2023 Predictions

[racepug]

Believe so yes. The amount of people either on text messages or twitter posts that predicted an Achilles injury minutes before it happened really makes you wonder about life in general and how some people just know when calamity is going to hit. I myself texted my sister..."watch he blow out his achilles. God hates the Jets." And it happened. It's like he doesn't even hide his existence or his hatred

https://sports.yahoo.com/reality-always ... 46280.html

[rhickok1109]

The amount of people either on text messages or twitter posts that predicted an Achilles injury minutes before it happened really makes you wonder about life in general and how some people just know when calamity is going to hit. I myself texted my sister..."watch he blow out his achilles. God hates the Jets." And it happened. It's like he doesn't even hide his existence or his hatred

My son-in-law (he's a Bear fan, but I like him anyway) was about to take the dog for a walk when the Jets took possession of the ball. He had the leash on and was standing. He remarked to my daughter, "I'm just going to wait for a minute to watch Rodgers suffer a season-ending injury." A minute later, he and the dog were out the door.

[JohnR]

Didn't Unitas injure his achilles around the same age while fetching a ping-pong ball? As much as bad luck plays a role, there's also just father time.

[Brian wolf]

I was amazed when Testeverde came back in 2000 and Rodgers is older. I think he will come back to prove his dedication to wanting to play and to mentor Wilson. No player wants to go out this way ...

[JohnH19]

Jurgensen came back from a torn Achilles when he was 39 and played two more seasons. He didn’t play as much as Kilmer but he played a substantial amount in both seasons and actually led the NFC in passer rating in 74.

[JameisBrownston]

Is Kirk Cousins about to take his MVP turn, have a 5000/50 season and state his HOF case, on a 6-11 team that runs the ball 10 times a game?! Guy is making a fool of me for drafting Mattison everywhere.

[Brian wolf]

Fumbles killed the Vikes who are now 0-2. Jefferson can dominate between the 20s but is similar to Julio Jones in finding the endzone but who would throw out a nice Mercedes with a dent in it? He is about to hit contract paydirt ...

[racepug]

New York Giants (6-11): The Giants are complete and utter frauds. Last year’s playoff run was completely smoke and mirrors. Saquon Barkley is amazing, but this year Daniel Jones will come back to Earth. This is one of the few playoff teams I see going down the tubes.

You appear to be correct about this (their next two games, on paper, are going to be VERY tough). The team I was thinking was "utter frauds" after last season was MIN (and, of course, the NYG got the better of 13-win MIN in the playoffs). Personally, I think that you and I are both correct on that count.

[Reaser]

Was looking back at what we all predicted. Was some good calls in there. What's left is Super Bowl picks, here's who made one:

Crazy Packers Fan: KC over DAL
Brian wolf: BUF over SF
74_75_78_79_: PHI over CIN
ChrisBabcock: KC over SF
Reaser: SF over BUF
DarinLHayes: PIT over DET

[racepug]

Going back over my predictions from pre-season I see where I had a few "whiffs."

AFC:

East:

New York Jets: Aaron Rodgers is an obvious upgrade at QB despite his age and the Jets seem to be a lot of people's pick to go all the way this year but I'm not willing to go out on that limb. At least not yet. These are the N.Y. Jets we're talking about, after all. (I thought the Jets looked pretty good in their last pre-season/exhibition game against the Giants, though - for what that's worth) - I missed, here, but I have the excuse of A.R. having missed 99.99% of the season. We'll see if the Jets' fortunes change next season.

North:

Cincinnati Bengals: I'm sticking with the Bengals to win the division. Zac Taylor appears to know what he's doing and I'm a HUGE Joe Burrow fan. How much more than just a division title can the 2023 Bengals win? Time will tell but remember that they very nearly took last year's eventual S.B. champs to OT in the conference championship game (and probably would have if not for that unfortunate late hit on Patrick Mahomes late in the game). - I missed here, as well. I blame it on Joe Burrow going into the season at < 100% and also on the Bengals' trend of getting off to slow starts (to their seasons). That's something they need to improve on, in my opinion.

Baltimore Ravens: I'm not a fan of Lamar Jackson's, at all. I think the fact that no other team showed much (if any) interest in him when he was holding out on the Ravens earlier this year speaks volumes. I'd probably have BAL finishing in 3rd in their division if I wasn't so unsure about PIT's QB situation. - The Ravens were better than I thought they'd be but I'm still not a believer in Lamar Jackson. They won their division but we'll see how they do once the playoffs start.

