Another National Football League season is here. That means more frustration for fans of our area teams -- the Chicago Bears, St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs.

What do those fans have to look forward to -- not much. Here's one man's look at how the next 17 weeks will look for those teams:

Chicago Bears

They had the best season of the trio last year, finishing a game behind Minnesota in the NFC North Division with a 9-7 record. The Bears made the biggest splash during the offseason, too, by getting Jay Cutler from Denver in a trade for former starter Kyle Orton. (On a side note, Bears fans won't have Rex Grossman to kick around any more either after he signed a free-agent deal with Houston.)

Cutler gives the Bears a legitimate threat at quarterback for the first time in my lifetime -- and I'm closing in on 40. (Sorry, Jim McMahon fans.) How much he'll help remains to be seen. Having a quarterback with a rocket arm is great, but you still have to have people who can catch the ball. The Bears' receiving corps is a huge question mark.

But the Bears have a new marquee back in Matt Forte, who will shoulder much of the load on offense.

Fortunately for the Bears, they still have a defense to lean on. Just as it did when the Bears made the Super Bowl after the 2006 season, the defense will carry the team.

A lot of pundits have fallen in love with Green Bay and Minnesota. I still have a hunch the Bears will be good enough to emerge from the fray in the division and win it.

Predicted finish: 10-6, 1st in NFC Central

St. Louis Rams

The Scott Linehan era -- thankfully -- is over in St. Louis. It's going to take a while for the team to emerge from that horrendous time in the franchise's history.

New coach Steve Spagnuolo has a lot of work to do. The Rams have a lot invested in quarterback Marc Bulger and running back Steven Jackson.

Will Bulger ever live up to the big contract the team gave him? Hard to tell since he seems to get injured a lot. Jackson, too, has been banged up. That's a direct result of a porous offensive line. Shore up the line, and those two have the ability to be stars again. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen this year.

The defense should be better since Spagunolo is a defensive guy. If they can slow people down, that will help the Rams' chances of improving on their 2-14 record from last season.

Guess the best news for the team is that it has the best punter in the league in Donnie Jones. He'll get plenty of action this year.

Predicted finish: 5-11, 4th in NFC West Division

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs made plenty of news in the off-season, too. They hired Arizona offensive coordinator Todd Haley to be their new coach and swung a deal with New England for quarterback Matt Cassel. The team welcomed Cassel by giving him a fat contract.

Yes, Cassel had a great season last year filling in for Tom Brady in New England. However, the Patriots didn't make the playoffs. And you have to remember that Cassel won't have the Patriots line blocking for him and he won't be throwing the ball to Randy Moss and Wes Welker any more. To expect miracles from Cassel in his first season with the team is unfair.

Then there's also the matter of the team's defense, which was pretty awful last season. The team was near last in the league in sacks. It's not like the AFC West is a great division, but the Chiefs are still fourth in a four-horse race there.

Chiefs fans should start getting excited about 2010 after the team has had a year to grow under Haley. While the short-term prognosis isn't too good, the Chiefs have -- to steal from Mel Kiper Jr. -- "tremendous upside." Better days are ahead for this once-proud franchise.

Predicted finish: 3-13, 4th in AFC West Division

-- dobrien@whig.com/221-3365