Thinking through the divisions....
AFC East
Jets are going to lack an identity this year, but they're still going to win 10 games and be a tough out in the playoffs. Not sure if this team wants to pass or run, but the D/ST is going to be really good and that's all that matters. The D forced two key turnovers and (minus the pick-"six" be Lee) only let up 17 points to what looks to be an explosive Dallas offense. The Bills were too good against KC to be ignored, but a brutal division might prevent the Bills from having a winning record. With home games against Oakland and NE up next, Buffalo's week 3 game could be the most anticipated home game in recent Buffalo history. Fitzpatrick, Jackson and Johnson aren't the Triplets, but they're pretty darn good. [Mia/NE to come.]
AFC North
Pittsburgh ran into a buzzsaw in Baltimore, but they're going to be fine. Roethlisberger had one of his worst games as a pro (10.8 ESPN QBR) but he's earned a mulligan or two. OTOH, Baltimore looked fantastic. This team was a legit SB contender last year, and little has changed. Wouldn't surprise me to see the same four teams end up in the AFC's final four again this year. It's easy to like McCoy and Hillis, but Cleveland had an ugly offensive performance. Ignoring their end of half drive, the Browns gained fewer than 15 yards on 9 of their 13 drives. I still think the Browns have a solid year, but they're not in any position to start giving away wins. The Bengals should enjoy that win, because they won't have many this season.
AFC South
Colts are irrelevant. Texans looked as good as you can look, and had a little bit of that Baltimore spirit in them yesterday. As much as Pittsburgh has been a thorn in Baltimore's side (Flacco 0-6 against Ben), it's been arguably worse with Hou/Indy. With the Colts down, the Texans stepped on the gas and never looked back. Offense is going to be awesome, again, but way too early to get a sense on the defense. The good news? It won't matter, as this division should be locked up before the calendar hits December. The Jags will come in 2nd place, but will get swept by the Texans on Nov. 27th, wrapping up the division for Houston. McCown was solid, but I suspect the Jags turn to Gabbert at some point. Jacksonville's D looked impressive, but it was Tennessee's O that was really ugly. Minus Britt's fluky 80-yard score, and Hasselbeck and the offense looked terrible. After their first 7 drives, the Titans had 0 points and 79 yards. Tennessee will be interesting when they switch to Locker, but they look like a 5-11 team.
AFC West
San Diego should win this division going away, but they struggled for awhile with the Vikings. Still, struggling and winning late in September games is an improvement for this team, and an 11 or 12 win season (or more) is always within reach. No one should doubt their offense, and the pass defense was phenomenal, so who knows what the limit is for the Chargers. The Chiefs look like toast. Losing Berry is a huge disaster, and like the situation with Indy, I have no faith in the HC to steer the ship once it's routed off course. Without Meoki, and Cassel forced to play against tough defenses, this could get ugly. 0-3 seems assured (@DET, @SDG) before the schedule lightens up. Still, this team is going nowhere fast. [Oak/Den to come.]
NFC East
Eagles look legit, and the secondary will look better once it has some time to jell. Vick didn't look great, but that offense is so explosive that it can handle some ugly passes. A great D might stop him the way the old Bucs could, but the Eagles will boat race some teams this year ala the MNF against Washington last year. Dallas' O will be fantastic if they can keep Romo upright, while Rob Ryan has changed the complexion of the D. Injuries are already a concern in the secondary, but this team will compete for a playoff berth if they can stay relatively healthy. Bryant, Austin, Witten and Romo are as good a passing quartet as any in football and Ware is a manchild. Rex Grossman might actually be good (three 300 yard passing games in last four outings) but the Redskins shocked Dallas and won @ Philly in the first four weeks of last season, too. An 8-8 season is within reach, but don't buy the hype just yet. Meanwhile, Eli and the Giants are in for trouble. Manning probably has a monster year statistically, and gets the NFC West in three of his next four games to right the ship. If the Giants aren't 4-2 headed into the bye week, they're in trouble, with second-half games in New England, New Orleans, Dallas and having to play the Jets and Packers, too.
NFC North
Chicago is still in for a rough season; don't be fooled by a game that was nowhere near as impressive as the final score indicated. Atlanta isn't that good and the Bears had a lot of fluky plays (two long screen passes for TDs, recovered all five fumbles). The offensive line is still an issue, and the offense is still going to finish in the bottom half of the league. They'll finish third in the division, as the Lions look legit. The D was fantastic against Tampa and will be even better once Fairley joins the team. The O looks great, and while keeping Stafford healthy has been a struggle, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Detroit has its best season in years, not only making the playoffs, but doing so as the #5 seed, and earning a de facto bye into the second round. Where they'll put up a valiant effort but fall to... the Packers, who are already in Super Bowl form, although that pass D looked very suspect against NO. Still, until proven otherwise, the Packers aren't going to lose more than a handful of games. Green Bay 12-4, Detroit 10-6, Chicago 8-8, and then... ugh. If you're going to look terrible against the Chargers and not win, you're not doing it right. This will be Ponder's team soon, but Peterson's team won't fare any better than CJ2K's team in 2011.
NFC South
The Saints are going to be an elite team -- they'll probably get the other bye, although it might come down to random tiebreakers with the Eagles. The Falcons and Bucs are in for tougher times than their fanbases hoped, but the schedule isn't easy anymore. Atlanta was the most overrated team in football last season and their luck seems to have swung in the other direction. An 8-8 team, IMO. Tampa will probably hit their stride late, and I still love all the young talent on offense -- they will battle for a playoff berth, and I suspect the winner of DAL@TAM in week 15 will determine the conference's 6 seed. Cam and the Panthers will be exciting to watch, but the biggest takeaway from that game is the horrific Cardinals pass defense. Still, Newton will have a much bigger rookie year than many expected, and the Panthers show improvement by going 6-10.
NFC West
Cue JR -- my God the carnage. The Seahawks were one of the worst teams in football last year and didn't look any better in week 1. The '10 Seahawks were one of only 10 teams the last 30 years to lose 9 games by 14 points or more, and were back on the wagon in week 1. San Francisco is in for an ugly season and will look bad on both sides of the ball against the good teams. Without Crabtree or a legitimate QB, the O isn't going anywhere, and the D lost too much this off-season to carry a team. Arizona's pass D is horrendous looking, and Kolb is just good enough to make sure opposing QBs keep being forced to throw. Start every QB you can against them, but the Cards win this division at 7-9, before Kolb gets eaten alive as part of a Suh-Fairley oreo inside the Big Toaster. St. Louis still has a ways to go on both sides of the ball, and think you see some serious regression to their solid pass D numbers from 2010. Bradford is a long ways away from carrying a team to the playoffs, and the Rams just don't have the talent around him. Without the strong performance by the pass D repeating itself, don't expect the Rams to win more than 6 games this year.
......could/should have seen that what was going on was a product of an incredibly easy schedule.....the stats for all players were inflated.....those that didn't watch from a realistic viewpoint got sucked in thinking this was an up and coming team with some explosive players (Charles/Bowe)....and many of them were chasing those stats in their drafts this year.....I am as diehard as they get, but I looked at the schedule and had them penciled in for maybe 6 wins.....and that was before losing Moeki and Berry....and that was counting the BUF game as a win....it ain't good in KC....not liking the vibe I get.....when the first round pick Baldwin thinks it's okay to get in a fight with TJ.....chit just ain't right....redraft=sell for whatever you can get for these guys....including Charles....you may still be able to get some value since he got that receiving TD...
Well, they just beat the second best team in the NFC last Thursday. 
