JFG nation, it’s time: MY 2016-2017 NFL PREDICTIONS ARE HERE. I got away from sports talk a little bit the past year, missing out on talking about baseball, NBA playoffs, etc. Time to get back to what I know and love. Friend of the blog, the BackUp QB, informed me back in the 2014 season: the median number of divisional repeat champions since 2003 was 3…with an aberration of 6 in 2012. But in 2014-2015, there were 6 repeat champions again. In 2015-2016, the total went back down to 3. So in 2016-2017, what will it be – 3 or 6? Let’s forecast:

AFC North Champ: Can the Pittsburgh Steelers stop having suspended players? I swear each year I want to pick them to win the division and then their entire starting lineup lands on 4-6 game suspensions. What gives, Pitt? I still think the STEELERS take it because Cincy has some question marks on offense (Eifert, no Marvin Jones, the Jeremy Hill / Gio Bernard question mark). Ravens are in rebuild mode, and Cleveland? RGIII will throw 12 INTs or less this year; who wants to take that bet? Reason: He’ll be benched by week 5.

AFC East Champ: Ugh NEW ENGLAND. Even with Brady suspended, Jimmy Garoppolo is ok, and the addition of Martellus Bennett to their weapons gives me fantasy football tingles. I want my Bills to be better, but after their entire defensive unit landed on the DL, I’m sad. Very sad. Miami stinks, and Arian Foster’s legs will detach on the field during a game. The Jets kept Christian Hackenberg, apparently. Good for them.

AFC South Champ: This is a very interesting division. Will Houston take the next step with Brock Lobster at the helm, and Lamar Miller running the ball? With Bortles take the next step with all these hyped weapons in JAX? Will Andrew Luck bounce back to form? And will Tennessee actually attempt to run DeMarco Murray ahead of Derrick Henry? Coin flip: I’ll go with the JAGS. Why not?

AFC West Champ: TREVOR SEMIEN. That’s who’s running the ship in Denver now? Really? Peyton was AWFUL last year throwing-wise, but his audibles still piloted that team. Semien will not. I’ll keep this fast – CHIEFS edge out the Raiders to take the division.

AFC WILDCARDS: I’ll put my BILLS in here because I hate myself, and say CINCY because they have the most experience of the remaining teams.

(so far, only 1 repeater)

NFC North Champ: GREEN BAY. You can take your Sam Bradford and stuff your sorries in a sack, mister. He’s a loser and always will be. Detroit is going to run the no-huddle, so we’ll see, but otherwise the Lions and the Bears stink on ice. Plus, GB has skinny Eddie Lacy. SKINNY. EDDIE. LACY.

NFC East Champ: I think it’s gonna be the Cowboys…what’s that? Romo is out for 10 weeks? Ok…then it’ll be the Eagles with Sam Brad…they traded him away? Carson Wentz is starting? Huh. So it’s between the local Skins and the Giants. I’ll give the edge to the GIANTS because they have an easier schedule. Did they spend enough money on their defense? Potentially – they were 32nd ranked last year and can only get better, right?

NFC South Champ: Last year, my UPSET SPECIAL was TAMPE EFFING BAY. This year…nope, it’s gonna be CAROLINA again. Sorry. I looked back on last year’s stats and I was surprised how bad New Orleans and Atlanta were. That high powered ATL offense only scored 339 points? That’s less than 20 a game – gross. And how does Brees pass for the most yards AND 32 TDs but the Saints only win 7 games? Yuck yuck yuck. For the record, TB comes in 2nd this year. Mike Evans can’t drop as many passes as last year…can he?

NFC West Champ: Fun fact: I drafted the San Fran D in my fantasy league and was laughed at for the next two days. Then someone dropped Houston and I scooped them up. I dunno, I am sort of a believer in Chip Kelly’s scheme? Am I really writing those words? Sigh. This division pick really hinges on whether I believe old man Palmer can repeat his success…I’m gonna say no. SEATTLE takes this division back.

NFC WILDCARDS: WASHINGTON and ARIZONA. Old man Palmer can still do enough, and I think Washington has enough talent – they win 10 games and the tiebreakers to put themselves in the mix.

Only 2 repeat division champs in my book this year. We’ll do playoff picks tomorrow.  What say you, JFG Nation? Let me know your predictions below.

Today’s junk food: Limited Edition Cinnamon Donut Chewy Chips Ahoy!

Limited Edition Cinnamon Donut Chewy Chips Ahoy! were discussed on the Nosh Show, and my reservation was this – the picture of the cinnamon donut has loads of cinnamon and sugar. The picture of the cookie DOES NOT. WHYYYYYYYYYY.

Limited Edition Cinnamon Donut Chewy Chips Ahoy! have cinnamon and apple chips, however. This is so confusing. Why the hell are there apple chips in a cinnamon donut flavored cookie?

Opening this package of Limited Edition Cinnamon Donut Chewy Chips Ahoy!, I sort of got a smell of donut, but it was blended in with the standard super sweet dough of the Chips Ahoy! cookie.

I bit into one of these Limited Edition Cinnamon Donut Chewy Chips Ahoy! – standard texture, very soft because of the oils, and decently sweet. I immediately got that donut feel/flavor – it reminded me of the way Entenmann’s or Tasty Kake donuts taste – that sort of back of the throat, corners of the tongue donut flavor. Do you know what I’m talking about? These reminded me of store bought donuts, for sure.

Was there cinnamon flavor thought? Yes – and the apple chips in these Limited Edition Cinnamon Donut Chewy Chips Ahoy! cookies made more sense with each bite. Rather than impart a strong apple flavor, they added a bit of slight apple tartness that reminded me of how cinnamon coated cider donuts tasted. While I still would’ve liked to have see these cookies doused in cinnamon and sugar just for junk food’s sake, these cookies did a pretty close approximation of a store bought cider donut. Close, not perfect, but decent enough that I was surprised how much I liked these.

Worth a buy, for sure.

Purchased at: Walmart, Frederick, MD

Cost: $2.50 on sale

Sincerely,

The JFG