So now that the season is about to start this week, it’s time to make some predictions as to how we see the season going. We will try to think with our brains instead our hearts but you know how hard that can be sometimes. This season is shaping up to be one of the hardest seasons to predict (even taking all of the injuries that could possibly happen throughout the year).
NFC
NFC East – Dallas Cowboys
NFC North – Green Bay Packers
NFC South – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
NFC West – Los Angeles Rams
AFC
AFC East – Buffalo Bills
AFC North – Cincinnati Bengals
AFC South – Indianapolis Colts
AFC West – Kansas City Chiefs
Wild Card Contenders
NFC – Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers
AFC – Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers
Alright, so before some of you decide to flame this site due to the picks let me just explain something as to why I came to the conclusions that I came to first. Then you can decide if my logic is a bit off. I promise that by the end of this article I will at least answer some of your questions. If you have any more you can always comment below and we can talk it out. Who knows, you might even be able to change my mind about something.
Let’s start out with the NFC East which most likely won’t be the NFC “Least” this season. The Philadelphia Eagles have made some really good decisions in the off season which have had their offense and specifically their receiving group clicking efficiently. AJ Brown is one of the most physically imposing wide receivers in the entire NFL. When you look at the other teams in the NFC East you won’t see as many of the impressive moves that the Eagles have made. That being said, you still have Jalen Hurts starting at Quarterback and to be honest with you I can’t get behind a team that has Jalen Hurts starting at QB. The Dallas Cowboys made very few moves in the offseason and in fact have now lost Tyron Smith during the Preseason but I still think they are the most talented team in the entire NFL. It’s NFC Championship game or bust for the Cowboys this season in my opinion. Look for the Eagles to make a solid Wild Card team that could make a run if Hurts is able to figure out how to make better decisions.
In the NFC North we have a two-way race with the Green Bay Packers (our choice) and the Minnesota Vikings (a lot of people’s choice). I still can’t bring myself to bet against Aaron Rodgers though. We will get a good idea of where these two teams are in Week 1 when they play each other for their first games of the season. They play at Minnesota at the beginning of the season and in Green Bay at the end of the season. Kevin O’Connell will have his first season as a head coach for any team in the NFL. He was a quarterback who was a 3rd draft pick by the New England Patriots back in 2008. He spent the next 4 seasons traveling through the NFL changing teams 5 different times and eventually retiring and becoming a Quarterbacks coach. In the following 4 years he went from a QB Coach for the Cleveland Browns all the way to Offensive Coordinator for the Washington Redskins (now Commanders). He starts his time at the Minnesota Vikings in his first Head Coaching job and there are high hopes that he can transform this offense into a lean scoring machine.
What can I really say about the NFC South other than it’s Tom Brady. If you have been caught betting against Brady in the past 6 or 7 seasons then you know how dumb you can look by betting against Brady. TB12 will probably play until he is 60 years old if he wants to.
The NFC West will end up being the strong of all of the divisions in the NFC. This was by far the most difficult decision to make for us. Really it comes down to the fact that the Rams have proven they are able to make a deep run through the playoffs while the others have not recently. The 49ers will most likely come out as a Wild Card team though as their schedule enables them to have a decent record by the end of the season.
The AFC is a much more difficult side of the NFL to predict. There were all kinds of major changes involved in the AFC during the offseason. Even the New York Jets look like they could possibly do something this season. They will undoubtedly be better. Unfortunately though, they play in the same division as the Buffalo Bills and I don’t think anyone could convince me that the Bills aren’t going to take the AFC East this season. Obviously if Josh Allen goes out, this changes quite a few things but I really think the Bills are stacked deep enough to at least make the playoffs even if Allen goes down for a few games.
The AFC North has been the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers division for some time now. The Browns and Bengals have been the door mat of the league along with the Lions for the past few seasons. The question will be whether or not Lamar Jackson can will his team to a deep playoff run or if Joe Burrow is going to keep the momentum seen at the end of last season moving forward. My money will be on Joe Burrow getting it done and potentially making another AFC Championship.
The AFC south looks to be the worst division in the NFL this season and picking a winner out of these losers was one of the harder choices we were forced to make. Houston Texans have made some pretty bad decisions over the past few seasons and are likely to be at the bottom of the league, the very bottom. The Colt’s have picked up Matt Ryan in the offseason and I could see him making the team a contender considering this should be the best offensive line he has ever played behind. The Titans are always decent and tend to be the team making the playoffs out of this division but a changing of the guard will have the Colts back in the spotlight this year.
Now we get to the hardest decision in all of the NFL. The AFC West is stacked. STACKED! You have Russell Wilson going to the Denver Broncos, Herbert getting better with the Chargers, the Las Vegas Raiders with Derek Carr and company looking like the team to beat. Just like I did with Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, I find it very difficult to bet against the best quarterbacks. Patrick Mahomes will eventually go down as one of the greatest Quarterbacks of all time and it’s going to be difficult to dethrone him from the AFC West. Look for at least one team out of this division to make the Wild Card (if not two teams from this division).
