Who is Lombardi bound?

THE NON-LURKING LOOMERS
11. Dallas

10. Denver
There's enough firepower (Javon Walker, Travis Henry, Ian Gold, D.J. Williams, Champ Bailey, Dre Bly), enough upside (the chance that Jay Cutler will exceed expectations) and enough done-it-before history (Mike Shanahan rarely misses the playoffs for two straight years) here that the Broncos look like a potential playoff team.That's before factoring in what happened to the late Darrent Williams and remembering that tragedy invariably unites a football team and provides an overall purpose that may have been missing otherwise. I'm not trying to belittle what happened to Williams, the Broncos' young cornerback who was senselessly murdered outside a Denver nightclub last spring. But for the sole purposes of determining why a football team will be better or worse than it looks on paper, you can't underestimate the emotional makeup of a team that lost a beloved teammate for a really stupid reason, buried him, mourned him and eventually dedicated its season to his memory (as well as the memory of backup RB Damien Nash, who collapsed during a pickup basketball game last spring). Every little edge counts in the NFL. Just look at the Saints last year.

More importantly, the Broncos might have the easiest schedule in the league. They play Oakland twice, Kansas City twice, Detroit, Buffalo and Houston on the road, and Jacksonville, Minny, Green Bay, Tennessee and Pittsburgh at home. Let's say they go 3-1 against Oakland/KC, 2-1 in the easy road games and 4-1 in the easy home games. That's nine wins. Then, if they can steal one more game against San Diego (home), Indy (road), Chicago (road) or San Diego again (on the road in Week 16, when the Chargers may already have clinched a 1 or 2 seed and will be more interested in resting Tomlinson to screw up everyone's fantasy league finals), that gets the Broncos to 10 wins and pushes them into the playoffs. Sometimes it's that easy.

(My only red flag with the Broncos: Can't say I love the Jay Cutler feedback coming out of training camp. When you're repeatedly described as "quiet," "a loner" and "someone who keeps to himself," you're more qualified to be a serial killer than a starting NFL QB.)

THE ENIGMAS

9. Philly
8. Pittsburgh

THE HEADLESS HORSEMEN

7. Baltimore
6. Chicago

THE CONTENDERS

5. New Orleans
4. Indianapolis
3. San Diego
2. Seattle

THE FAVORITE
1. New England
They blew that Colts game in January for four reasons: They couldn't run for a first down when it mattered; they couldn't catch a third down pass when it mattered; they couldn't stretch the field; and they couldn't stop the pass because their linebackers were too slow and their secondary was too banged up. All four problems have been fixed. Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger.

Anyway, here's my Super Bowl pick: New England over Seattle. Now that we have that settled, let's hit the Week 1 slate.

If you missed Part One of my 2007 NFL Power Poll, click here for teams 12-32. Today, we're ripping through the Top 11 and banging out Week 1 picks.