Baltimore 11-5
The ravens offense is zagging as the league is zigging. Greg Roman will deliver an effective unit. It should work for this year anyway. The secondary is great and the Ravens have an uncanny ability to reload in the defensive front seven.
Cleveland 9-7
The hype is cooling a little. I'm not willing to admit Mayfield into the top tier QB club quite yet. The talent is there, but something feels a little off. I see a few growing pains, and some bad luck keeping them out of the playoffs this year.
Cincinnati 6-10
If you listen to the media the sky is falling, but if you really look at it, the roster talent is about the same: 8 win team. 9 or 10 wins if they are lucky. 6 or 7 wins if they are unlucky (again, based on the players on the team). That said, I'd say the unknown variables of an inexperienced coaching staff could drive their win total anywhere from 2 to 12. A lot would have to go right for them to get to double digit wins and based on preseason injuries there's little hope of that happening.
Pittsburgh 10-6
The steelers have been a little under the radar. Many projected a dip based on offseason roster movement. Roethlisberger is still the driving force to their success or failure. If he comes out sluggish like he has the past couple of years, they might find themselves on the outside looking in of the playoff hunt. I've come around from totally fading the Steelers to thinking Roethlisberger has one more year left in him.
Houston 10-6
The Texans are pushing a lot of chips onto the table to try to seize the moment. We'll see if they can stay healthy enough to capitalize. They have the best quarterback in the AFC South by far. I don't think they run away with the division, but they'll be good enough.
Indianapolis 9-7
Don't forget, GM Chris Ballard has seemingly hit on every roster move he's made for the last two offseasons. Sir Andrew might be riding off into the sunset, but the roster talent is still pretty strong here.
Jacksonville 7-9 Sure Nick Foles is better than Blake Bortles, but how many wins will the jags get if Foles doesn't have someone else playing the first 10 games for him? His magic doesn't kick in until November.
Tennessee 8-8
This feels like a scrappy team that is going to get to 8 wins and we all are going to wonder how it happened. QB woes keep them away from Jan. football once again.
Buffalo 9-7
The Bills D was strong last year and they made a few additions that could tick them up even another notch. If Fitzmagic was the early season fun storyline of 2018, I think Josh Allen is going to be the odds-defying force of nature buzz story to storm out of the gate this year. "Josh All-In". "Joshy Al-Pro"... eh, we still have to come up with a clever, catchy nickname.
Miami 3-13
The dolphins traded one of the few bright spots on their offensive roster a week before the season. They have a couple pieces on defense, but not enough to carry them out of the bottom tier of the league. Their WR's were electric last year until injuries wrecked their depth. If they come back healthy, maybe hard-nosed new head coach Brian Flores can drag them to 6 or 7 wins? 3 to 5 is more likely.
New England 11-5
Unless the Bills' D is generational, the Patriots will be waiting another year for someone to challenge them for the AFC east title. Brady is old. A nagging calf injury that sinks them to 8 or 9 wins isn't out the realm of possibilities, but 11 wins is likely the highest probability.
New York Jets 6-10
I like Darnald, but I don't think there's quite enough around him yet to challenge for playoff contention. The o-line and the WR corps still need a little work and the secondary is frightening (not in a good way).
Denver 9-7 The Broncos surprise a little here with a punishing defense and an offense that will drive the speed limit but not much more. They could win a lot of games with a score of 17-14.
Kansas City 13-3
Typically a historical season leads to regression the following year. I think Mahommes will top what he did last year and hit 57 TD's to claim his catchup prize from Heinz.
Oakland 7-9 It's hard to make up the storylines that have unfolded in the preseason. I don't know if we'll ever see Antonio Brown play for this team, but somehow Jon Gruden will surpise some people this year. Still, this roster is only half built. I have a hard time seeing more than 8 wins with this team.
L.A. Chargers 7-9
LAC can't catch a break. It doesn't seem like they ever catch breaks. 2018 actually went fairly smooth compared to normal which means this year the Chargers will again be back to stepping on upside down rakes buried in the leaves.. WHAMMMM!!their LT all of a sudden has blood clot problems..WHAMMMMM!!their RB1 decided he needed more money than he's worth.
