2018 NFL predictions

[Rupert Patrick]

Coaches let go: Adam Gase (Miami), Marvin Lewis (Cincinnati), John Harbaugh (Baltimore), Pete Carroll (Seattle)

Marvin Lewis and Pete Carroll will not get fired unless they start out 0-8, and they would likely quit before that. I doubt either will return to their team after this season unless their team gets to the Super Bowl. Harbaugh is possible but he should last the season provided they stay above .500, and the Ravens have been .500 or better in every season that Flacco has started every game of the season (2008-2017 except for 2015). I think it also likely Harbaugh does not return if the Ravens do not at least win a postseason game this year. Gase is a possibility to get canned but I think he will need to go at least .500 this season; if the Dolphins are 3-7 in mid-November, he's history.

[JohnH19]

Super Bowl: Vikings over Chargers

My favourite team over my second favourite team. Go Chris!

The Vikings are really, really good and, barring disaster, should contend strongly for the championship. I see that "historian" Elliot Harrison predicts a 9-7 record for the Purple. That would be a tremendous disappointment.

[Rupert Patrick]

Super Bowl: Vikings over Chargers

My favourite team over my second favourite team. Go Chris!

The Vikings are really, really good and, barring disaster, should contend strongly for the championship. I see that "historian" Elliot Harrison predicts a 9-7 record for the Purple. That would be a tremendous disappointment.

John, how do you feel about Cousins vs Keenum at QB? Do you think it will improve the Vikings? Take them to the next level? Keenum was something of a journeyman who turned it around and became very good, but it could have been the people around him, or he could have been a one-year wonder. Cousins on the other hand had good stats in 2015-2017 with mediocre Washington teams. Minnesota chose to bet the farm on Cousins, which is a gamble. I would have hung onto Keenum as the backup, provided he didn't' cost too much, and gotten rid of Bridgewater, which they did.

The Vikings sorely needs to find a franchise QB (which I define as somebody who is the starter for them for five or more seasons) and they have only had one in the past 30 years, and that was Culpepper; before that, you have to go back to Kramer and Tarkenton. (I don't count Brad Johnson who left from 1999-2004 to go to Tampa Bay and Washington and wasn't their starter for five combined seasons in his two stints in Minnesota; Tark was their starter from 1961-67 and 1972-78.) I hope Cousins is that guy who can finish his career with the Vikes and do what Tarkenton, Kramer and Randall Cunningham were unable to do.

I see no reason why Minnesota shouldn't pick up where they left off last season.

[JohnH19]

Hi Rupert,
I don’t know if Cousins can be a whole lot better than Keenum was last year. The Vikings will be in great shape if he is even a slight improvement. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.

There was no way they could keep them both. I believe the choice was to sign Keenum for 22 million a year or go after Cousins with a 28 million per year offer. We’ll see if they were right.

I’ll be at the September 23rd game against the Bills. My first game at the new stadium. Can’t wait!

[Reaser]

AFC
WEST: 4-LAC (9-7), KC (8-8), OAK (8-8), DEN (5-11)
NORTH: 2-PIT (12-4), 6-BAL (9-7), CIN (9-7), CLE (3-13)
SOUTH: 3-HOU (11-5), 5-JAX (10-6), TEN (8-8), IND (6-10)
EAST: 1-NE (13-3), BUF (6-10), MIA (5-11), NYJ (4-12)

NFC
WEST: 2-LAR (11-5), 6-SEA (9-7), SF (8-8), ARI (7-9)
NORTH: 1-MIN (13-3), 5-GB (12-4), DET (5-11), CHI (4-12)
SOUTH: 3-ATL (11-5), CAR (9-7), NO (8-8), TB (5-11)
EAST: 4-PHI (9-7), NYG (8-8), DAL (7-9), WAS (4-12)

WILD CARD
AFC: Texans over Ravens, Chargers over Jaguars
NFC: Seahawks over Falcons, Packers over Eagles

DIVISIONAL
AFC: Patriots over Chargers, Steelers over Texans
NFC: Vikings over Seahawks, Packers over Rams

CHAMPIONSHIP
AFC: Patriots over Steelers
NFC: Vikings over Packers

SUPER BOWL
Patriots over Vikings

[JohnH19]

NFC: Vikings over Packers

Holy cow, Matt, would that ever be sweet!

