After the crazy offseason NFL fans have gone through between Jason Pierre-Paul’s situation and the soap opera of the summer; deflategate, I think all NFL fans can agree it’s time for some football. Here are my projections for this upcoming season.

AFC East

New England Patriots

It’s no secret that the Patriots were at the forefront of the latest NFL scandal once again this offseason. For the majority of the offseason, the Patriots thought they would be forced to start second-year quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in Tom Brady’s four-game suspension. With that in mind, the Patriots were still being picked to make the playoffs by a lot of NFL experts. Now that the Patriots will have the services of one of the game’s all-time greatest for the full sixteen games, I can’t bet against the Patriots. While they lost one of the game’s premier corners, they switched to a zone-based scheme to utilize their front seven. I know the decline of Brady is imminent, I don’t think it will happen this year. Pats take the division and could be in the race for a first-round bye.

AFC North

Pittsburgh Steelers

Offense. That’s the one word that sums up this team. Antonio Brown solidified himself as the league’s number one receiver, while Le’Veon Bell is one of the best running backs in the league as well. Opposite Brown lines up second-year deep threat Martavis Bryant. After watching Ben Roethlisberger throw six touchdowns in back-to-back weeks last season is when I started to believe that this is the league’s best offense. The scariest thing is that they’re going to get better. Bell is entering his third year after rushing for 1,361 yards last season. The emergence of Bell is what allowed Brown to take the next step. With defenses having to commit extra defenders to stopping Bell, Brown succeeds and when they have to commit an extra man to stopping Brown, Bell succeeds. Bell and Bryant will have to wait to few weeks to see the field, as they are both serving marijuana-related suspensions by the NFL. Bell’s suspension is two games and Bryant’s suspension is four games. This team might sputter early, but when they get everyone back and on their game, you’ll see some scores you can’t believe.

AFC South

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts have made progress the last two seasons, but have seen their season come to and end by the Patriots two years in a row. They come into this year as arguably the best team in the AFC. Andrew Luck is right up there with Aaron Rodgers in the conversation for MVP. I love what the Colts did this offseason by adding veterans like Andre Johnson and Frank Gore, it’s what they didn’t do that scares me. The past three times the Colts have faced the Patriots, they haven’t been able to keep them under 40 points. It’s not even Brady who’s been killing them; it’s been the running backs. They didn’t really address this dire need in the offseason, so while the offense will be one of the best, a familiar ending could be in store for the Colts.

AFC West

Denver Broncos

Believe it or not, this was the toughest division in the AFC to call for me. Until Peyton retires I can’t bet against his regular season success. I’m just not sure how the team will do down the stretch. We’ve saw Manning’s arm pretty much die down the stretch last season, which opened the door for C.J Anderson to prove he should be the starting running back week in and week out. Manning still has arguably the best duo of receivers in the NFL right now with Demarius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. I think the Broncos will win the division, but the Chiefs will be right up there.

NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles

I think the Eagles finally have the personnel necessary to make Chip Kelly’s offense successful. The Eagles invested in their secondary this offseason by adding Byron Maxwell. Jordan Matthews burst onto the scene as a rookie in the second half of last season, and I think they have something special in Nelson Agholor; the rookie receiver out of USC. He’s an elusive runner and is can’t be stopped in the open field. He’s a godsend to Chip Kelly. Oh and they also managed to sign the NFL’s leading rusher from a year ago, Demarco Murray. I think this is the type of offense that Sam Bradford will succeed in. Bradford was average at best with the Rams, but he looked good in the preseason and I think this is the year he puts it all together.

NFC North

Green Bay Packers

To most teams, losing their number one receiver would be a death sentence, but not for the Packers. Randall Cobb, who last year caught 91 passes for 1,287 yards and 11 touchdowns. Davante Adams was looked at as a sleeper coming in to the season, but he will be thrown into the fire early as the number two receiver. The team also added receiver James Jones, who led the league in touchdowns during his first stint with the Packers. This was a wise move by the Packers and I think it will take some of the pressure off of Adams. Look for second-year tight end Richard Rodgers to get into the mix this year too.

NFC South

New Orleans

I can’t believe I’m doing this. The NFC South was the worst division in football last year as even the division winners, the Carolina Panthers, finished the season and made the playoffs with a losing record. Cam Newton was looking forward to getting back to work with second-year receiver Kelvin Benjamin, but since Benjamin tore his ACL, Newton has no weapons and this opens the door for Drew Brees and the Saints to make one last playoff run. Things haven’t been the same for them since Head Coach Sean Payton was suspended for a season after the bounty scandal. They have a good young receiver in Brandin Cooks, whose season was cut short due to injury last season. However, they did trade away Jimmy Graham, which is still a head scratcher to me. They still have Marques Colston and have another big red zone threat in Brandon Coleman. This division might be the toughest to call, just because they’re all bad.

NFC West

Seattle Seahawks

Were you really expecting anyone else? The Seahawks have been to the last two Super Bowls, and were one play away from repeating as champs. The Seahawks kept their core of guys while managing to trade for one of the game’s best athletes; Jimmy Graham. I think the addition of Graham will cut down the amount Russell Wilson scrambles and instead will find a way to dump it off to Graham as often as he can. There could be some trouble brewing on the horizon, as Kam Chancellor is holding out for a new deal. If this turns out to be an issue, the Seahawks won’t have a problem trading him. I expect the Seahawks to get one of the first-round byes in the playoffs and will make a deep playoff run once again.