Here goes nothing.
East: I see the Bills finally putting everything together under a new regime. Generally speaking, your first year under a new coach is usually the time to break out. We’ve seen it so many times in the league recently, and I expect to see it in both Buffalo and Pittsburgh. New England will take a step back this year, after a Super Bowl loss. The Jets and Dolphins will be horrible, the Dolphins especially so, but that’s okay, because the ultimate goal is the #1 draft pick.
North: The Steelers are going to shock the world. Not saying they’re going all the way, but they are going to be one of the juggernauts of the league this year. Mike McCarthy will be the perfect fit to put together a great season this year. The idea that Mike Tomlin was the last piece of glue holding the thing together will be the most preposterous thing of the year. Cincinnati will improve because they’ll get some luck when it comes to injuries. If they do get injured, then you can swap them and Baltimore, who I expect will never make it to the Super Bowl with Lamar Jackson. His style of play just isn’t conducive to playing 20/21 games. The Browns will be the worst team in the league besides Miami, and they’d better hope so, because losing out on a top draft pick this year would only extend the misery.
South: Houston will leap to the top of the division, while Jacksonville will remain competitive. The Colts have a good roster but never seem to be able to get a quarterback long-term. They won’t be calling Philip Rivers again, but they are going to remain unsettled at that position. Tennessee is starting over after already starting over, and that’s not the sign of a team making a turnaround anytime soon.
West: It all depends on the health of Patrick Mahomes. My prediction is that he’s healthy enough to lead the Chiefs back to the division title. If he misses a lot of time, then you can pencil in Denver and Los Angeles ahead of the Chiefs. The Broncos don’t strike me as a great team, but they were so close to making the Super Bowl a year ago. As for LA, Jim Harbaugh’s got to get something going at some point, right? Las Vegas will remain irrelevant.
East: The Cowboys are going to have one of their every-three-years breakout season, where their offense lights it up, the team wins a bunch of regular-season games, and then they lose in the playoffs as a huge favorite. The Eagles are a dangerous team, but I’m expecting their injury luck to not be that great this year. The “Hogs” disappointed me last year, so I’m not getting fooled twice. Can John Harbaugh turn around the Giants in one year? Probably not.
North: The only way the Packers win their division is if their key players manage to avoid injuries. My prediction has them doing that. A couple of big injuries, though, and they’ll be hovering around 9-8 or 8-9. The Bears aren’t going away, but I expect the Packers to get the better of them on Christmas Day this year, and end up taking the division. The Lions still have a lot of talent and are being slept on, including by me, as I don’t have them making the playoffs. “Nine” may not be running the show in Minnesota anymore, but I don’t trust Kyler Murray to be all that big of an improvement at QB.
South: This division stinks. I have Tampa finally getting to a winning record and winning the division. Carolina will keep it close, though. The Falcons and Saints are both in rebuilding mode, so expect a lot of losses from the both of them.
West: The juggernaut division of the NFL. It’s hard to pick anyone over the Rams, and I do think the 49ers get lucky with injuries unlike last season, which propels them to a great season. The Seahawks will have a playoff hangover but still manage to make the playoffs. One of these years, a superteam like the Rams will put it all together and pay off the investment that they made; I expect the Rams to do that this season in the NFC. Arizona is in limbo and will suffer six division losses this season.
My spreadsheet may be a little confusing, but the first column is obvious: seedings for the seven playoff teams. The next column has the wild card winners plus the #1 seed with their bye. The third column is who makes the NFC/AFC Championship Game. And in the end, the Rams host another Super Bowl, but get outnumbered by Buffalo fans desperate to see their team win a championship. There’s no way Josh Allen makes it through his career without making a Super Bowl. I’ve got him winning this one and finally ending all those years of misery in Western New York. Yes, I have the #2 Cowboys losing in the first round, once again.
My rookie picks are weird because I don’t pay much attention to rookies, so I have no idea who’s going to be the best young players this season. What I do expect is Josh Allen to be the all-everything of the season. And McCarthy proves everybody wrong by getting the Steelers 12 wins and a playoff victory and ends up as coach of the year.
This season will prove to be another blockbuster for the NFL, and the ESPN-NFL marriage is just going to increase the popularity of the league. Are we headed for a “football bubble”? I think we’ve already burst it in Los Angeles with USC’s lack of attendance. But enjoy what we’ve got for now. Sometime, in the future, under a tyrannous government, the Super Bowl will be cancelled and football as we know it will die. Hopefully that doesn’t happen until after Super Bowl C, though!
Tommy A. Phillips 