Who are the teams to beat in ?06?

With camps in full swing around the league we can let the speculation begin as to who will be heirs to the Steeler?s throne this year.

As per normal, most folks will likely pick the past winners as their favorites. However, I don?t have either the Steelers nor the Seahawks in my top five this pre-season. As some quickly forget, the Steelers barely even made the playoffs last year, getting in the last week of the regular season before catching fire in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Seahawks got homefield advantage throughout the playoffs by a laughable divisional schedule which included two games apiece with the Cards, Niners and Rams.

This year, I see a changing of the guard somewhat as teams continue building themselves up, bringing in free agents in the offseason and resting up players sidelined last year. With that said, I?ll start my pre-season top five with an old standby in the New England Patriots.

Sure, they weren?t what they used to be last year, but they were riddled with injuries. And, without an unfortunate pair of turnovers and questionable officiating calls in the playoffs in Denver last year, they would have advanced to host the Steelers in the AFC title game, and from there, who knows seeing the Pats have a way of winning the big games.

We need to remember they still have the core of the team which won them three championships in four years in a free-agent market where there aren?t supposed to be dynasties anymore.

Just in front of them, I?ll have to take the Colts since they still have Peyton Manning and most of their receiving crew. If not for their choking kicker at the end of the Steeler game last year, there is a good chance the Colts would have gone all the way. However, the loss of Edgerrin James to the Cards cannot be fixed overnight. This is why they aren?t number one on my list.

My pick for third will surprise a lot of people when I reveal it to be the Kansas City Chiefs under former Jet head coach Herm Edwards. If you will recall they had an awesome start a couple of years ago at 9-0 under Dick Vermeil; however, lack of defense choked them down late in the season.

This year I see Edwards, who has done well with a team without talent in New York in various years, being a kid in a candy store with folks like Larry Johnson, who along with Shawn Alexander of the Seahawks is the class of the NFL at running back.

Number two is the team who choked against the Steelers last year ? Denver Broncos. Provided Jake Plummer can stay out of jail on road rage charges, I forsee a Drew Brees-like year where he outperforms expectations while former Vanderbilt star Jay Cutler waits in the wings in the Mile Hile City. As we all know, it matters not who is in the backfield, although for now it appears to be Tatum Bell, as most people?s granny could rush for 1,400 a year out in Denver.

My number one pick is the craziest of all, because it?s the Washington Redskins. They?ve built and built the past few years, now it?s time to perform as they have some of the best receivers in the league as well as Clinton Portis in the backfield and a secondary which is also as good as anyone in the league. They ran out of gas against the Seahawks in the second round last year. This year, their seasoning will be their regular schedule as they are in the arguably the toughest division in the NFL. The winner of the NFC North, who I believe will be the Redskins at this point, will be tempered and ready to go at playoff time.