The Craziness of the 2007 NFL Season

This whole season for the NFL has been absolutely ridiculous. Teams projected to be great like the Saints, Ravens, and Bears are anything but that and teams like the Packers and the Browns are all of a sudden among the elite teams in the NFL. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at my projections prior to the start of the season in terms of records for all the teams and compare it to where they are at this point.

AFC East

Predictions
1. New England Patriots: 12-4 (4th Seed)
2. New York Jets: 9-7
3. Miami Dolphins: 8-8
4. Buffalo Bills: 6-10


Actual Standings
1. New England Patriots: 11-0
2. Buffalo Bills: 5-6
3. New York Jets: 2-9
4. Miami Dolphins: 0-10

Analysis: I knew the aquisition of Randy Moss would help the Patriots, but I never would have anticipated they would become the BEST team in the history of the NFL. I too fell into the "wow Mangini is amazing!" loop and though he would help the Jets again this year. Mangini to Mangina. Now I wanted to give the Bills a slightly higher record (7-9 or 8-8 tops) due to my prediction that Losman would be better and that Lee Evans would be a good receiver, but I didn't and they are better than I predicted, but not because of the reasons I described. Edwards has been a better QB than Losman and Lynch has been the go-to-guy. Now the Dolphins. I'm ashamed of myself. I had too much faith in Brown and failed to realize that he alone can't carry the team.

AFC North

Predictions
1. Baltimore Ravens: 13-3 (3rd Seed)
2. Cincinnati Bengals: 10-6 (6th Seed)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-7
4. Cleveland Browns: 5-11


Actual Standings
1. Pittsburgh Steelers: 7-3
2. Cleveland Browns: 7-4
3. Cincinnati Bengals: 4-7
4. Baltimore Ravens: 4-7

Anaylsis: This is almost the opposite of what I predicted, but I feel like everyone was fairly close to what I did. The Ravens defense still remains good, but their offense which I expected to improve or remain the same has vanished. Nobody anticipated the rejuvination of the Browns under Anderson's leadership. The Bengals have no excuse for their subpar performance with Carson Palmer, Chad Johnson, TJ (don't feel attempting to spell the last name haha), and Rudi Johnson. Their subpar performance is highly unexpected. The Steelers are not too far off from when I expected from them. Yes I posted 9-7, but that was anticipating better performances from the Bengals and Ravens which would have resulted in more divisional losses by this team.

AFC South

Predictions
1. Indianapolis Colts: 13-3 (2nd Seed)
2. Jacksonville Jaguars: 11-5 (5th Seed)
3. Tennessee Titans: 8-8
4. Houston Texans: 4-12

Actual Standings
1. Indianapolis Colts: 9-2
2. Jacksonville Jaguars: 8-3
3. Tennessee Titans: 6-5
4. Houston Texans: 5-6

Analysis: Minus my underestimation of the Texans, all of these predictions are possible. The Colts are a dominant team, but they are known to blow a couple of games throughout the season. I expected the Titans to struggle without Pacman Jones and they definitely are. After showing some promised in the beginning of the season they now have lost 3 in a row and Vince Young is unable to carry the pressure on his own. The Jags have a great double threat with Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor. Garrard is also having a great season as well. The Texans are a nice surprise with Matt Schaub exceeding expectations.

AFC West

Predictions
1. San Diego Chargers: 14-2 (1st Seed)
2. Denver Broncos: 10-6
3. Kansas City Chiefs: 9-7
4. Oakland Raiders: 2-14


Actual Standings
1. San Diego Chargers: 6-5
2. Denver Broncos: 5-6
3. Kansas City Chiefs: 4-7
4. Oakland Raiders: 3-8

Analysis: Well the order of the standings are right, but the records are way off. I knew the aquisition of Norv Turner wasn't a great idea, but with LT, Rivers, Gates, and a good defense I expected some good things out of this team. They do show some signs of their expected dominance in some games, but in others they just simply lost the magic of last season. I expected too much out of Jay Cutler although he is doing pretty well. I also expected too much out of LJ relating to the Chiefs. Up until two or three weeks ago I actually thought they could be a 9-7 team still. The Raiders are slighlty better than I expected, but not by much. Their best case scenario is a 5-11 record although they'll probably be 4-12 or 3-13.

