NFC EAST

Dallas Cowboys
1. Another playoff appearance. Another one and done.

2. Dallas' playoff fortunes will improve next year when Jason Garrett’s the head coach.

3. Adam Jones won’t make it through the season without a 'Pacman' incident.

New York Giants
1. There’s a lot of character on this team, but defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has his work cut out for him trying to approximate the same kind of pressure the 2007 edition generated and — because of that — they get in more shootouts than they want to.

2. Steve Smith emerges as one of the NFC’s best young wide receivers.

3. By a whisker, the Giants miss the playoffs as the December stretch against the Eagles, Cowboys, Panthers and Vikings does them in.

Philadelphia Eagles
1. Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson turns linebacker Chris Gocong loose and he becomes one of the NFC's best defensive playmakers, a Tedy Bruschi type.

2. Even without Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown at wideout, a steadier Donovan McNabb puts up eye-popping numbers and carries the Eagles' offense on his back.

3. Free agent acquisition Asante Samuel winds up being even better for the Eagles than they hoped, and he rides again into the Super Bowl with his new team.

Washington Redskins
1. Head coach Jim Zorn gets himself in trouble with impolitic commentary on a weekly basis.

2. The hoped-for wide receiver bounce they Redskins were counting on when they drafted Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly doesn’t come. Both have been hurt in the preseason and once the bus gets moving in the regular season, it’s too hard to teach.

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3. Playing in the ultra-tough NFC East, Zorn and the Redskins take tremendous lumps in 2008 and miss the playoffs. By a lot.

NFC NORTH

Chicago Bears
1. The Bears are putting too much on the plate of electrifying Devin Hester in expecting the 5-11, 190-pounder to give them 50-plus plays a game on offense and be the same brilliant guy on special teams. They’re going to blow him out.

2. Defensively, the Bears will be better than they were in 2007, but offensively they’ll be even worse.

3. They open at Indy and Carolina then host the Bucs and Eagles. That’s an 0-4 start.

Detroit Lions
1. It’s wonderful that the Lions have those terrific “new breed” wide receivers like Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson. Too bad Detroit's offensive line is so bad that Johnson and Williams won’t finish their routes before quarterback Jon Kitna’s staring at the roof wondering which guy missed his block.

2. The Lions reloaded their secondary with corners Brian Kelly and Leigh Bodden. But after allowing 258.5 yards passing per game last season, they won’t be much better until they get a better rush — and trading defensive tackle Shaun Rogers didn't help.

3. Rod Marinelli is a terrific guy and, in a different situation, might have been a very good head coach. But it isn’t going to work out in Detroit.

Green Bay Packers
1. Aaron Rodgers isn’t going to make anyone forget whatshisname but he’s going to have an efficient 2008 with more touchdowns than interceptions, a completion percentage over 60 and 3,200-plus passing yards.

2. Wide receiver Greg Jennings makes the Pro Bowl.

3. The Packers make the playoffs.

Minnesota Vikings
1. Brad Childress = NFC Coach of the Year.

2. Adrian Peterson = NFL Offensive Player of the Year.

3. Vikings = Loser in the NFC Championship.

NFC SOUTH

Atlanta Falcons
1. One word for Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan to remember in 2008. Duck!

2. As good as new head coach Mike Smith might be down the line, he just doesn’t have the defensive weapons to make these Falcons look anything like his stingy Jacksonville defenses. With too many players who are either too young or too old, they remain one of the NFL’s worst units.

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3. On the bright side, Jason Elam has a Pro Bowl year kicking in the Georgia Dome.

Carolina Panthers
1. Julius Peppers and Jake Delhomme roll back the clock a little bit and spark a minor revival for the Panthers.

2. Even with one of the NFL’s easiest schedules (a mere five games against 2007 playoff teams) the Panthers endure an uneven season and the heat gets turned up to boil on head coach John Fox.

3. Steve Smith returns with a vengeance (which is pretty much how he always is) and makes the Pro Bowl even after serving a two-game suspension at the start of the season.

New Orleans Saints
1. The Saints recapture some of their ‘06 magic and regain the NFC South's top spot.

2. This year, it’s the defense that leads them as rookie Sedrick Ellis and newly acquired linebacker Jonathan Vilma put a charge into their unit and keep the heat off a shaky secondary by being nasty up front.

3. Quietly, Reggie Bush comes into his own in 2008 and puts together the first impressive season of his NFL career.

Tampa Bay Bucs
1. Jeff Garcia lugged this team into the playoffs last season. With an improved Saints team, he’s not going to be able to do it again, because the South isn't good enough to have a wild-card team.

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2. As an aging offense sputters, the heat gets turned up on the Bucs defense to respond week after week. For a while, they do. Then the age of two of their key guys — cornerback Ronde Barber and linebacker Derrick Brooks — starts to show.

3. It comes down to the final two weeks of the season for the Bucs — home games against West Coast opponents San Diego and Oakland. Battling with the Vikings, Eagles, Giants, Cardinals and Panthers for a final spot, they spit the bit.

NFC WEST

Arizona Cardinals
1. I smell a playoff appearance!

2. It’s a shootout every week for the Cardinals as their still-sketchy defense makes it imperative that quarterback Kurt Warner and the offense puts up points.

3. Head coach Ken Whisenhunt’s decision to put the offense in the gloved hands of Warner pays dividends as the Cards roll early then survive a nasty December against the Vikings, Patriots and Seahawks to close it out.

St. Louis Rams
1. Injuries doomed this team in 2007. In 2008, they rebound on both sides of the ball and become a surprisingly tough out.

2. Rookie defensive end Chris Long and defensive tackle Adam Carriker get it done on one side of the line; Leonard Little and La’Roi Glover wreak havoc on the other to make the Rams front four a little more fearsome.

3. Torry Holt has another standout season in what’s quietly looking like a Hall of Fame career.

San Francisco 49ers
1. Mike Nolan? Fired during the bye week in early November.

2. They’ll be striding proudly toward the No. 1 overall pick by Thanksgiving.

3. But Patrick Willis will be a Pro Bowl linebacker. 

Seattle Seahawks
1. With their fires stoked by wanting to send Mike Holmgren out on a high — and by having his successor Jim Mora on the staff — the Seahawks have motivation to have a big 2008 but injuries all over the offense suffered in preseason and before doom them to mediocrity in a slightly improved NFC West.

2. On the plus side, Julius Jones and Maurice Morris fill the bill very nicely at running back.

3. Lack of outside weapons causes a backslide for normally very good quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

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