wildbill@ucbvax.ARPA (William J. Laubenheimer) (09/05/85)
Try these on for size:
NFC
West Central East
San Francisco 13-3 Chicago 11-5 Washington 12-4
Los Angeles 10-6 St. Louis 10-6
AFC
West Central East
Seattle 12-4 Cincinnati 9-7 New England 11-5
Denver 12-4 Miami 11-5
Playoffs: NFC AFC
Cardinals over Rams Broncos over Dolphins
49ers over Cardinals Broncos over Patriots
Redskins over Bears Seahawks over Bengals
49ers over Redskins Seahawks over Broncos
Super Bowl: 49ers over Seahawks
Notes:
San Francisco demonstrated how to beat Miami in SB XIX. Expect the
rest of the NFL to be good students this year. Nobody has yet demonstrated
how to beat the 49ers (besides "get lucky").
Cowboys still don't know who their QB is; should spend another
January on the sidelines.
Even a magician needs a few items to produce his effects; this
year's Viking team isn't that much different from last year's pathetic
squad, so even Bud Grant will have a hard time getting a decent record.
Purple People Eaters may be back in '86, though. It's hard to say it for
the fifth or sixth straight time, but here goes anyway -- Packers could
surprise this year (but probably won't).
Center of AFC power is in the west this year again. Raider defense
is still sound, but offense is just getting old (will Plunkett survive the
season? Will he even play eight games?), so they will be odd man out.
Chiefs still a year or two away. Chargers more like three -- new owner
Spanos is spending mucho bucks, but a rebuilding effort of the scale required
in San Diego is a gigantic project.
Bengals appear to have gained most from USFL releases, and should
surpass Steelers this year. Browns? Oilers? Who are you trying to kid?
Tony Eason will find himself this year, and everybody will be
keying on Miami (revenge) and the Jets (make Gastineau look foolish - is
there an offensive player in the league who doesn't hate his guts?). This
will be the surprise team for this year.
Postscript - the wagering public apparently agrees with my choice
(this is probably bad news). The odds on the 49ers to repeat, which started
at 4-1 in early August and had dropped to 3-1 by mid-August, were at last
report down to 9-5 (and 10-11 to win NFC!).
Bill Laubenheimer
----------------------------------------UC-Berkeley Computer Science
...Killjoy went that-a-way---> ucbvax!wildbill