, and CJ to pound the ground. Nerd took the Texans and has a great defense to work with plus a very good QB and receivers in Johnson and arguably the best HB in the game in Foster, also Ben Tate is no slouch! When you combine all of those things then the Texans could be end up going quite far this season. Mikey takes his Jags, and as far as I know it's going to be Tebow Time in Jacksonville this season? I love Tebow on this game and mixing the run option with him may well be the perfect way to get the best out of the highest rated HB in the game, Maurice Jones Drew. Unfortunately I don't know Guns at all so can't comment on his style of play etc, but the Andrew Luck project is sure to be an interesting one.

Prediction - I'm going to go for Nerd here. That defense plus offensive options such as Johnson, Foster and Tate wins out over Heli's experience for me. I predict a record of around 10-6 for Nerd.

That's it for the AFC preview then. Hopefully it will get a bit of discussion going if nothing else

Super stuff Paully.

I can see some great games with Nerd. The Texans are a great team and with a good coach using their strengths they will be exceptionally hard to beat... however my run game seems to have gotten better and I will be changing it up a bit at RB. I think the Titans WR Corps is very underrated (thanks to Matthew for point it out) Cook, Britt with Washington and Wright will form a very solid receiving team.

On defense Casey and Klug will start at DT with Wimbley and Osi at DE, that should provide a mobile and strong line, with the DEs quick enough to get to the QB or adapt to a run and the 2 DTs are quite solid so I'm hopeful that already tough runs up the gut will be even harder and force the RBs to the outside.

Here is where a very young LB trio, CB and then a more experienced safety duo will be looking to pick off some passes.

McCarthy will be anchoring the line backers (Diles will get a lot of game time) Ayers and MCCarthy will be in for the majority of game time.

Verner and McCourty will be the starting CBs but Sesabaugh will see some game time.

At Safety, Griffin has had a quiet pre-season but he is a top quality safety and will looking to make a statement this year. He had a very capable under study in Rob Johnson, at SS Babineaux will alternate with Aflava who really has impressed me in pre-season.

C2J says to Gary Kubiak "Put on more Texans" Kubiak says "There are no more Texans!!"