Thursday, September 4, 2008

Your 2008 NFL season predictions

You hear ESPN and NFL Network talking heads predicting no worse than a six-win season for any team, but of course it can't work out that way. Which is why I've predicted every NFL game this season to make sure these are plausible predictions. If you think any record seems unseemly, please check the schedules and tell me where the wins or losses are going to come from.

NFC East
Dallas Cowboys 13-3
Philadelphia Eagles 12-4
Washington Redskins 8-8
New York Giants 6-10

NFC North
Minnesota Vikings 13-3
Green Bay Packers 12-4
Detroit Lions 5-11
Chicago Bears 2-14

NFC South
Carolina Panthers 10-6
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-7
New Orleans Saints 6-10
Atlanta Falcons 2-14

NFC West
Seattle Seahawks 11-5
San Francisco 49ers 8-8
Arizona Cardinals 5-11
St. Louis Rams 3-13

AFC East
New England Patriots 14-2
New York Jets 8-8
Buffalo Bills 6-10
Miami Dolphins 5-11

AFC North
Pittsburgh Steelers 9-7
Baltimore Ravens 6-10
Cleveland Browns 5-11
Cincinnati Bengals 2-14

AFC South
Jacksonville Jaguars 13-3
Indianapolis Colts 12-4
Houston Texans 11-5
Tennessee Titans 11-5

AFC South
San Diego Chargers 12-4
Denver Broncos 9-7
Kansas City Chiefs 5-11
Oakland Raiders 3-13

NFC Playoff seeds
Minnesota Vikings 13-3 (12-0 in conference)
Dallas Cowboys 13-3 (9-3 in conference)
Seattle Seahawks 11-5
Carolina Panthers 10-6
Green Bay Packers 12-4 (9-3 in conference)
Philadelphia Eagles 12-4 (8-4 in conference)

AFC Playoff seeds
New England Patriots 14-2
Jacksonville Jaguars 13-3
San Diego Chargers 12-4
Pittsburgh Steelers 9-7
Indianapolis Colts 12-4
Houston Texans 11-5 (2-0 against the Titans)

Take a look a the gnarly AFC South. It was a fantastic division last year, and this year, as long as Manning is healthy, I can't see any of the teams taking much of a step back. The AFC North looks mediocre by their records, but their schedules are so absurdly hard. I don't know if any team could win more than 10 games playing the AFC South and the NFC North. Their might be some objections to the Giants going 6-10, but they've lost their two best players in Strahan and Umenyiora. The Jets take a step forward with the acquisition of Favre, but there's just too much depth in the AFC South.

Wild Card Weekend
Eagles over Seahawks, Packers over Panthers
Chargers over Texans, Colts over Steelers

Second round
Vikings over Eagles, Cowboys over Packers
Patriots over Colts, Jaguars over Chargers

Championship Games
Patriots over Jaguars, Cowboys over Vikings

Super Bowl
Patriots over Cowboys

Major Awards
Super Bowl MVP: Tom Brady
NFL MVP: Tom Brady
Defensive MVP: Jared Allen
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Jonathan Stewart
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Leodis McKelvin
Coach of the Year: Gary Kubiak

I picked the games week by week instead of going by each teams schedule so it was easier not to have different teams win the same game. Here's my picks for the entire season. A "1" denotes a win, and I used the Excel summation function for the tallies.

Arizona Cardinals



1


1 1
1
1


5 11
Atlanta Falcons








1





1 2 14
Baltimore Ravens

1


1 1

1
1 1


6 10
Buffalo Bills

1 1



1
1

1 1

6 10
Carolina Panthers
1
1 1 1 1 1

1 1
1 1

10 6
Chicago Bears




1

1







2 14
Cincinnati Bengals 1














1 2 14
Cleveland Browns


1
1

1 1




1
5 11
Dallas Cowboys 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1


1 1 1 1 1
13 3
Denver Broncos 1 1 1 1



1
1 1
1
1
9 7
Detroit Lions 1


1

1


1


1
5 11
Green Bay Packers
1
1 1 1 1
1
1 1 1 1
1 1 12 4
Houston Texans
1 1

1 1

1 1 1 1
1 1 1 11 5
Indianapolis Colts 1 1

1 1
1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1
12 4
Jacksonville Jaguars 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1
1
1 1
1 13 3
Kansas City Chiefs
1 1






1 1


1
5 11
Miami Dolphins
1




1

1


1
1 5 11
Minnesota Vikings 1
1
1 1 1
1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 13 3
New England Patriots 1 1 1
1
1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14 2
New Orleans Saints
1
1
1






1 1
1 6 10
New York Giants 1
1


1
1



1
1
6 10
New York Jets 1
1 1
1 1 1
1

1



8 8
Oakland Raiders







1 1

1



3 13
Philadelphia Eagles 1
1 1 1 1
1
1 1 1 1
1
1 12 4
Pittsburgh Steelers 1 1
1

1 1

1 1

1
1 9 7
St. Louis Rams
1








1 1



3 13
San Diego Chargers 1

1 1 1 1 1
1

1 1 1 1 1 12 4
San Francisco 49ers 1
1



1

1
1 1
1 1 8 8
Seattle Seahawks 1 1 1
1


1 1 1 1

1 1 1 11 5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1 1 1
1
1
1


1
1
1 9 7
Tennessee Titans
1
1 1
1

1 1 1 1 1
1 1 11 5
Washington Redskins

1

1 1
1
1
1
1 1
8 8

1 comment:

Matt Pullman said...

This is actually pretty awesome cause I did practically the same exact thing. I went game by game in Excel and I ended up with some interesting results. Inluding the Falcons going 0-16, the Cowboys going 16-0, the Jags going 15-1 and the Patriots only going 11-5. I went purely by my gut feeling and the matchup, and sadly I'm already 0-1 haha. Damn Redskins.