I never underestimate the Pats but it's got to end sometime...doesn't it?

[Reaser]

I never underestimate the Pats but it's got to end sometime...doesn't it?

Could be this year or soon but I based the predictions off the way I've seen the league the last couple years, 'everyone' sucks (for lack of a better word). The Patriots stay near-good and that gets elevated to 'great' by default because the quality of play is atrocious league-wide. It's not just NE, but everything gets called great (OBJ is the greatest WR of all-time!), when it isn't great. Look at the Jaguars last season, people flipping out like they had a historically great all-time defense --that gave up 42 points in their upset win over the Steelers and who when you actually look at the film their 'legendary' secondary left receivers running free all season long and the defense as a whole was only 'great' because they, while definitely a solid defense, played a lot of bad QB's and generally bad teams, which generally makes up a majority of the NFL. Defense aside, that was a team with a severely flawed passing game and that was the team that was the Patriots 'challenge' to get to the SB.

Last couple of seasons have been the same to me. In the AFC there's one near-good team (near-good because they're actually competent in a league full of incompetence) one above-average team (Steelers, who have the talent and manage to waste it) that might be able to challenge NE then everyone else falls between bad to average-at-best and the best they can hope for is maybe upsetting the Steelers in the playoffs before losing to the Patriots. While in the NFC it's more open because there's more above-average teams and not a near-good team so there isn't a gap (e.g. could have just as easily been the Falcons in the SB last year as it was the Eagles) ... one of them eventually comes out of it and gets to see if they can beat the Patriots in the SB. Falcons blew their chance, Eagles didn't. Though both games could have went either way because none of the three teams involved were great. Just some less-than-great football between less-than-good teams which is good enough to be champion in today's NFL.

Long story short, still think it's Patriots with Steelers as the team that might be able to beat them in the AFC. NFC could be a number of teams but I think the Vikings most look like they can be this year's 2016 Falcons / 2017 Eagles.

As far as rooting interest. If the Seahawks don't win the SB this year then I hope it's the Vikings (my dad's favorite team).

[JWL]

I was hoping to make a few comments on every team and post predicted team W-L-T records and some award winners (only the awards I care about) but I may not have much time before Week 1. At the very least I want to get some predictions posted before the first game.

Order of finish
NFC East- Eagles, Cowboys, Giants, Redskins
NFC North- Vikings, Packers, Bears, Lions
NFC South- Saints, Falcons, Panthers, Buccaneers
NFC West- Rams, 49ers, Seahawks, Cardinals
AFC East- Patriots, Jets, Bills, Dolphins
AFC North- Bengals, Steelers, Ravens, Browns
AFC South- Texans, Jaguars, Titans, Colts
AFC West- Chiefs, Chargers, Broncos, Raiders

Super Bowl- Saints over Patriots

[RyanChristiansen]

AFC Championship game: Pittsburgh vs. San Diego
NFC Championship game: New Orleans vs. Minnesota
Super Bowl: San Diego vs. Minnesota

I'm a Vikings fan, so I won't go any further than that!

[sluggermatt15]

All are interesting predictions! The best part is, who really knows what will happen, and as a fan it is fun and dramatic to see how everything will unfold.

A few thoughts -

-I think the AFC North and South will be open races. Pittsburgh is a favorite for the division, but Baltimore or Cincinnati could get hot and take it this year, especially as Baltimore is not scared of Pittsburgh. Cleveland will be better this year. They won't be an easy two wins for the other division opponents in 2018. Le'Veon Bell not playing - at the moment - is a key loss for Pittsburgh. If James Connor or other RBs emerge, the Steelers will be fine and should win the division. I don't think 9-7 or 10-6 is good enough. The winner will need to go at least 11-5.

Houston, Jacksonville are the front runners for the South. I think Indy is out and we don't know what we'll get out of Andrew Luck. Is he really healthy? If so, can the defense play well enough for Indy to win? Those are two large, looming questions, too much I think for Indy to go right, thus I think they will not contend this year. Tennessee has a shot, but Marcus Mariotta needs to play consistently well. He can't play wild or be inaccurate because it will cost the Titans games.