Predictions On NFL Win Futures
When you look at these numbers, you realize that the adage of how the oddsmakers know what they’re doing is really true…
When you look at these numbers, you realize that the adage of how the oddsmakers know what they’re doing is really true…
The New England Patriots have won the AFC East 10 times in the 12 years since the NFL realigned in 2002 to eight divisions of four teams apiece. That doesn’t even include the Patriots’ 2001 run to a Super Bowl title. The reign of head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady has to end sometime, doesn’t it? Is this the year?
Last season the NFC West produced the Super Bowl champ (Seattle Seahawks), the second-best team in the league (San Francisco 49ers), the best non-playoff team (Arizona Cardinals) and the most dangerous fourth-place team (St. Louis Rams). If the U.S. soccer team’s group of four was “The Group of Death” in the World Cup, what does that make the NFC West?
The AFC South is a division in transition, with new coaches for the Tennessee Titans (Ken Wisenhunt) and Houston Texans (Bill O’Brien). The Indianapolis Colts ran away with the AFC South a year ago and with Andrew Luck’s star on the rise, are a solid favorite to make it two straight division titles and three straight playoff trips. Here’s a look at all four AFC South teams, followed by some early predictions.
The Green Bay Packers have owned the NFC North, for the most part, since this division was created in its present form in the realignment of 2002. The Packers won the North from 2002-04, and again in 2007. The torch passed from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers have won this division each year since 2011. The last time they didn’t win the NFC North was 2010…when they merely won the Super Bowl as a wild-card.
The regular season is in the books and it’s time to take a look at how each team fared against the NFL win futures posted in Las Vegas every summer. For those unfamiliar, it’s simple—we’re talking about an Over/Under betting number on how many games each team will win. It’s a black-and-white to tell exactly who the disappointments were and who the surprises were, and do it in a quantifiable way.
Chip Kelly’s arrival in the NFL is probably the most anticipated college-to-pro coaching jump we’ve seen since Steve Spurrier tried the same thing 11 years ago. The Philadelphia Eagles are hoping their grand experiment with an innovative offensive mind from college works better than Spurrier did for the Redskins (two bad years).
The Dallas Cowboys opened the 2012 NFL season with a notable performance on national television and closed it with another one. Each game—the opener with the Giants and the finale with the Redskins, each in prime-time—showed the wide pendulum that this team’s fortunes can swing.
The collapse of the New York Giants down the stretch was perhaps the most surprising element of the NFL regular season in 2012. The Giants looked to be coasting home in the NFC East, before they fell apart, watched the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys play for the division title, and the Giants ended up out of the postseason altogether. Was it a temporary swoon or a sign of things to come?
The Washington Redskins returned to prominence in the 2012 NFL season, with the electrifying arrival of rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III. For those of us long-suffering ‘Skins fans, RG3 was the oasis in the desert, lifting a moribund franchise to a 10-6 record and the NFC East title. Now, after an offseason of recovery from a torn ACL, we ask if the ‘Skins can do it all over again and this time add a playoff run.
The Kansas City Chiefs endured the worst 2012 season imaginable. The on-field performance was a disaster, as a team that TheSportsNotebook’s NFL analysis felt had dark-horse playoff potential ended up 2-14 and picking first in this past April’s NFL draft. And the season ended in tragedy, when linebacker Jovan Belcher shot his girlfriend and then himself. The Chiefs now look to move forward in 2013.
The San Diego Chargers have bottomed out. The six-year period of decline where they fired Marty Schottenheimer for his failure to get to the Super Bowl have predictably ended with a franchise that can no longer even make the playoffs, and a regime change. Mike McCoy is the new head coach entrusted with clearing out the manure left by former GM A.J. Smith and his puppet coach Norv Turner, and McCoy is going to need time.