Gator Bait: Season Preview
By: Rob Freet and Brett Adams
Published: September 3, 2007
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Hello Football lovers everywhere. The time seems to drag on in anticipation of the official start of the Gator Bait season. Gator and I can't wait either, so just for fun we want to bring you a Gator Bait preseason predictor. Just a reminder, Gator won the first season, but Bait came and tied up the season series with Bait winning the playoff tiebreaker. We will debate every single division and wildcard. Feel free to voice your opinion on whether you are in the Gator or Bait camp.

Gator-Bait Season Preview

Hello Football lovers everywhere. The time seems to drag on in anticipation of the official start of the Gator Bait season. Gator and I can't wait either, so just for fun we want to bring you a Gator Bait preseason predictor. Feel free to voice your opinion on whether you are in the Gator or Bait camp.

Gator Says:
AFC East: The Patriots have owned the division throughout the last several years. The Jets are looking like a very tough team to beat as their young talent continues to develop around Mangini. The Bills are rebuilding around a young talented offensive core in Losman, Evans, and Lynch, but it will likely be a couple of years for them to compete again. The Fins are going through a new coach and a new QB. They should be better than last year because of their defense, but they are still a year or 2 away, IMO. So in the end, the Patriots having one of the best offseasons this year plus their dominance in the division over the last years make them my choice. New England Patriots

Bait Says:
The Patriots are the easy choice here, and most probably the correct call. Its an easy in out of the gate division, or is it? The Jets are on the rise, however I think they need more of a legit running game to be considered a lock. The Bills will be much improved offensively and got a heck of a lot younger on the Defense, but I think it will take time for them to gel as a unit before I give them credit of being as good as the salaries they dumped. My Choice: The always evil, diabolical, deviously delectable New England Patriots

Gator Says:
AFC South: Well in this division you have 4 teams all going in different directions. You have the defending Super Bowl champs who the only place to go from here is down. You have the underachieving Jaguars who will decide this year whether or not Leftwich can be their QB of the future. You have the Titans who is loaded in plenty of distractions with the Pacman situation and the “Madden curse”. Then you have the Texans who finally ended the David Carr reign and they quietly improved by 4 games last season. With more experience on their offense and defense, they could surprise some people this season. How can you not go with the defending champs in this Jekyll and Hyde division? Indianapolis Colts

Bait Says:
The Titans are coming, the Texans, well, they are still the Texans and Leftwich and Del Rio hate each other, but both desperately need Byron to have a good year for them to both have a job in Jacksonville next year. I see the division begining to get alot stiffer but the Colts are still the team to beat. My Choice is the Indianapolis Colts.

Gator Says:
AFC North: This is one of the toughest divisions to predict. We’ve been hearing for the past few years how the Baltimore Ravens are getting older and older, but that didn’t really stop them from winning the division in convincing fashion last year. The Bengals have actually somewhat stayed out of trouble throughout this offseason and with Carson Palmer actually able to take reps the entire summer their already potent offense should be even better. The question is can they stop anyone? The Bill Cowher era has officially ended in Pittsburgh after a disappointing season. They still have a very talented team, but with a new coach, the loss of their leader Joey Porter in the middle, and the questions surrounding Big Ben, they will likely be at least a year away from the playoffs. Isn’t there another team in this division? Oh yeah, the Browns. Isn’t it a given that they will be in the cellar again? They should improve and Frye should get better as long as he has a healthy Edwards and Winslow, but them playing in this division will make their record look worse than their talent level suggests. The Ravens have given up less 30 point games in the last 2 seasons then their counterparts across the street in the Orioles. You have to assume that with Marvin Lewis, the Bengals D will eventually improve. Is this finally the year? Defense wins championships, but offenses win divisions, so I got the Cincinnati Bengals

Bait Says:
Finally me and the toothy one disagree on something. Offense wins divisions, Defense wins championships and the Colts win the Super Bowl......he is just saying that to jerk my chain <----Gator Sighting.......anyway.....The Bengals will struggle defensively in this division for sure. The Steelers, well, they are going to need some tweaking on the sidelines before they are ready. The Browns, well, I am still a big Crennel supporter but the ole wormy eye brow is starting to raise on the capital of Rock-n-Roll. No the team to beat, is the same team that will spend much of its post season energy beating itself, and that leads me to my choice: the Baltimore Ravens

