Tuesday, November 4, 2014

2014 NFL Predictions - Midway Madness

After a few posts on Magic, I figured I'd better post about sports again so you guys don't think (/realize) I'm a total nerd. Football!

Every team has now played at least eight games, and the standings are looking very interesting. Coming into the season, I'd have never expected to see the Arizona Cardinals at the top of the NFC West. There's still plenty of football to be played, but the season is starting to take shape. So, given the information we've got to this point, here's where I think things will end up after week 17.

AFC


East: New England Patriots - It's hard to pick against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, much as I might dislike them. Spoiler: it's a lot.
North: Pittsburgh Steelers - Don't look now, but the Steelers just scored 94 points against two teams above .500 over the past two weeks (Colts & Ravens). They're never down for long.

South: Indianapolis Colts - I don't think Andrew Luck is ready for the big time like everybody else does, but in the AFC's weakest division, he's far and away the best QB.
West: Denver Broncos - I'll be a Philip Rivers fan until the day I die, but there's no denying Peyton Manning's regular season domination. He's a force.

Wild Cards: Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs - Both defenses look legit, and I'm becoming a believer in Ryan Tannehill. Andy Reid can't help but put his teams in the playoffs.

NFC

East: Philadelphia Eagles - I don't think Dallas's perceived problems on defense were false; as the season goes on, I expect them to look worse, not better.
North: Green Bay Packers - The Lions have been good, but in today's NFL, I don't believe you can average fewer than 21 points a game and win long-term.
South: Carolina Panthers - Ron Rivera coached the cats out of a funk last year, I'm betting he can do it again. The Saints' run appears to be over.
West: Seattle Seahawks - I just can't bring myself to believe the Cardinals will finish as strong as they started. The defending champs will get back into form.

Wild Cards: Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers - Maybe I'm wrong about Detroit, but I just can't see things ending well in Motor City. And I expect the Cowboys to fall back to earth...and then some.

Super Bowl Prediction: Green Bay Packers over Pittsburgh Steelers - Because nothing new and fun ever happens.

I wanted to get this down on paper so you can hold me accountable for it down the road. So when the Super Bowl matches the Lions against the Dolphins, feel free to throw angry comments at me.

2 comments:

Mike Mattingly said...

I had written off the NFC West to Arizona as they have built a two game lead which translates to about a 20 game lead in baseball. And if the Cardinals have a 20 game lead forget about it, nobody is catching them with Wainwright N' Co.

Arizona has been playing great and Seattle has been not so great. So with any regression to the mean it would seem Seattle should probably still be the odds on favorite to win the West. Especially since they can make the ground up quickly with both head-to-head matchups remaining.

Of course regression to the mean is less likely to happen with less games (football) as opposed to more games (baseball). I think SanFran doesn't make it back into the mix even though they are lurking at 4-4. I don't know if their problem is Harbaugh, an aging Frank Gore, or that they simply miss Candlestick. I get the the same feeling as the 2010 Vikings (Favre's last year) where I kept thinking they would climb back into it until they were basically mathematically eliminated). The 49ers also play Seattle twice in games the Seahawks need to catch Arizona. I'll take Detroit as the other wild card team mostly because I love Matt Stafford. Agree that Green Bay takes the divisional crown.

I've got the Saints taking the North and the Eagles in the East. We'll see if its Foles or Kelly making that offense churn as Mark Sanchez takes over. Foles could miss most/all of the remaining regular season games setting up a potentially interesting decision for the playoffs. Injury-prone DeMarco Murray has almost 50% more carries than the next running back and Romo has a broken back. Sorry Dallas - you are looking at .500

Anonymous said...

afc n- browns
afc s- colts
afc w- broncos
afc e- pats

afc wc- steelers, dolphins

nfc n- lions
nfc s- falcons(sleeper pick, bless the nfc south)
nfc w- cardinals
nfc e- uggles

nfc wc- cowboys, packers

talbott out

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