OK, Halloween's out of the way.
This post was partially written Monday night before I lost power due to Hurricane Sandy, and partially during our power outage on my computer offline. So take that into account.
Seeing
as I’m likely to be out of power at any minute now, I’d like to take this
opportunity to write a post that doesn’t really require any research (read:
Internet access). I’ve downloaded
my preseason predictions for each division and the current standings in the
NFL, and we’ll have a grand old time seeing how wackdiculous this season has
been.
AFC EAST
|
|
Prediction
|
Actual
|
|
Patriots
|
13-3
|
5-3
|
|
Dolphins
|
3-13
|
4-3
|
|
Bills
|
7-9
|
3-4
|
|
Jets
|
6-10
|
3-5
|
I
guess I might have been a bit wrong about the Dolphins. I don’t think most people expected much
from them with a rookie quarterback, Reggie Bush as the starter, and Brian
Hartline as the top receiver, but Tannehill has exceeded expectations and the
defense has been very good. The
Patriots, on the other hand, have been out of sorts offensively at times, while
splashing in dominant performances like this past Sunday’s.
AFC NORTH
|
|
Prediction
|
Actual
|
|
Ravens
|
12-4
|
5-2
|
|
Steelers
|
10-6
|
4-3
|
|
Bengals
|
8-8
|
3-4
|
|
Browns
|
3-13
|
2-6
|
The
Ravens have been somewhat inconsistent but still good enough to keep my
prediction attainable, while the Browns would have to go 1-7 the rest of the
way to fulfill my prediction, thanks to a more acceptable offense than
expected. The Steelers and Bengals
have been right in line with my expectations, which gives me a warm fuzzy
feeling inside.
AFC SOUTH
|
|
Prediction
|
Actual
|
|
Texans
|
10-6
|
6-1
|
|
Colts
|
5-11
|
4-3
|
|
Titans
|
9-7
|
3-5
|
|
Jaguars
|
5-11
|
1-6
|
The
Texans have been dominant for most of the season, exceeding my expectations,
which were tempered due to my not being convinced that their defense would be
just as dominant as last year. The
Colts have looked much better than I thought given how awful they were last year,
so I guess a legitimate NFL quarterback cures a lot of ills. I gave the Jags 5 wins because they
always seem to win more games than they should despite being terrible, but it
turns out they’re just terrible this year.
AFC WEST
|
|
Prediction
|
Actual
|
|
Broncos
|
10-6
|
4-3
|
|
Chargers
|
9-7
|
3-4
|
|
Raiders
|
7-9
|
3-4
|
|
Chiefs
|
8-8
|
1-6
|
Peyton
Manning has outperformed everyone’s expectations thus far, but the defense has
been inconsistent and the Broncos’ record reflects that. The Chiefs have been abysmal, having a
lead for a total of zero minutes in regulation all season despite having some
really good pieces on both sides of the ball. The Chargers and Raiders are perfectly mediocre, as most
people expected of them.
NFC EAST
|
|
Prediction
|
Actual
|
|
Giants
|
8-8
|
6-2
|
|
Eagles
|
10-6
|
3-4
|
|
Cowboys
|
7-9
|
3-4
|
|
Redskins
|
6-10
|
3-5
|
The
Giants have started strong like they usually do, but this is exactly the time
of year where they go into a lull.
Speaking of lulls, somehow the Eagles are still in second place in the
division after looking awful for the past three weeks. That’s because the Cowboys are
similarly bad, and the Redskins just can’t stop anyone defensively. This is actually one of my more
accurate divisions, but that makes sense given that it’s the division I have
the most stake in.
NFC NORTH
|
|
Prediction
|
Actual
|
|
Bears
|
9-7
|
6-1
|
|
Vikings
|
3-13
|
5-3
|
|
Packers
|
13-3
|
5-3
|
|
Lions
|
9-7
|
3-4
|
The
Bears have ridden a ridiculously turnover-producing defense and a
better-than-usual-but-still-not-great offense to a very strong start that I
didn’t see coming, while the Vikings have already won two more games than I
thought they’d win all season (definitely my worst prediction) thanks to a very
improved defense. The Packers have
picked up the pace of late, but started too slow for me to be right about them,
while the Lions have regressed a little bit more than I expected.
NFC SOUTH
|
|
Prediction
|
Actual
|
|
Falcons
|
12-4
|
7-0
|
|
Buccaneers
|
7-9
|
3-4
|
|
Saints
|
10-6
|
2-5
|
|
Panthers
|
7-9
|
1-6
|
The
Falcons have obviously started very strong, and mostly on the strength of an
improved defense. The Saints fell
off a cliff early in the year and will have trouble digging themselves out, but
not many people would have seen Sean Payton’s absence make that much of a
difference. The Panthers and Bucs
have switched places since 2011, with Tampa Bay being the explosive offense and
Carolina being the struggling mess.
NFC WEST
|
|
Prediction
|
Actual
|
|
49ers
|
10-6
|
6-2
|
|
Cardinals
|
7-9
|
4-4
|
|
Seahawks
|
7-9
|
4-4
|
|
Rams
|
6-10
|
3-5
|
The
Niners have continued their roll from last year and in all likelihood will win
at least two more games than I predicted, while the rest of the division could
easily end up right where I predicted them to be. When you predict middle-of-the-road records it’s hard to be
very wrong, but still I feel pretty good about my predictions for this
division.
Here
are my updated predictions for the playoff teams in both conferences:
|
AFC
|
NFC
|
|
Texans
|
Falcons
|
|
Ravens
|
Bears
|
|
Patriots
|
49ers
|
|
Broncos
|
Giants
|
|
Steelers
|
Packers
|
|
Colts
|
Buccaneers
|