Gator Says:
AFC West: The Broncos have had a very successful offseason especially building up their defense which looks great on paper. They will have to take a couple learning bumps from Jay Cutler. San Diego fired their coach after a 14-2 season, so you know the talent is there. I mean they have the favorite for both the OPOY and DPOY on your roster. The Chiefs have ended the Trent Green era and it should be interesting how that effects Larry Johnson. Oakland is well Oakland. Their D looked good last year, but with their first overall pick still holding out and not much improvement with their offense at all other than praying that Culpepper goes back to his Minnesota days. The Broncos/Chargers look to be the 2 best teams in this division, so comparing the 2 teams, how can you not go with the team that has LT and the team that has the most experienced QB(who cares if it’s his 2nd year). San Diego Chargers

Bait Says:
Although San Diego will have about 53 Pro Bowlers I am not sure the stability and structure in the front office will allow them much success. Its one thing we fans don't really talk about alot but they are pretty disfunctional in their business matters, and all the talent in the world can't overcome bad leadership. I will pick them over all other comers in the division but I won't pencil them in as Superbowl champs, not just yet. My Choice San Diego Chargers

Gator Says:
AFC Wildcards: The teams that should be fighting for the wildcard are the New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos, and Kansas City Chiefs. The most complete team out of all of them in terms of offense and defense seems to be the Denver Broncos. Defense wins championships, so that puts the best D’s in contention. The best defenses in this group should be Jacksonville, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh. Jacksonville has a QB controversy, Baltimore has an age issue, and Pittsburgh has a new coach. So when adding in the homer factor, I’ll go with Jacksonville Jaguars.

Bait Says:
AFC Wildcards: New York Jets and Denver Broncos. I am not holding my breath on either one, because on the fray lies the likes of Jacksonville, Tennesse, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and maybe even Miami. Pretty much I would like to go on record as EXCLUDING only the Browns (most probably the Jags but stranger things have happened, the Texans and the Raiders from playoff hopeful after that it is a slug fest and the healthiest team will prevail) Now having said that Gator wants a prediction.

Gator Says:
AFC Championship: As evidenced by the Steelers 2 years ago, seeds go out the window when the AFC playoffs come around as all the teams are uber talented. You would think you would see the most talented team(San Diego) vs. the team with the most experience and best player(Indianapolis), but this is the AFC. Denver Broncos over the New England Patriots

Bait Says:
AFC Championship: I would love to see a Pats/Colts rematch but there are a lot of if's and's and but's before that can happen. hmmm I don't like this gator. I hate predicting this stuff, oh well here it goes: the Pats-Jets-Colts and Ravens will be the final four, it will boil down to the Ravens and Colts and the Colts get to try a repeat (you may now remove your homer goggles).

Gator Says:
NFC East: The Philadelphia Eagles are back to being the favorites as they have pretty much manhandled the entire division in recent memory. Dallas looks loaded like always if Tony Romo can prove last year wasn’t a fluke and he can get the fumbled FG out of his mind. They also have a new coaching staff. The Giants have been in the middle of plenty of controversy mainly between Tom Coughlin, Tiki Barber, and Eli Manning. The Redskins have actually stayed out of the news throughout the offseason, but will have to rely on first year starting QB Jason Campbell. When healthy and playing up to potential, all 4 of these teams are extremely good and will be fun to watch, the only problem is every team has a question mark at QB. What would be a Gator-bait article without an off the wall intentionally biased homer pick on my side of the article? Washington Redskins

Bait Says:
NFC East: Its a pipe dream gator. There is no way, someone write this down, NO WAY the SKINS win the division. Their isn't enough ink in this post to extoll all the reasons that wont happen but the short story is this: There are 3 better teams in this division, and when you are 4th best of 4...The Eagles should win this divsion, it has gotten even tighter this year but it won't tighten up until after the midway point. My Choice: The Eagles

Gator Says:
NFC South: The Saints finished a very magical season returning back to New Orleans. Sean Payton did great things in his first year and helped make their players reach their potential. Now this year they won’t have as much emotional boost and everyone will be gunning for them. The Panthers have been paper champions the last several years as they look stacked on paper, but inconsistency and injuries have hurt them. The Bucs have been pretty terrible too, especially on offense. They still have a young offensive line and they will have to rely on new QB Jeff Garcia to run the offense. The Falcons have Joey Harrington starting at QB, nuff said. I figure since I did the AFC basically exactly what everyone else had that I will continue my reaches on division titles here in the NFC. There is almost zero pressure on the Panthers, while there is a lot on the Saints, so my prediction is the Carolina Panthers.

