2018 NFL Regular Season!!!!

[Sommerswerd]

In fairness, before the season started I was one of those who predicted the Bears would be strong.

You did and I distinctly remember resisting you on that notion so good on you

 

[Timsup2nothin]

In fairness, before the season started I was one of those who predicted the Bears would be strong.

In fairness I have to give you credit for that, but also must point out that you argued just as heavily for the Giants.

But this calls for a look back at the early pages of the thread.

NFC:
East-Eagles repeat with less pressure than expected, but too much ease takes them out of top seed contention
North-Packers chase Vikings, pushing them to top seed record, but fade and fall short of the playoffs
South-Astonishes everyone by putting three teams in the playoffs again, but chew each other up so they all have to play on wildcard weekend with Falcons getting the home game
West-Rams run away with division and get the bye, but can't match Vikings for #1 seed
Eagles host Panthers and win, Falcons host Saints and lose...Saints lose at Rams, Eagles lose at Vikings...Rams beat Vikings


AFC:
East-Patriots have one of those seasons where they wish they had done more to get a higher seed, but having no pressure at all in the division hurts their edge
North-Steelers fend off surprising Bengals to win division and a bye, Bengals edge into wildcard
South-Jags overcome some early season jitters and hold off Titans for number one seed, Titans a solid wildcard and those two combine to keep the Texans from catching the Bengals
West-Chargers disappoint as the best of a bad lot instead of the AFC favorites they are supposed to be, go in as the four seed

Chargers host Titans and lose, Pats host Bengals and laugh...Titans win showdown with Jags, Steelers beat Pats...Steelers beat Titans

Steelers get crushed by Rams in SB

Okay, that was awful. I freely admit it. I considered just trimming the quote down to "Rams run away with the division and get the bye," but this frickin' internet thing keeps the past available for dredging up so not much point in denying it. I still think it could all end with "...get crushed by Rams in SB" though.

 

[rah]

I'd like to say I was projecting the Bears for great things but at the time, I thought 9 wins would be a successful year for them.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Here's mine... not as bad as Tim's but definitely some ouchies in there

NFC East - Eagles run over everybody, and I'm thinking the rest of division is a trainwreck
NFC North - Vikings win the division with the rest of the teams locked in a bloodbath that results in mediocre, playoff-missing records
NFC South - Saints squeak out the win with Carolina getting the wildcard, the Falcons have a decent performance but get edged out of the playoffs
NFC West - Rams win the division easily and 49ers come in distant second, but do well enough to grab the second wildcard slot
AFC East - Patriots.
AFC North - Steelers and Roethlisberger limp (literally for Big Ben) into division title with the Browns surprising and ruining everyone else's day in the division to keep the rest of them out of the playoffs
AFC South - Jax sits atop the dumpster fire, making the playoffs with a barely +.500 record
AFC West - Chargers beat out the Raiders for the division, but Raiders do well enough to grab the second wildcard

 

[caketastydelish]

Spoiler Mine was about as cringe-worthy as everyone else's. :

AFC:

AFC East: Winner: Patriots (easiest prediction to make). I don't anticipate any other AFC East team being relevant. First round bye securing home field advantage throughout all of the playoffs.

AFC North: Steelers (also very easy). First round bye. The Browns, Ravens, and Bengals are all superior teams compared to last year. Still none on the same quality as the Steelers.

AFC West: Chargers. The Chiefs are always strong but they just aren't as talented as this Chargers team. We also don't know how good Patrick Mahomes is actually going to be.

AFC South: Jags all day. Colts have improved a lot but still have a long way to go. Texans are amazing as long as their most important players stay healthy but I'm beyond believing that will happen anymore. Titans are solid and definitely wildcard contenders. This Titans team actually has a lot of talent.

AFC wildcard winners: Titans, Chiefs

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NFC:

NFC East: Eagles. The Cowboys and Redskins are still mediocre teams. Giants have gotten a lot better, but it's possible to get a lot better and still not be as good as the Eagles.

NFC North: Very hard. I have to pick just one, I'm going with the Vikings. First round bye for them. Packers and Bears are still legit. The Lions I'm sure have improved partially because their run game should be much better, and their new head coach *should* improve the defense.

NFC West: Rams. First round bye, home field advantage throughout all of the playoffs. Easy. 49ers are solid now that they have Garropolo and Seahawks have an opportunity to surprise everyone considering how well we drafted, but ultimately the Rams are winning the division.

NFC South: Also very hard. I'm going with the Falcons. With the acquisition of Calvin Ridley, they have what in my opinion is the best set of wide receivers in the game. Good QB, good run game, good o-line. That offense is simply going to put up too many points. But every other team in that division will be solid.

NFC wildcards: Saints, Packers. Although that's a tossup because I anticipate the Giants, Bears, 49ers, Seahawks, and every team in NFC South to have at least have a winning season.

The Pats will probably win the AFC as they always do. Still, all the other AFC teams I'm predicting will make the playoffs should be talented. I would say the Jags probably have the single best chance of stopping them as long as they don't make the same mistakes as they did in the 2017 AFC Championship game.

The winner of the NFC is basically impossible to predict. No thanks.

edit: One other prediction I'd like to make: Seahawks haven't had a draft this good since 2012. It won't be enough to make us contenders, but this couldn't have come at a better time.

 

[rah]

Based on what I was thinking at the beginning I'm sure my picks would have been pretty similar so I'm glad the only thing I said was that it would be fun if the packers were boring, since i nailed that one.

With the new rules of limited practices and such, it seems kind of silly to predict anything till after the four or fifth week.

 

[Light Cleric]

Not to brag or anything but as you can see below none of the predictions I made were wrong:

 

[Serutan]

Not to brag or anything but as you can see below none of the predictions I made were wrong:

That is to say, you are a craven coward in that respect.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

For a real giving credit where credit is due....

@Serutan was correct on five out of eight division winners and seven of twelve playoff teams.

 

[Light Cleric]

That is to say, you are a craven coward in that respect.

Actually I just forgot to come by and be wrong during the offseason

I can tell you just off the top of my head I would have been wrong about the Jags/Steelers/Vikings/Packers/Panthers

 

[Serutan]

For a real giving credit where credit is due....

@Serutan was correct on five out of eight division winners and seven of twelve playoff teams.

Thanks.