Chicago 6-10
Okay, 6 wins is a little harsh here. They are probably a 10 win team that falls short of their potential for reasons outside their control. Mitch Trubisky is fine. I'm not sure he'll ever be more than that. The defense is great, but I just don't think the offense has the horses.
Detroit 7-9
I have a feeling about a Stafford resurgence but every time I go to type a 9 in the "W" column, I remember Matt Patricia is their coach.
Green Bay 8-8
They have a fledgling monster on their hands with their defense. I like what they are building. This win total is a bet against Matt Lafleur mostly. "Cram it in your cramhole Lafleur!".. Sorry I can't say that name without thinking of that quote.
Minnesota 11-5
Minnesota has continued to re-sign their core pieces while also adding improvements like offensive coach Gary Kubiak, and center Garrett Bradbury. Zimmer and the boys are bound to be a little angry about how 2018 played out. They bounce back in 2019.
Atlanta 10-6
I have a soft spot for teams that dump significant resources into their offensive line. It's hard to be successful without a stable offense and it's hard to have a stable offense without a good line.
Carolina 10-6
The bold move switching to a 3-4 and turning their play-making DT's into 3-4 DE's pays off. Cam Newton comes back strong.
New Orleans 10-6
The saints slug their way to a division title, but have enough hiccups to miss out on the first round bye.
Tampa Bay 2-14
Something doesn't smell right about Bruce Arians coming out of retirement to coach the Buccaneers. I don't think it is going to go well. I have them in the bottom tier of the league with Washington, right behind Arizona and Miami.
Dallas 11-5
A magical season could be on the horizon for Dallas. Every other day they sign someone to an extension so I'm not sure how long they can hold the roster together, but for now they snag a first round bye.
New York Giants 8-8
8-8 doesn't sound pretty, but considering the Giants have been the punching bag of sports media for the last 6 months, this feels like a moral victory. Maybe this is wishful thinking though.. You try sitting on Daniel Jones island alone with only Dave Gettleman to keep you company. Danny Dimes needs to light up some D's so that i can have more people to talk to.
Philadelphia 7-9
Carson Wenz has been plagued with injuries early in his career. Now Philly doesn't have anyone behind him proven to be capable of picking up the slack when Wentz goes down.
Washington 2-14
The short term quarterback solution doesn't look pretty, and I'm not a believer in Dwayne Haskins. This is going to go south quickly.
Arizona 4-12
Everyone's excited to see what Arizona's offense looks like. Execution will be sloppy out of the gate.
L.A. Rams 9-7
The Super Bowl hangover affects all teams and leaves no survivors!!.. except the Patriots
San Francisco 7-9
They keep dumping resources into their defensive line and it keeps not moving the needle. Another mediocre year and the Shanahan/Lynch era looks to be in jeopardy.
Seattle 9-7
Can their secondary hold up? How many PRP injections does Bobby Wagner have to get before his body heals papercuts like wolverine? Can Brian Schottenheimer muster any semblance of an interesting NFL offense?
Playoff predictions:
The broncos D blugeons quarterbacks all the way to the wild card round where they face a quarterback fast enough to just outrun them. It's close, but the ravens triumph.
Houston draws Pittsburgh and can't handle the power of the AFC North.
The Patriots face their kryptonite in the divisional round and Baltimore squeaks into the AFC championship game.
The Chiefs make short work of the Steelers' swiss cheese secondary setting up a dual between the league's most dynamic passing and rushing attacks. I'll give Mahommes the edge against anyone at this point and the Chiefs are on their way to the Super Bowl.
The Seahawks squeak out the NFC west title, but draw the punishing Carolina d-line in round 1. Panthers cruise in this one.
How about a Saints/Falcons playoff matchup to stir an already juicy rivalry? The saints are too much for the falcons on both sides of the ball.
Dallas' o-line is strong enough to stave off the Panthers. Has Dallas re-signed Dak yet because the price tag just keeps on going up?
The Minnesota miracle part 2 shocks the world with a Dalvin Cook punt return for a touchdown as time expires. New Orleans shrivels in despair after a third straight season ends on a last second catastrophe.
The Vikings magic continues as they eek out a defensive struggle 13-10 against an evenly-matched Cowboys team.
The Chiefs offensive season of dominance culminates in a 34 point super bowl performance against a great defense. The Vikings can't keep up.. 34-23
That's all folks. Enjoy the season!
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