Post-Draft Early Regular Season Prediction Thread

[Turnobili]

6 hours ago, true2form said:

He had a bad snap, maybe two at the start of the game.  Everyone remembers that, not that he settled in and played perfectly fine the rest of the game.

nah. he had multiple throughout the game and into the second half.

but snap issues aside, he was still beat way too often on his blocks. it was a bad performance.

if you want to look past it because it was 1.5 seasons ago and he's possibly shown much better in practice since then, gotten stronger, etc... then sure. you can write off the bad game, but dont revise history

Edited May 6, 2021 by Turnobili

[true2form]

19 hours ago, Turnobili said:

nah. he had multiple throughout the game and into the second half.

but snap issues aside, he was still beat way too often on his blocks. it was a bad performance.

if you want to look past it because it was 1.5 seasons ago and he's possibly shown much better in practice since then, gotten stronger, etc... then sure. you can write off the bad game, but dont revise history

I was at the game, I'm not. 

I thought we were in trouble when he went in for Hudson.  Then he had a terrible snap and I thought we were doomed.  After that he was fine.  I didn't go back and grade every snap he took, but the eye test at the game was perfectly fine.

[Turnobili]

1 hour ago, true2form said:

I was at the game, I'm not. 

I thought we were in trouble when he went in for Hudson.  Then he had a terrible snap and I thought we were doomed.  After that he was fine.  I didn't go back and grade every snap he took, but the eye test at the game was perfectly fine.

then i just don't know what to say. i've looked back at footage of that game. even on our highlight plays he seemed to get beat a disproportionate amount of the time

[Turnobili]

on the subject...

 

[BayRaider]

4 minutes ago, BayRaider said:

This is a rough draft. I expect a lot of it to change around August, and especially after schedules come out. This is not me looking at schedules or going game by game (which is how you should do your predictions, spending your time and going game by game and reaching a final record). 

 

AFC:

AFC North: 

Baltimore Ravens 11-6

Cleveland Browns 11-6

Cincinatti Bengals 7-10

Pittsburgh Steelers 5-12

AFC South:

Indianapolis Colts 12-5

Tennessee Titans 10-7

Jacksonville Jaguars 7-10

Houston Texans 2-15

AFC East:

Miami Dolphins 12-5

Buffalo Bills 10-7

New England Patriots 7-10

New York Jets 5-12

AFC West:

Kansas City Chiefs 13-4

Las Vegas Raiders 9-8

Los Angeles Chargers 8-9

Denver Broncos 8-9

 

NFC:

NFC North:

Green Bay Packers 13-4

Chicago Bears 10-7

Minnesota Vikings 8-9

Detroit Lions 3-14

NFC South:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12-5

Atlanta Falcons 11-6

Carolina Panthers 6-11

New Orleans Saints 6-11

NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys 10-7

Washington Football Team 9-8

Philadelphia Eagles 4-13

New York Giants 4-13

NFC West:

San Francisco 49ers 13-4

Los Angeles Rams 11-6

Seattle Seahawks 8-9

Arizona Cardinals 7-10

Make sure your total equals 272 wins like mine does. Everyone usually goes like 30 frickin games over that win total and every team in the NFL has a good record or .500. 

AFC Seeds:

Bye:

1) Kansas City Chiefs 13-4

Non-Bye:

2) Miami Dolphins 12-5

3) Indianapolis Colts 12-5

4) Baltimore Ravens 11-6

5) Cleveland Browns 11-6

6) Tennessee Titans 10-7

7) Buffalo Bills 10-7

 

NFC Seeds:

Bye:

1) San Francisco 49ers 13-4

Non-Bye:

2) Green Bay Packers 13-4

3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12-5

4) Dallas Cowboys 10-7

5) Los Angeles Rams 11-6

6) Atlanta Falcons 11-6

7) Chicago Bears 10-7

 

AFC Playoff Games:

Wildcard Round: 

(7) Buffalo Bills at (2) Miami Dolphins

(6) Tennessee Titans at (3) Indianapolis Colts

(5) Cleveland Browns at (4) Baltimore Ravens

Divisional Round:

(6) Tennesse Titans at (1) Kansas City Chiefs

(4) Baltimore Ravens at (2) Miami Dolphins

Conference Championship:

(2) Miami Dolphins at (1) Kansas City Chiefs

 

NFC Playoffs:

Wildcard Round:

(7) Chicago Bears at (2) Green Bay Packers

(6) Atlanta Falcons at (3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers

(5) Los Angeles Rams at (4) Dallas Cowboys

Divisional Round:

(5) Los Angeles Rams at (1) San Francisco 49ers

(3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers at (2) Green Bay Packers

Conference Championship:

(5) Los Angeles Rams at (2) Green Bay Packers

Super Bowl: Green Bay Packers over Miami Dolphins 37-27

This is IF Aaron Rodgers stays.

Just FYI, predicted Bucs over Chiefs all year long before, during, and after the Regular Season. Let's see if I can do it again. 

Also not buying into this strange Charger hype. Their defense isn't going to be good just because they hired Staley. And them choking didn't have much to do with Lynn, they've been doing that for 50 years. Also, would not be surprised if Herbert goes in a bit of a sophomore slump. 

