NFL Predictions Revisited

By Jon

Prior to the start of the NFL regular season, the Roost presented the "8 in 8," our predictions for the eight divisions in eight consecutive days. Today, we'll revisit the 8 in 8, and see how good our prognosticating skills are.

AFC East

Predicted Finish

1. New England Patriots
2. Buffalo Bills
3. New York Jets
4. Miami Dolphins

Actual Finish

1. New England Patriots
2. Buffalo Bills
3. New York Jets
4. Miami Dolphins

Dead On:

• -The final standings. Chris correctly predicted the finishing order of all four AFC East teams.
• -"Brady might just even be this year’s Offensive MVP."
  
• -Brady was indeed, a near unanimous pick for the Associated Press MVP, with Brett Favre receiving one vote from a writer who may have been under-the-influence of several illegal narcotics.
  

Way Off:

• "And if J.P. Losman continues to improve and Josh Reed hangs on to the ball, the Bills should be in good hands on the offensive side."
  
• Ouch. The Bills were hardly in good hands on the offensive side, and J.P. punched his ticket out of town.
  

AFC North

Predicted Finish

1. Baltimore Ravens
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
3. Cincinnati Bengals
4. Cleveland Browns

Actual Finish

1. Pittsburgh Steelers
2. Cleveland Browns
3. Cincinnati Bengals
4. Baltimore Ravens

Dead On

• -"New coach Mike Tomlin should be able to get the team focused and in shape to make another serious push for the postseason."
  
• -The Steelers easily made the playoffs, with Tomlin putting in an outstanding coaching effort throughout the year.

Way Off

• -"Despite their tough schedule (Weeks 12-14 include a road trip to San Diego and then two home games against New England and the Colts), the Ravens should win this division and secure the fourth playoff berth in the AFC."
• -Uhhhhhh, no. The Ravens were one of the worst teams in the league, due to a lack of quality quarterback play and a lack of fire on both sides of the ball. Brian Billick was fired, and rightfully so.
• -"[The Browns are] going to be soooo bad. They'll have a Top 3 pick again in the draft I bet, and they won't even be able to use it since they traded it away to get backup Brady Quinn this year. Good news for Dallas. This team could go 1-15 and I'm not sure anyone would be totally shocked. Looks to me like the curtain on the Romeo Crennell era may be drawing to a close.."
• -The Browns shocked everyone, the Roost included, by making a serious playoff push. They're offense became explosive with the emergence of Derek Anderson (even though he fizzled down the stretch). A few defensive pickups and there is no reason to believe the Browns won't be in next year's playoffs.

AFC South

Predicted Finish

1. Indianapolis Colts
2. Jacksonville Jaguars
3. Tennessee Titans
4. Houston Texans

Actual Finish

1. Indianapolis Colts
2. Jacksonville Jaguars
3. Tennessee Titans
4. Houston Texans

Dead On

• -The final standings. Rich nailed it.
  
• -"Peyton & Co will cut that meat all the way to another division title."
  

Way Off

• -"[The Jaguars] coaching staff doesn't seem to have much of an idea what they're doing. "Hey, let's start one quarterback all 4 preseason games, then release him the week before the season starts and just assume that the other guy will be able to step in with no problems, despite not getting a single rep against a first-team defense or with the first-team offense all preseason." Personally, that type of logic ranks right between "Let's get drunk and get tattoos" and "Only $7 million for Jeff Weaver? What a deal!" on my list of bad decisions."
• -Davard Garrad ended up having an above-average year, while Byron Leftwich battled injuries for the hapless Falcons. Good move on Jack Del Rio's part. However, "Let's get drunk and get tattoos" and $7 million for Jeff Weaver are still awful ideas.
• -Or more likely, [the Texans] front office will spend the entire season figuring out the mechanics of time travel so that they can go back and take a mulligan on Mario Williams.
• -Mario Williams had a pretty good year, with 14 sacks and 59 tackles. No mulligans necessary.
  

