1 The Titans will make a run at the wild card — After starting the season 0-6, Jeff Fisher’s Titans have re-grouped, winning their last two. Vince Young’s played well since getting the starting gig and Chris Johnson is arguably the best running back in the NFL. The defense has woken up, too. Watch out for Tennessee, 9-7 isn’t out of the question.
2 Tony Romo will win a playoff game — Football’s Mr. November, Romo has won 13 straight games played in the 11th month of the year — one shy of an NFL record. Alas, he’s 0-2 in games played in January. That ends in 2010, as Dallas locks up the division and wins a playoff game in that spaceship of a stadium.
3 Lovie Smith’s immunity runs out — The Bears have surrendered 40 or more points in two of their last three games. For a team that prides itself on defense and a head coach that calls all of the defensive plays, that’s simply unacceptable.
4 Jerry Reese’s immunity runs out — The Giants’ general manager has gotten a pass ever since he assembled that improbable Super Bowl team out of draft leftovers. Reese’s offseason moves — Chris Canty, Rocky Bernard and Michael Boley — have barely made a dent. He should have gone after a cornerback instead. Quarterbacks have torched the Giants’ secondary and it will ultimately cost them a playoff berth.
5 Brett Favre won’t break down — After a summer of slicing and dicing by the media for his offseason waffling, everyone’s back on board the Brett Favre love wagon — Wrangler jeans and all. It’s too bad Madden isn’t around to call this.
6 The Lions finish 1-15 — There are some nice young pieces on offense in Detroit, but the defense is just horrendous. (See blowing a 17-0 lead last week against Seattle). Look for the Lions to finish the season with just one win, “earning” the top draft pick in next year’s draft and taking Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
7 Steelers take the AFC’s top seed — Look at Pittsburgh’s schedule. Aside from this weekend’s clash with the Bengals and two with the Ravens, there are no teams worth worrying about left on the slate. Indy has to stumble against the Pats, Texans or Ravens.
8 DeAngelo Hall is the next Pacman Jones — The Redskins’ cornerback is close to fighting the whole city of Atlanta. Last weekend he tried taking on the entire Falcons sideline. Hall’s frustrated and might need a Pacman-like entourage supervising him. You would too if you played for Daniel Snyder.
9 All Day will win the rushing title — Currently behind Chris Johnson and Cedric Benson, look for Adrian Peterson to carry the load for the Vikings’ offense from here on out.
10 You’ll see plenty more of those Eli Manning, Mark?Sanchez Toyota commercials — This, of all the things on this list, is the one thing we can guarantee. Just another reason to buy American.