NFC East

Predictions
1. Dallas Cowboys: 11-5 (2nd Seed)
2. Philadelphia Eagles: 10-6 (5th Seed)
3. New York Giants: 7-9
4. Washington Redskins: 6-10

Actual Standings
1. Dallas Cowboys: 10-1
2. New York Giants: 7-4
3. Philadelphia Eagles: 5-6
4. Washington Redskins: 5-6


Analysis: Avid readers of my blog should be shaking their head when they see the Eagles prediction. I always say how bad of a team they are. This was after I saw the first two weeks of play by them and realized how McNabb isn't the star QB we all remember. I expected bigger and better things from Romo, but he has exceeded my expectations. I thought the loss of Tiki Barber would be pretty big for this Giants team. I did expect Jacobs to have an above average season, but not to be able to compete with the heroics of Barber. I was right about that, but for some reason the Giants pulled off some big wins and are now at 7-4. The Redskins started off unexpectedly good, but are now dipping slowly.

NFC North

Predictions
1. Chicago Bears: 13-3 (1st Seed)
2. Green Bay Packers: 8-8
3. Minnesota Vikings: 7-9
4. Detroit Lions: 4-12


Actual Standings
1. Green Bay Packers: 10-1
2. Detroit Lions: 6-5
3. Minnesota Vikings: 5-6
4. Chicago Bears: 5-6

Analysis: This is the one I messed up on the most I think. I expected the Bears to be better this year. I anticipated them to have as dominant of a defense with Rex Grossman showing slight improvements. Last year he was anything but spectacular and the Bears still took the division. Brett Favre has improved his QB-ing over last season is showing signs from his peak days. He isn't trying to be fancy. He is just making great plays. He has made the Packers into one of the best teams in the NFL. The Vikings are about where I expected although I never anticipated the greatness of Adrian Peterson (too bad about his injury). People expected the Lions to do good things under Kitna's leadership. I wasn't buying it. Now I feel stupid. Although Kitna's prediction of 10-6 will most likely not hold up (I'm expecting 9-7 or 8-8) they are still a big improvement.

NFC South

Predictions
1. New Orleans Saints: 11-5 (3rd Seed)
2. Carolina Panthers: 9-7
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 5-11
4. Atlanta Falcons: 5-11


Actual Standings
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 7-4
2. New Orleans Saints: 5-6
3. Carolina Panthers: 4-7
4. Atlanta Falcons: 3-8

Analysis: EVERYONE had the Saints in first. I don't blame them. Brees is still QB-ing and Deuce and Bush are still running the ball (well minus Deuce's recent injury) so what has changed? Beats me. This team is a big disappointment. I didn't expect the injury of Delhomme to occur and because of it the Panthers have really struggled. Tampa Bay has become a sleeper team under some good QB-ing. Michael Vick was the best thing about the Falcons and their struggles this season are highly anticipated.

NFC West

Predictions
1. Seattle Seahawks: 9-7 (4th Seed)
2. Arizona Cardinals: 9-7 (6th seed)
3. San Francisco 49ers: 7-9
4. St. Louis Rams: 6-10


Actual Standings
1. Seattle Seahawks: 7-4
2. Arizona Cardinals: 5-6
3. San Francisco 49ers: 3-8
4. St. Louis Rams: 2-9


Analysis: Even though the records are a little off, this is the division I think I nailed the most. Most people had the Rams winning the division or taking a wildcard and I didn't see it happening. Stephen Jackson is good, but not good enough to make this team a playoff team. Arizona was my pick for the sleeper team of the season (just squeaking bye into the playoffs). With a tough schedule for the Lions coming up this is very likely (although they need to get hot). I did expect more from the 49ers than what they are putting up. Frank Gore has been a big disappointment and Alex Smith an even bigger one (although nobody really expected much out of him). The Seahawks are where they should be. An above average team reaping the benefits of being in the worst division in football.