AFC West

Predicted Finish

1. San Diego Chargers
2. Denver Broncos
3. Kansas City Chiefs
4. Oakland Raiders

Actual Finish

1. San Diego Chargers
2. Denver Broncos
3. Oakland Raiders
4. Kansas City Chiefs
   

Dead On

• -"[The Chargers are] probably the best all-around team in the league outside of New England."
• -This may not be "dead on," but the Chargers are one of four teams left standing, making them one of the best in my book.
  

Way Off

• -"Expect [the Broncos] to win that extra late season game this season to get them into the postseason."
• -The Broncos finished 7-9 (6-10 if the stupid Bills could have pulled one out) and were out of the playoff race by week 15.

NFC East

Predicted Finish

1. Philadelphia Eagles
2. Dallas Cowboys
3. Washington Redskins
4. New York Giants

Actual Finish

1. Dallas Cowboys
2. New York Giants
3. Washington Redskins
4. Philadelphia Eagles

Dead On

• -Nothing. This division was a train-wreck as far as our predictions went.

Way Off

• -Everything. The final standings were awful. Our first place team finished in last, our last place team finished in second. But hey! At least we nailed the Redskins in third place!
• -"The [Giants'] players don't like their coach and it won't be very long before they quit on him and we have to listen to a Coughlin meltdown."
• -Coughlin seems to have changed his hard-nosed ways, probably out of fear for his job, and the players seem to have responded.

NFC North

Predicted Finish

1. Chicago Bears
2. Green Bay Packers
3. Detroit Lions
4. Minnesota Vikings

Actual Finish

1. Green Bay Packers
2. Minnesota Vikings
3. Detroit Lions
4. Chicago Bears

Dead On

• -"I don't expect the Lions to finish at the bottom of the division."
• -The only thing I got somewhat right, the Lions really didn't finish in last place, but they certainly meet John Kitna's guarantee of 10 wins.
  

Way Off

• -"Some people think the Pack will surprise some people. Count me out."
• -The Pack were one of the top two teams in the NFC all year, proving me horribly, horribly wrong.
• -"Pretty predictable division, if I say so myself."
• -Looking back, that was a terribly cocky thing to say. My apologies.

NFC South
Predicted Finish

1. New Orleans Saints
2. Carolina Panthers
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
4. Atlanta Falcons

Actual Finish

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2. Carolina Panthers
3. New Orleans Saints
4. Atlanta Falcons

Dead On

• -"Joe Horn does not like the Joey Harrington Experience. Joe Horn does like Mike Vick. Joe Horn advises Mike Vick stay strong, and give Chris Redman some pointers. Mr. Horn wishes he was back in New Orleans."
• -An atrocious year in Atlanta, as just about everyone expected. As RJ semi-predicted, Chris Redman did get a few snaps, even with Byron Leftwich being signed.
  

Way Off

• -"I smell an easy playoff birth. Look for the Saints to repeat as South Champs."
• -The Saints couldn't overcome their awful start, finishing 7-9 and in second in a rather terrible division.
• -"Cadillac Williams will more than likely bounce back from his Sophomore Slump, but it's not going to be enough to lift the Bucs from a sub .500 record."
• -Cadillac was placed on IR before he had a chance to break out of his Sophomore Slump, but Ernest Grant stepped up and carried this team into the playoffs.

NFC West

Predicted Finish

1. St. Louis Rams
2. San Francisco 49ers
3. Seattle Seahawks
4. Arizona Cardinals

Actual Finish

1. Seattle Seahawks
   
2. Arizona Cardinals
   
3. San Francisco 49ers
4. St. Louis Rams

Dead On

• -Once again, nothing. This was probably the worst predicted division by the Roost.

Way Off

• -The final standings.
  
• -St. Louis was the worst team in the NFC after injuries to their offensive line ruined their season, and San Fran was nearly as bad, coming nowhere close to meeting expectations laid out here.
• -"potential MVP Marc Bulger"
• -I would bet Chris would love to have that one back. Bulger struggled through the worst season of his career, finishing with 2392 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. Hardly MVP numbers.

All in all, we at the Roost have found out how hard predicting the seemingly unpredictable can be. We'll be back again next year to provide you with useless picks that will undoubtedly be wrong in the end. See you then!