As for this year, fancy Carolina Panthers & hoping my Denver Broncos will be there or thereabouts again.
The Carolina Panthers appear to have made some very strong signings in the close season and appear to be the class outfit in the NFC. The AFC appears to be more competitive, obvious candidates for a trip to the SuperBowl are Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals (if Carson Palmer's knee holds up), Pittsburgh Steelers & Denver Broncos.
I'll try to summarise the AFC below, I'll do the NFC later.
AFC NorthShould be between the Cincinnati Bengals & Pittsburgh Steelers. Assuming Carson Palmer's knee holds up and their players decide they don't fancy eating prison food (they have had about 4 or 5 players arrested during the close season) the Bengals could be ready to make a run at the SuperBowl. I'm not convinced Willie Parker can carry the rushing load at Pittsburgh Steelers on his own but they still have a dominating defence. Cleveland Browns should improve but they have had all sorts of problems getting a starting centre (I believe they had their major free agent signing get injured for the season, his replacement retire, an emergency signing get suspended for a month before finally trading for one) and they probably aren't ready to compete this year. Baltimore Ravens should be more competitive with Steve McNair at QB, but there are question marks over RB Jamal Lewis and the defence, usually a strength is getting older and suffered from injuries last season
Winners - Cincinnati Bengals
AFC SouthShould be between Indianapolis Colts & Jacksonville Jaguars. The Indianapolis Colts have lost 3 key players through free agency but hopefully Joseph Addai can fill the gap left by the departure of Edgerin James. A bigger loss may be felt on defence where they lost their captain and a key member of the defensive tackle rotation without acquiring replacements, hoping to replace from the depth chart instead. Jacksonville Jaguars have question marks over the performance of Byron Leftwich and lost their main WR Jimmy Smith so will be hoping that last years number one draft pick Matt Jones can fill the gap. The real strength of the team is the defence. Tennesee Titans & Houston Texans will both be doing well if they make it to more than 6 wins.
Winners - Indianapolis Colts
AFC EastShould be between New England Patriots & Miami Dolphins. Last season the New England Patriots remained competitive despite the usual collection of key injuries. The linebacker corp again looks a little thin, especially with Teddy Bruschi being injured in pre season. They have drafted a RB in the first round which should improve the running game this year, however with WR Deion Branch holding out the New England Patriots passing game might not be as good as last year. Miami Dolphins improved considerably under Nick Saban in his first season as head coach. They have upgraded at QB howver the weaknesses are a lack of depth at RB and the better players on the defence coming towards the end of their career. The New York Jets were woeful last year, have had a QB controversy in pre season and look like they will be missing RB Curtis Martin for a large part of the season so don't look for them to light up the scoreboard. Buffalo Bills need to improve but they need to find a QB fast, JP Losman needs to start playing like a former first round pick.
Winners - Miami Dolphins
AFC WestProbably between Kansas City Chiefs & Denver Broncos. Kansas City Chiefs will be hurt by the retirement of offensive tackle Willie Roaf but they have potentially the best RB in the game in Larry Johnson. They key problem with Kansas City Chiefs is usually the defence and it is no different this year, although they have signed CB Ty Law to give them possibly the oldest pair of starting CBs in the NFL. Denver Broncos have lost Ashley Lelie and gained former Green Bay Packers player at WR, drafted QB Jay Cutler in the first found to put a little pressure on Jake Plummer (despite him having his best season last year) and lost a couple of key starters (RB Mike Anderson, DE Trevor Pryce), they should be able to remain competitive. San Diego Chargers took maybe the biggest gamble of the close season by letting QB Drew Brees walk, meaning QB Philip Rivers needs to deliver fast. Young QBs normally take time to adjust but if Rivers is capable then the supporting cast is good enough to go deep in the playoffs. Oakland Raiders had real problems hiring a head coach, eventually rehiring Art Shell after a gap of around 10 years. They have New Orleans Saints reject Aaron Brooks at QB but do have a good WR corp despite the loss of Doug Gabriel to New England Patriots.
Winners - Denver Broncos
I'll go for Indianapolis Colts to make the Super Bowl and two from Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs & Pittsburgh Steelers to pick up a wild card slot.
Blimey, I'm so out of touch with all the close season changes.
). Are Miami Dolphins back in the running now they've got a decent QB?
Note to all American Football knockers 
A bet on any sport makes it interesting 
However you didn't mention that the Indianapolis Colts now have signed Adam Vinatieri from the New England Patriots and he'll be a tremendous loss to us. Mind you Gramatica will do a decent enough job there I guess.
ay more attention to the preview shows. 
To stop them beating the Niners in the NFC Championship game ? 
