NFL 2012 after 5 weeks

Time to check in and see how my pre-season picks for each division are doing:

AFC EAST: New England (3-2) First Place. NE looks good. Could easily be 4-1 and the rest of the division looks less than threatening.

AFC NORTH: Baltimore (4-1) First Place. The Ravens have been impressive, but Cincy and Pittsburgh won’t go down without a fight. I still think I’ll be right with this pick.

AFC SOUTH: Houston (5-0) First Place. The Texans have started with guns blazing. They should win this division easily.

AFC WEST: San Diego (3-2) First Place. Nice to see the Chargers break the trend of recent years and actually get off to a solid start. With KC and Oakland playing poorly it looks like the Bronco’s are the only team that could really challenge the Bolts. Denver is definitely a better team with Peyton Manning, but Manning is still not 100% of what he once was. The Bronco’s are still a work in progress.

NFC EAST: New York (3-2) Tied for First Place with Philly. Giants off to a good start. I predicted that this division would be a dogfight and I see no reason to change that assessment. Washington’s heralded rookie QB RG3 has turned out to be as good as advertised, so all 4 teams in the division look like they could be good.

NFC NORTH: Green Bay (2-3) Third Place. What happened here?!? Surprisingly, Minnesota and Chicago stand atop the division, both with 4-1 records. Can that last? I don’t think it will, but I’m not sure how this division will pan out. I think GB is a better team than their record reflects, but they really can’t lose much more ground and expect to catch up at the end of the season.

NFC SOUTH: Atlanta (5-0) First Place. I thought Atlanta would be good, but they have exceeded my expectations and those of many other fans, probably even a few in Atlanta. The Falcons are playing really well on both sides of the ball and appear to be a team that is very capable of going to the Super Bowl. Matt Ryan is playing as well as any QB in the league. The rest of this division can forget about winning the division or being a wild card.

NFC WEST: San Francisco (4-1) Tied for First Place with Arizona. Although the 49ers dropped a game to the much improved Vikings in Minn. I still think they are the best team in the NFC. This entire division has played well to date.