Using playoffpredictors.com, I predicted the second half of the 2019 NFL season. Here are the results.
At the beginning of the season, I thought it was a good idea to predict how the teams in the NFL were going to perform over the brutal sixteen weeks of an NFL season. I was wrong, as I was about a lot of these teams coming up. Injuries, pure misjudgement and other factors played into a very unpredictable and fun NFL season.
In an attempt to rectify my mistakes of past, I am going to revise my preseason predictions in place of my usual weekly takeaways. We can start with a division that’s relatively surprising, if not very decently predicted by me.
NFC North:
Green Bay Packers (13-3)
Chicago Bears (9-7)
Minnesota Vikings (9-7)
Detroit Lions (8-7-1)
So lets start here where I actually did fairly decent. I did buy into the hype of the Bears from last year and i’m not fully certain they’ll hack it as a playoff team without better Quarterback play. I say they maintain a winning record and keep themselves in the race going into the later weeks. As for Green Bay, I said they would improve and make the playoffs, but little did I know it would be even better. They look poised to top the NFC beating many talented teams and maintaining a ridiculously good record in the competitive NFC North.
The Vikings are a team I can’t sell myself on. Kirk looks fantastic but I know that can turn off the moment he gets a 4:00 game. Dalvin Cook should be the star of this team and I’m afraid they ask too much of Cousins and he begins to slow down and thus their record gets worse. The Lions are just better than their record suggests. They are talented enough for 8-7-1, and I think they pull it out. They had some tough losses this season, but I think it’s all up to them to bounce back from it this coming season.
NFC South:
New Orleans Saints (12-4)
Carolina Panthers (10-6)
Atlanta Falcons (5-11)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-11)
I have nothing new to add about the Saints. You would think my opinion would have to change after Drew Brees goes down but nope I just feel better about them. Even with a backup Quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater, they’ve maintained pace for an amazing season. As for the Panthers, i’ve been straight up surprised. They started where I expected them to, going 0-2 with Cam Newton. Then their savior came; Kyle Allen was put into the starting lineup to replace the injured Cam Newton and he’s fixed their season. He’s got out of the way of Christian McCaffery’s brilliance and they’ve strived since. A very good season for a talented Panthers team is on its way.
The Falcons are terrible. They look like they’ve given up and don’t want to play football this season. As someone who picked them to make the playoffs in the preseason I am extremely dissapointed.
The Buccaneers showed me they have talent though. I don’t like Jameis because he’ll pull a masterclass one week and then throw 5 interceptions the next. Real example this year. If they get a new Quarterback though, I think this team manages to be semi-competitive. As for this season? I believe another sup-par 5-11 record is in the works.
NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys (10-6)
Philadelphia Eagles (8-8)
New York Giants (5-11)
Washington Redskins (2-14)
I feel like I did pretty well here. Choosing the Cowboys to win the East was my easiest decision of the year probably, and I’m glad they’re proving me right with the big win over Philly prior to the bye. After Zeke put pen to paper on a new deal, they took off, slowing down in the middle a little but showing up when it counted. As for Philly, I’m not 100% sure a high school team couldn’t put up some points on that secondary. It’s really bad, and they need to address that to avoid wasting the rest of the talent on the team.
My Giants prediction was me thinking they stick with Eli until they were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Needless to say they put Daniel Jones in and he’s been a relative success. He’s definetly doing better than Eli would have done, and I think they do better than I originally thought. The Redskins are a mess though. I’m not sure they know who their Quarterback is in the slightest. Benching Keenum for Haskins in the first Giants game was a mistake and they’ve since fired Gruden. The organization is a flat out mess and I’m not afraid to shout it.
NFC West:
Seattle Seahawks (12-4)
San Francisco 49ers (12-4)
Los Angeles Rams (11-5)
Arizona Cardinals (7-8-1)
What a beautiful division. You may be asking, how can you have the Super Bowl participant not win their division? Pretty easily, just have faith in Russell Wilson. A top MVP candidate this season, he’s dragged the Seahawks to an impressive record by this midseason and showed his talent for what it truly is. He will take this team to a division victory and it wont be in vain. The 49ers, despite my recent skepticism, have impressed me this last week in particular. Their recent curbstomping of Carolina has shifted my opinion from them being a team with an easy schedule to a team who handles their business. I think as the schedule toughens up they’ll drop games but expect this team in the post season.
As for the Rams, a mini hangover leaves them struggling midseason, but their acquisition of Jalen Ramsey seems to have sparked life into this team, they’ll finish with a very good record.
The Cardinals have been impressive to me, going 3-0 when Kyler Murray has 10+ rushing attempts. I feel like they’ve found a way to circumvent their offensive line problems. They won’t have a winning record and I may just be a prisoner of the moment but I think this Cardinals team is better than some think.
What does that mean for the Playoffs?
A crazy shuffle as I rush to hopefully rectify some of my past mistakes, I still have four of the teams I originally picked to make the playoffs to continue so it’s not a total loss. I’ll elaborate on these teams more in the midseason playoff predictions coming out on Wednesday, but enjoy the below ordering for now.
Bye Teams: Green Bay Packers & New Orleans Saints
Division Winners: Seattle Seahawks & Dallas Cowboys
Wild Card: San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams
Want to read the original predictions? Follow the link below to read my very incorrect and very bold predictions.
The Art of Sport 