Judging from my thought process prior to the 2001-02 NFL season, I would have said the Monday Nighter between the Vikes and the Ravens would have carried different implications.

In evaluation of my preseason picks in the Chrony, dated Sept. 5 and 7, I might have seen the Vikes jockeying for home field advantage in the Playoffs at this point in time.

How wrong I was. I realized how humbling a few months of erratic, cinderella-laden NFL play can be.

That’s how it is in the newspaper business, and I will be the first to poke fun at myself for cockamamie reasoning and unintelligible fodder.

I reviewed the NFC’s Central and West divisions, as well as the AFC West, but I was right regarding only one conclusion?the Panthers were slop. Actually, I did pick the Rams to reclaim supremacy in the West (as if any semi intelligible human being could have done), but I was bass ackwards regarding nearly every other aspect of the league.

Damn the (dis-)parity of the NFL.

Maybe the chance of any team beating any other team on any given Sunday is more enjoyable to watch. Maybe it pulls in more greenbacks and more fans and is solely the reason for football replacing its cylinder-shaped counterparts as America’s Game. But hell, it’s making me look like a genuine buffoon.

I start my review in the most important division in the NFL?the NFC Central, to which by beloved Green Bay Packers belong.

The Bears reigned the NFC Norse with a 13-3 record, when I picked them to go 3-13. Chicago went from worst to first after a 5-11 effort last year. I might have prognosticated the apocalypse or a third World War before picking the Bears to sit atop the division.

Before the season began, I wrote “Chicago will still wish it was the ’80s, with Walter Payton and Mike Singletary doing the Super Bowl Shuffle. Ah, the good ol’ days.”

The Bears may have stumbled through the ’90s, but, if the 2001 season is any indication, the dynasty will re emerge.

I wrote, “It’s too bad Brian Urlacher can’t play every position on defense. Try and name another Bears starter.”

Well, besides R.W. McQuarters, (his name just has a catchy ring to it), I still can’t name another Bears defensive starter. But the no-name squad held its opponents to a 12.7-points clip, the NFL’s best.

Still, even with a stingy defense and a four-game winning streak heading into the postseason, I say an immediate departure from the Playoffs is ahead for coach Dick Jauron’s crew.

Da Bears are but 3-3 against Playoff teams, having benefitted from a frail schedule.

Unless Chicago punishes the Pack (who beat them twice during the season) and wins the Super Bowl, I still don’t give them respect.

As far as the rest of the division goes, I picked Green Bay to finish 9-7 (actually 12 4), the Bucs to finish 9-7 (9 7), the Lions to finish 7-9 (2 14) and the Vikes to end 12-4 (5-10).

It is hard to swallow when I grossly underestimate the production of my surrogate team. The Favre-led Pack regained their form, although Favre definitely handed Strahan the sack title on a silver platter, no matter what he says.

Just as I called, the Tampa offense underachieved, as Tony Dungy begins counting his days. As for the Vikes, instead of Korey Stringer’s death uniting Minnesota, the team imploded. Michael Bennett was no Robert Smith, and Randy Moss proved to be an incurable ill.

As for the West, the Rams came out on top after being upended for the conference crown last year (no stunner there). I had St. Louie 11-5 (actually 14-2), N’awlins 9-7 (7-9), San Fran 8-8 (12-4), Atlanta 7-9 (7-9) and Carolina 4-12 (1-15).

I correctly said the Panthers “won’t amount to jack squat,” but the Niner trio of Garcia/Owens/Hearst progressed faster than anticipated in turning around a 6-10 previous output.

I’ve got to say I feel like a valid donkey’s derriere when I repeat what I wrote about the AFC East. “Any team in the AFC East can walk away with the title. Well, not New England.”

Thanks for shutting me up, Pats. Hey, I didn’t count on QB Tom Brady playing God in turning the Pats into an 11-5 team (I had ’em 5-11). As for the rest, I had Indianapolis 11 5 (actual 6-10), the Jets 9-7 (10-6), Buffalo 8-8 (3-13) and Miami 8-8 (11-5).

I didn’t envision Indy’s strainer-style “D” (they allowed an NFL worst 30.4 points a game) would be so bad, or Jay Fiedler to lead Miami on so many scoring drives, or Buffalo?well, I don’t have any excuses for that debacle. It was wishful thinking to begin with.

I guess I’ll have to wait until next year, when Buffalo, Carolina and Detroit are claiming division titles and proving to me that unless I plan ahead, I’ll never get it right.

Rory welcomes feedback at: [email protected].