But of course, last year with my football predictions I was right about my Super Bowl winner. I nailed three of the four Championship game participants. And hey, six out of eight division winners ain't bad either.
So seeing as last year I was committed to picking against the Denver team that so many people were going with, I'm feeling something similar this year after every one of the roughly 50 predictions I first saw all have a Packers-Colts Super Bowl. When something is this widely picked, it's almost certainly going to be wrong.
All of that said, I still have no idea who I actually will be picking as I type this. I can say that I already hate it because I know there's going to be at least a few out-of-nowhere surprise teams this year that I'm probably going to be too chickenshit to pick.
AFC East
New England Patriots
Miami Dolphins
Buffalo Bills
New York Jets
I wanted to pick against the Patriots this year. I really did. And to be fair, I could see any one of these four teams winning this division. But the QB issues with the Jets and the Bills are just too big for me to ignore, even though both defenses should make waves. The Dolphins were originally my dark horse feeling, but in the end, I just think New England is going to find its usual way to walk away with this division once again.
AFC North
Pittsburgh Steelers
Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Well, I'm confident the Browns will finish last. But that's about it. I haven't changed my predicted finish from last year because the Steelers offense is supposedly going to be a juggernaut this season. It's the Pittsburgh defense that concerns me. I suspect Marc Trestman will have a strong first year in Baltimore, and the Bengals were the team I originally wanted to go with. I fear that Cincy could very well end up stealing the division.
AFC South
Indianapolis Colts
Houston Texans
Tennessee Titans
Jacksonville Jaguars
Again, same predicted finish as last year. Colts should run away with a weak division, only being challenged by a Texans team with obvious QB issues. The Titans and Jags will jockey for draft picks, but I expect Tennessee to show more improvement.
AFC West
Kansas City Chiefs
Denver Broncos
San Diego Chargers
Oakland Raiders
OK, well here's a different finish. The Chiefs have a lot of guys in contract years, and Andy Reid should be able to use that to his advantage. The Broncos defense could be fearsome, but there's still major doubts about the inaugural year of the Kubiak era. San Diego has been a mildly popular pick, but I just can't buy into that yet. The Raiders will be better than most people are expecting, but that still won't account for many wins.
Philadelphia Eagles
Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants
Washington [football team]
I'm a pretty big fan of Bradford and McCoy being on the Eagles, and I think the changes Philly made this off-season should pan out. The Cowboys have an offensive line dominant enough to allow them to contend for the playoffs again, but I'm nervous that I (and many others) might be underestimating the Giants—a team that invariably lets me down when I pick them to do well and succeeds when I pick failure. Washington represents yet another cellar dweller I'm confident in.
NFC North
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings
Detroit Lions
Chicago Bears
Even without Jordy Nelson, I fully expect the Packers to finish with the league's best record this year. The Vikings, meanwhile, are going to build on a very encouraging 2014 campaign be bringing back their star running back. I don't know what to expect from the Lions, but I feel reasonably confident that they'll be better than the rebuilding Bears.
NFC South
New Orleans Saints
Carolina Panthers
Atlanta Falcons
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I hate this division. It was an embarrassment last year, and it won't be much better this year. I'm reluctantly going with the Saints again only because I just don't think Carolina's going to have any kind of offense to help out what should be the division's best defense. Atlanta's figuring things out under a new coach while Tampa might surprise if Winston proves to be a superstar.
NFC West
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams
Arizona Cardinals
San Francisco 49ers
I don't see how the Seahawks can't win this division again with the addition of Jimmy Graham, even if it did lose a couple key defensive pieces. I'm one of those whose still expecting the Rams to develop into a contender in the near future, but I'm probably once again failing to give the Cardinals enough credit. And yet one last time, the Niners represent another last place team that I'm most confident in for division picks.
Wild Card Playoffs
#3 Chiefs over #6 Ravens
#4 Steelers over #5 Dolphins
#3 Eagles over #6 Vikings
#5 Cowboys over #4 Saints
Divisional Playoffs
#4 Steelers over #1 Colts
#3 Chiefs over #2 Patriots
#1 Packers over #5 Cowboys
#3 Eagles over #2 Seahawks
#4 Steelers over #3 Chiefs
#3 Eagles over #1 Packers
Super Bowl XLIX
Eagles over Steelers
Yep, a Battle of Pennsylvania in the Super Bowl. I feel like I've picked this before, but whatever. This feels a little outside the popular picks, but not too crazy. I'm certainly counting an awful lot on Pittsburgh's offense more than making up for a defensive experiment, and I guess I better hope no injury befalls Sam Bradford. I would have gladly picked the Packers under the belief that my predicting them would be the equivalent of a jinx that seems to hold true with other sports, but as last year proved, I occasionally get these football picks right. And I'm reasonably confident that one of these two teams listed above is indeed going to be appearing in this year's big game.
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