With two weeks gone, the NFL has only begun to turn into full gear. Some of my playoff picks are already looking quite skeptical, while other teams that I bashed as mediocre / lousy have stepped up with some impressive performances. Of course, I’m not really concerned at all about my seemingly lousy predictions because I am smart, and ultimately I will be right about all my predictions. My picks might not seem perfect at the moment, but I assure you that, in reality, everything is going exactly as expected. By the end of this post, I will have you 100% convinced that I am actually 100% right about all of my amazing predictions. Please do not worry. Please trust me. Please remember that I went 10-1 straight up and 9-1-1 ATS for my playoff predictions last season. Please forget that I went 7-4 straight up and 3-8 ATS for my playoff predictions the season before. Please keep reading. You won’t regret it.
AFC West
So far it is apparent that I have a sound understanding of the AFC West, which would make sense because it garners most of my attention, due to the Raiders’ membership. The Broncos look like the best team in the division, as they are the only 2-0 squad. The offense has improved from last year, while the defense has remained one of the top units in the league. Based on the early going, there is no reason to think that Denver will relinquish the division title this season. The Raiders have looked good in spurts, but their concerns in the secondary have proven to be their undoing. Oakland is lucky not to be 0-2 at this point, as the defense has been torched for 69 points over two games already. The Chiefs escaped a scare in Week 1 against the lowly Chargers, making an incredible comeback in Kansas City. Looking back on that matchup, there may have been more to that game than what I initially thought, as the Chiefs did not look good in their Week 2 loss to the Texans, and the Chargers looked unstoppable in their Week 2 demolition of Jacksonville. The AFC West looks like it will be a fun division to watch, as San Diego has thrown their hat into the ring with Oakland, Kansas City, and Denver, as contenders for the AFC playoffs. Go Raiders.
AFC North
The AFC North is also a division where things are going as expected. The Steelers (my Super Bowl pick) look like an early contender for top team in the NFL, as they dismantled Washington in Week 1, and scored an impressive victory against Cincinnati in Week 2. The Bengals have been less convincing, narrowly escaping a determined Jets team in Week 1, and falling short against their aforementioned Pittsburgh rivals in Week 2. Still, I like Cincinnati as my pick to finish as one of the two wild card teams in the AFC. Quietly, the Ravens have started the season 2-0. They put on a wonderful defensive display against Rex Ryan’s middling Bills, and made a nice comeback against the Browns in Week 2. However, you have to ask yourself, was it really a nice comeback, or was it more of an escape from embarrassment? The Browns continues to be the saddest franchise in the NFL. Cleveland was not satisfied with simply blowing a 20-0 lead at home against the rival Ravens, the Browns also had to disappoint their fans by guaranteeing that they would be starting their fifth different quarterback in their last five games, when Josh McCown went down with a shoulder injury. Good luck Cody Kessler. I expect you to either throw 6 picks or tear your ACL. Your fate lies in the hands of the cruel NFL gods.
AFC South
The Texans have quickly established themselves as top dogs in the AFC South, with the Titans as their closest contender after 2 weeks. That’s a good position to be in. Osweiller is playing some solid mistake-free football, and the defense is doing their thing, as the Texans sit at 2-0. I wasn’t too impressed by the Week 1 win over Chicago, as I don’t find the Bears to be a good football team; however, Houston backed up that win with a solid thumping of the Chiefs in Week 2. Maybe I should start giving the Texans more credit… Nah. I would rather be stubborn and stick with my prediction that they will miss the playoffs. The Titans have looked good, as Mariota was able to lead the team to victory with an impressive game-winning drive over Detroit on Sunday. It will be interesting to see if Tennessee can keep this level of competency up all season long. The Colts have gotten off to their usual 0-2 start, and there is already plenty of reason to be concerned in Indianapolis. The Colts barely lost to the Lions in Week 1, but it is hard to sympathize with that loss, as Detroit is a team that Indy should beat handily if they are hoping to return to the top of the league, as one of the NFL’s elite teams. Finally, my predicted champion of the South sits alongside the Colts at the bottom of the division. The Jaguars were unlucky not to win their opener against Green Bay, but they followed that up with an absolute stinker in San Diego. We’ll have to wait for the results of the coming weeks to sort out just what these results mean for the up and coming Jaguars. If Jacksonville keeps failing to win football games, I may need to revoke my prediction of their playoff participation. I expect they will turn things around though because I am always right. C’mon Jacksonville! Don’t make me look like a fool!