Bait Says:
The Panthers should be able to make a legit push for this division, but I feel that the Saints are not done riding that magical wave. They come into this season deeper on defense and a year more matured as a group on offense, the Saints are the team to beat, but the Panthers should be in the hunt. My Choice: The Saints


Gator Says:
NFC North: Yet another division that every team has question marks at the QB position. The most notable is the reigning NFC North and NFC champ Chicago Bears with Rex Grossman. The Packers have a question mark in which Brett Farve will show up. The Lions are loaded with weapons around Jon Kitna, but no one is quite sure if he can get his playmakers the ball on a consistent basis. The Vikings are starting essentially a rookie in Tavaris Jackson. In a division like this one, you have to go with whoever has the best defense and ball control and that would be the Chicago Bears


Bait Says:
This division is still a one horse race. There really isn't much to discuss. The Vikings have a young unproven quarterback, the Packers are still rebuilding and the Lions (this just in) drafted another wide out, that makes at least 27 first round picks on WR's and still Millen can't get fired, he is the teflon DON of the motor city. My Choice: The Bears


Gator Says:
NFC West: The Seahawks have owned this division, but the 49ers are starting to try to get back up to their glory days and the Cardinals are trying to not be the laughing stock of the league anymore. This is the NFC division of the running back. You have Frank Gore, Stephen Jackson, Edgerrin James, and of course Shaun Alexander. All have had injury problems in the past except for Stephen Jackson. Whichever QB can stay the most consistent will win this division. I really like the Rams pick of Carriker and I think he will do wonders for their defense. Just enough for the St. Louis Rams to win the division.

Bait Says:
NFC West: This will be the wormy shocker of the season. I am now jumping back on the Card band wagon. Why?, Well really I don't know. Call it a gut feeling. They have had the talent offensively and defensively for a couple of years now to be a playoff contender it was coaching that kept them down. I look for nothing short of a football miracle here, Seattle, San Fran and in denial St. Louis are all in various stages of a rebuild. My Choice: The Cardinals

Gator Says:
NFC Wildcards: The teams that I think will have the most competition for the wildcard spots are the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks, and the San Francisco 49ers. First I will put the Philadelphia Eagles into the playoffs because they are the most experienced team around playoff time. I also really like their defense(assuming they stay healthy) and if McNabb can stay healthy there is no reason for them not to win the division. I now look at the talent level and coaching ability of the remaining teams and the New Orleans Saints look to be the most talented team remaining in one of the weaker divisions in the conference.

Bait Says:
NFC Wildcard: Look for Dallas and Carolina to be the front runners here, with the Giants and Seattle hot on their heels. Everyone else is still light years away and it would take a Saint like miracle for them to push for these spots...checking the forecast, no Hurricanes expected in the North division....my diagnosis, unchanged.

Gator Says:
NFC Championship: I will take off my homer goggles and immediately eliminate the Redskins from this discussion. The 2 best teams in the NFC this season will be the Chicago Bears and the Carolina Panthers. I think the NFC West winner will barely sneak in because that division is so balanced that all the teams will just beat each other up. I will go with the Chicago Bears over the Philadelphia Eagles.


Bait Says:
NFC Championship: Gator and I come close to agreeing here, close, but not close enough. The Saints and Eagles will haggle it out and the healthiest team will win. Lets just say Philly is due.

Gator Says:
Super Bowl: Denver Broncos vs. Chicago Bears. This is one of the most improbable championship scenarios with the question marks surrounding both teams QB’s. No one knows how Jay Cutler will fair this season and who knows if Rex Grossman can hang on to the ball and not force Devin Hester and the defense to get multiple TD’s a game for them to win. I think both defenses are absolutely stacked. I think the Super Bowl experience from a year ago will help propel the Chicago Bears as Super Bowl champions and stall the AFC dominance for at least 1 year.

Bait Says:
Super Bowl: This match up will be a tough one for fans outside these two cities, is it a baby dynasty you root for or the underdog? Most will choose the under dog. I will as well. The game will be Philly vs Indy...with the city of brotherly love getting the monkey off its back. Philly wins it all!

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