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Gazing into NFL season's crystal ball

Think the New Orleans Saints are going to win the Super Bowl again this season?

Lots of pundits do.

I scoff at them.

Think the Indianapolis Colts are going to go back to the big game and win it this time?

Lots of pundits do.

I scoff at them, too.

Prognosticating is an inexact science — especially in the NFL, where a team can look like Ugly Betty one year and then Miss Universe the next.

But those who pick the Saints and Colts to go all the way again are just plain lazy.

It simply never happens anymore.

The last team to repeat as Super Bowl champions was the 2004 Patriots. The last team to lose a Super Bowl and then go back and win it the next year was the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

Lucky for you, I will make predictions for this NFL season based on tireless research.

•

The Buffalo Bills will win the Jake Locker sweepstakes. The Bills are going to be so bad, Toronto might not want them.Their owner is pushing 100-years old, their general manager is 71 and they hired a head coach who is a virtual whippersnapper in the Bills' Universe: 58-year-old Chan Gailey.Buffalo is switching to a 3-4 defense that doesn't match their personnel and their quarterback situation is a muddled mess.That's a recipe for the first overall pick.As a Bills fan, I couldn't be happier. Locker, who shines at the University of Washington, is a can't-miss NFL quarterback. Call him Jim Kelly 2.0.•

Dallas won't reach the Super Bowl. Jerry Jones and his billion dollar monstrosity of a stadium will host the Super Bowl this season.History is not on the Cowboys' side. Host cities are 0-for-37 in reaching the Super Bowl.Only five would-be Super hosts have even made the playoffs.Better luck next year, 'Boys.•

Who will make it to Super Bowl XLV? At this time last year, the Saints and Super Bowl were rarely used in the same sentence.The Colts, though, were a trendy pick.It's a classic sports movie plot.I'm going with that trend. Popular pick: the Packers. My Waterboy Bobby Boucher-led South Central Louisiana State University Mud Dogs pick: the Tennessee Titans.•

A lockout/strike will be averted in the final hour. This is a bold prediction since Barack Obama and the Republican Party are getting along better than the owners and the players' union these days.But there's just too much at risk — namely fantasy football and Madden '12.One side will blink, and it will probably be the players.•

Best of the rest. The Steelers will be 2-2 when Big Ben returns. ... The Jets make will the playoffs — barely. ... NFL MVP: Maurice Jones-Drew. Offensive Rookie of the Year: Jahvid Best. Defensive rookie: Gerald McCoy.Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.

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