AFC East
This division still belongs to the Pats, as Belichick has kept the team in top form, even with Brady and Gronk out for the first two weeks of the season. Heading into Week 3, New England will be forced to start a rookie QB against a Texans team that has looked good over the first two weeks. This should present New England with their greatest test yet of the still young NFL season. Either way, having already won at least two of their first four games without Brady will most definitely be enough to set the Patriots up to win this division for the 8th straight year. The Jets have been solid, and if I could redo my regular season predictions, I would put them in the playoffs over the Bills. This may be the one single prediction that I end up getting wrong (there is no way I get anything else wrong, right?). Maybe I should stop putting so much faith in Rex Ryan’s Bills. All that guy knows how to do is fire assistant coaches, eat, have a foot fetish, and execute blatant nepotism by hiring his terrible defensive coordinator of a brother, Rob Ryan. The Bills sit at the bottom of the division with the Dolphins; however, Buffalo’s losses have been far more concerning. The Bills looked atrocious on offense against the Ravens, and had little consistency against the Jets. Buffalo needs to fix a lot of problems if they hope to make it back to the playoffs for the first time since 1999. Meanwhile, New York nearly beat Cincinnati in Week 1, and they looked very good against Buffalo in Week 2, even if the score was somewhat close. The Jets are for real. I don’t expect them to take the division from New England, but I would definitely be on the lookout for them nabbing a wild card spot. The Dolphins gave the Patriots a good scare this Sunday, but they came up just short. Miami has been impressive, taking two top teams to the wire (Seattle and New England) in the first two weeks of the season, but they are yet to close the deal. Still, if Miami continues to play this well, they could at least be better than expected this season.
NFC West
If I could go back in time, I would definitely switch my pick for the division winner from the Seahawks to the Cardinals. All the teams in the NFC West currently sit at 1-1, but the one with the least concerns is Arizona. The Cardinals would be 2-0 if it weren’t for a missed field goal against New England. They have the most complete team in the division, as their offense and defense are two of the best units in the league. The Seahawks are lucky to not be 0-2 right now, and they haven’t even played any good teams yet. Seattle narrowly escaped against Miami in Week 1, and they managed only three points against the Rams in Week 2. The Seahawks offense is a mess. Wilson will have to start playing much better if this team even hopes to make the playoffs. The Rams are hard to figure out at the moment. They were embarrassed in Week 1 by the anemic 49ers, but they pulled off the unthinkable against Seattle in Week 2. It looks like we will need a few more weeks to figure out the Rams. The Niners, my pick for the worst team in the league, have surpassed expectations so far. They have looked quite competent for two weeks in a row now. The win over Los Angeles in Week 1 was questionably impressive, against a Rams team that is still yet to score a touchdown. On the other hand, the Week 2 loss to Carolina was very impressive, as San Francisco went into Charlotte and threatened the defending NFC Champs well into the fourth quarter. The NFC West is hard to figure out at the moment, but if I had to make a decision right now, I would say that the Cardinals are the only team I expect to make the playoffs out of this division.