Cleveland Browns: The pathetic Browns. Far, far, FAR removed from their glory days of the 1940s and '50s. I see nothing, at all, that justifies picking them to finish anywhere but last in their division. - Another team that ended up being better than I thought it would. Kind of inconsistent but if they can "put it together" maybe they can make a decent run in the playoffs.

South:

Jacksonville Jaguars: I'm still not completely "sold" on Trevor Lawrence but I'm a HUGE fan of Doug Pederson's. I think on that count the Jaguars are in good hands. - A late season collapse cost them dearly. Trevor Lawrence needs to work on protecting the ball better.

Tennessee Titans: The Titans seemed to have something going on 4 years ago when they ended Tom Brady's career in N.E. with that playoff win but things haven't worked out for them in that way and now JAX seems to be the better team. - The Titans were a bit of a disappointment and now they've lost their H.C. and will probably lose their star RB as well. Not sure where they're headed, next, but it's probably not "up."

Houston Texans: Nobody seems to be expecting much out of the Texans this season and probably with good reason. I, for one, hope that DeMeco Ryans surprises people and that his team exceeds expectations. - Surprise division winners! DeMeco Ryans appears to be a good hire for this team.

West:

Los Angeles Chargers: Someone on Yahoo!, in previewing the N.F.L. this season, mentioned something about (basically) no longer having any faith in the Chargers when the chips are down. After last year's absolute collapse in JAX in the playoffs I think he has a point. But the Chargers should still be good enough to finish ahead of the next two teams in the list. - Disappointing team but this whole division was disappointing. Even the Chiefs never really looked "right" all season.

Las Vegas Raiders: From what I've read the Raiders have only one impact player on "D": Maxx Crosby. Jimmy Garoppolo, to me, is a mere lateral move from Derek Carr. I'm not sure how much difference, if any, having Jimmy G. at QB is going to make for the Raiders. Mostly, though, I find the Raiders' front office to be mostly (if not completely) inept. Long gone are the days of "Commitment to Excellence" as far as I'm concerned. - Did slightly better than I thought they would, but. . .maybe Antonio Pierce did enough to be kept as H.C. but with Mark Davis one never knows.

NFC:

East:

Philadelphia Eagles: I still have no idea how they lost the S.B. last February. At halftime of that game I thought they were in complete control. All I can think of is that they fell victim to "Mahomes Magic." (which, of course, they're hardly alone in doing since the great P.M. entered the league) Despite that I think they're probably good enough to win their division again. But will they be able to make it back to the S.B. one year after losing it? - A late collapse, similar to what happened to JAX. What saved PHI was getting off to a 10 - 1 start but this team certainly looks like it might get knocked out of the playoffs right away.

North:

Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings, to me, are another team (like the Chargers) that you should never have much faith in, if you have your wits about you. They may finish in 2nd in their division this season, but beyond that I'm not expecting much. - I was pretty sure before the season started that the Vikings would "regress to the mean" and come back down to Earth after their 13 - 4 season in 2022. And I was right.

Green Bay Packers: I pick the Packers 3rd in the division only because of the uncertainty surrounding the quarterback position for them. If Jordan Love proves to be a worthy successor to Aaron Rodgers then - watch out! - Jordan Love didn't necessarily "set the world on fire" in 2023 but he and his team did enough to make the playoffs. Can they pull the upset in the first round?

South:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-9): I forgot this was even a division in the NFL. Someone’s got to win it.
New Orleans Saints (7-10): And it won’t be the Saints.
Atlanta Falcons (6-11): Or the Falcons.
Carolina Panthers (6-11): Or the Panthers. This division is a joke.

Thanks to PHI's late-season collapse I actually think that T.B. has a decent chance to make it to the conference semis. I very seriously doubt they'll get any further than that, though.

West:

San Francisco 49ers: I actually watched the Seahawks' last pre-season game (@ G.B.) and even the hometown Seattle guys talked about how loaded SFO is (FWIW the 49ers have the most players on this year's Top 100 [presented by the NFL Network and voted on by the players themselves] with 8). As long as Brock Purdy comes back from his injury and doesn't have a "sophomore slump" I see no reason why the 49ers shouldn't win this division going away.

This division played out pretty much about how I expected it would. The only TRUE playoff-worthy team in it is the 49ers, in my opinion, although I guess it's possible that the Rams will make it to the conference semifinals (although I hope they don't).