Regarding Tampa Bay/Carolina the missing magic for Tampa has been a quarterback. Grudin is a total asshole, whenever the bucs have a good quarterback he benches em or trades em. If we had Griese playing for the last couple years instead of Sims we could have won the division a couple more times easily. Garcia is the magic we were waiting for and Grudin couldnt sit him down or he would have gotten fired. With Garcia at the helm the Bucs are going to have a very good year. Will they be Superbowl champs? Hell no! No team in the NFC, repeat No team in the NFC can beat even the top three teams in the AFC (New England, Indy, Pittsburgh). So its an AFC blow out in the bowl again this year.
Miami hasnt geled yet, but Trent Green is a sound quarterback and their defense could win more then its share of games by itself. The wins will come. They arent top tier AFC, not even top 6 but they arent in the cellar either. Oakland has been stinking up the place for the last few years and its a shame as they were traditionally a solid performer every year. They have a variety of problems that stem from management more then anything else. They will improve, but I would be surprised if they win more then 4 games this year.
Seattle is currently over rated. I have no idea whats wrong with them this year and they do have wins, BUT they dont look as good as their rep is or even where logic says they SHOULD be. They have a great running game, solid defense, a very good quarterback and superb coaching so whats wrong? I have no idea. The same voodoo is effecting San Diego this year. Maybe they will eventually snap out of it, but until I see the Seattle of years past I wouldn’t pick em in a game against a decent or hot team. San Fran isnt really that good YET, but I think they are hungry and sometimes against a struggling team thats all it takes.