NFC North
Just when the NFC North seemed like the most obvious division to call, Sam Bradford came out and threw a curveball (aka accurate strikes all over the field) at us, looking very impressive in Minnesota’s win over Green Bay on Sunday night. The Viking defense clamped down on Rodgers, as he was harassed all game, causing him to fumble the ball three times and throw one interception. I guess the Vikings are still real contenders in the North, as they look keen on repeating as division champions. The Packers are still my pick to win the division, but I am a little less confident in that after watching the offense struggle against Minnesota. Detroit are still hanging around, but I expect them to be a non-factor as the season wears on. The Lions were minutes away from starting the season off 2-0, but Mariota mounted an impressive game-winning drive to keep the hopes of fans in Detroit at bay. Chicago is sitting at the bottom of the heap, as we have gotten about what we expected from the Bears so far. They hung around against Houston in Week 1, but they looked quite pitiful on Monday night against Philadelphia, as Carson Wentz tore them apart. I don’t expect Chicago to be in any part of the playoff conversation this season.
NFC South
The NFC South is another intriguing division. While it is still very early, the division is very tight, as three teams sit at 1-1. The Panthers still appear to be the top team in the division, as they nearly took down the Broncos in Denver on the NFL’s opening night. However, an uneven performance against the Niners has me skeptical about the quality of Carolina’s team. Either way, I will stand by the Panthers as my pick to win the NFC South. The Buccaneers looked good to start the season, but a 40-7 thrashing by the Cardinals in Week 2 was worrying for Tampa Bay fans. I wouldn’t count them out just yet though. One game does not define the season, but a beatdown like that is always at least a little concerning. Fortunately, the Bucs looked very solid against the Falcons in Week 1. That win could prove very important towards the end of the season, when the playoff race heats up. Atlanta was able to rebound nicely after the aforementioned Week 1 disappointment to the Bucs, by defeating the Raiders in Oakland this past Sunday. The offense looked very impressive; however, as I have already pointed out, that may have had more to due with the ineptness of the Raider’s secondary than the quality of the Falcon’s passing attack. Finally, the Saints sit at the bottom of the pile, as the only team in the South still looking for a win. New Orleans had a tough loss to Oakland in Week 1, and another close game against the Giants in Week 2. The Saints could very easily have won both of those games. Instead they sit at the bottom of the division. While it’s definitely too soon to count out the Saints, a slow start can sometimes be difficult to overcome for any NFL team.
NFC East
The NFC East appears to be off to a good start, but it is still a little too early to tell, especially considering the fact that many of their games have been intra-divisional so far. At a glance, it may appear that my predictions are a bit off, but if you look closer you will realize that you are wrong and of course my predictions are good. Philadelphia may seem like they have been playing well, and Wentz may appear to be living up to the hype; however, wins against the lowly Browns and Bears does little to impress me. The Eagles will need to rack up a few more victories before I become a believer. The Giants have been taking care of business in the early stages of this season, as they were able to beat the Cowboys in Week 1 and the Saints in Week 2. Eli will always keep New York competitive, but he will need a lot of support from the rest of the roster if the Giants hopes to make a playoff run. Dallas has not been a complete mess, which is definitely a positive, considering their loss of Romo before the start of the season. Dak has looked comfortable, and Ezekiel looks NFL-ready. Maybe the Cowboys will be able to hold things together, especially against the inconsistent NFC East. At the bottom of the division, the Redskins sit at 0-2. Washington opened the season on Monday night with a rough game against one of the best teams in the league in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, they followed that up with a poor performance against Dallas in Week 2. Just like the other seven divisions, there is still plenty of time left in the season, so I wouldn’t count the Redskins out just yet. I still expect them to battle for the division crown. Whether or not that battle ends up being fruitful, is still yet to be seen.
The NFL season continues to slowly materialize before our very eyes. The future still looks dark and hard to make out, but don’t worry! I will lead you to the light. Just grab my hand. I will make sense out of all this chaos for you. I will sift through the mayhem to bring clarity to your NFL viewing experience. Continue with me deeper into the tunnel of the unknown. Week 3 is on the way. There is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. I can almost see the NFL post-season from here...
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