My Predictions from NFL General. 

[big_palooka]

23 hours ago, BayRaider said:

My Predictions from NFL General. 

I think you are way to low on: Saints, Steelers, Patriots. Those are 3 of the best coaches in football. I get you not buying their QB situations, but they win other ways and get the best out of their teams.

Saints have a Superbowl caliber defense, an elite Oline and great skill players. They won with Taysom Hill running their offense.

Pats improved the roster overall and are the best coached in football. Steelers, I could see falling off if Ben is finally done and it shows. 

What's odd to me is you have the Dolphins QB'd by Tua winning the division. I don't buy Flores quite yet to give him that honor. 

 

[BayRaider]

1 hour ago, big_palooka said:

I think you are way to low on: Saints, Steelers, Patriots. Those are 3 of the best coaches in football. I get you not buying their QB situations, but they win other ways and get the best out of their teams.

Saints have a Superbowl caliber defense, an elite Oline and great skill players. They won with Taysom Hill running their offense.

Pats improved the roster overall and are the best coached in football. Steelers, I could see falling off if Ben is finally done and it shows. 

What's odd to me is you have the Dolphins QB'd by Tua winning the division. I don't buy Flores quite yet to give him that honor. 

 

 

23 hours ago, Blackstar12 said:

Whoa your really high on the Dolphins. You think Tua improves that much?

 

22 hours ago, BayRaider said:

I don’t think he needs to be that good. Just be about the 13-15 range of QBs. We’ll see if he can make the jump. I think Flores is a spectacular coach and that defense will be Top 5-6. Also the Dolphins Offensive Unit outside of Tua looks fantastic. I’m a believer in Gaskin and Austin Jackson. Fuller and Waddle will take the top off opening the underneath all day long for Parker and Gesicki as well. If you see the Chiefs Offense without Tyreek Hill, and Texans Offense without Fuller (pre-Cooks), the difference is HUGE. Not even the same offenses anymore and a shell of their former selves. 
 

As for the Bills, I like them. Easily a Top 5 team last year. However, their 13-3 wasn’t exactly “efficient”. It was a bit of a sloppy 13-3 and inconsistent play, although a good 13-3 team still. I feel the Dolphins are building a very efficient team, and well-oiled. 
 

Plus a team not many are looking at makes the Super Bowl more often than not. 

 

[BayRaider]

I will have to re-evaluate the Saints again before final predictions, as that was one of my toughest calls tbh, but I do think their D won’t be as good this year (but still extremely good), and I think the Falcons are gonna be leaps and bounds better than last year. That defense was really hitting it’s stride towards the end of last season. Also, Dan Quinn was holding back that team. I have believed they need an offensive HC for a long time. I don’t care what anyone says, Matt Ryan is a Top 10 QB. Look at his 2016 and 2018 seasons when he had good coordinators. Dirk Koetter is one of the worst OC’s I have ever seen. Absolutely awful. Sucks Ryan had to put up with that guy for two years, and no, I don’t care if he said nice things about him. 
 

Falcon offense should be absolutely murderous, and defense improved. 
 

As for the Pats, I will never doubt Billy B. This is purely QB stuff here. Cam Newton is toast. Horrible beyond words. And Mac Jones isn’t doing squat his rookie year. 

Edited May 9, 2021 by BayRaider

[agarcia34]

I think they have a legit shot at going 10-7.........IF the offensive line play is at least average. I been bullish on the defense the whole time and I think we will see a very improved defense. It wont be top 10 but I can see a nice middle of the pack defense. 

My main concern is Andre James out out all the changes on the offensive line. I think Good/Simpson at RG is a wash compared to what they had at RG last year and anyone with a pulse is better then Young at RT. I expect some growing pains with Leatherwood like most rookies, but this is a team that plays with two TE's a lot of the time so if he struggles with pass protection early on they will have the ability to do somethings to cover it up. This is gonna be a team that will go back to being a run first team. They got away from it last year cause with Hudson, Gabe and Young they just couldn't get a push to get it going. I would expect a lot of run and playaction. 

 

[mct288]

19 minutes ago, agarcia34 said:

I think they have a legit shot at going 10-7.........IF the offensive line play is at least average. I been bullish on the defense the whole time and I think we will see a very improved defense. It wont be top 10 but I can see a nice middle of the pack defense. 

My main concern is Andre James out out all the changes on the offensive line. I think Good/Simpson at RG is a wash compared to what they had at RG last year and anyone with a pulse is better then Young at RT. I expect some growing pains with Leatherwood like most rookies, but this is a team that plays with two TE's a lot of the time so if he struggles with pass protection early on they will have the ability to do somethings to cover it up. This is gonna be a team that will go back to being a run first team. They got away from it last year cause with Hudson, Gabe and Young they just couldn't get a push to get it going. I would expect a lot of run and playaction. 

 

This is basically the biggest unknown. We saw him in a game like 2 years ago, so we really have no idea what he is. It also just so happens that it's probably the most important OL position that is being replaced. I'm honestly not concerned about replacing OG, as those positions should be probably the cheapest starters you have anyway. RT doesn't concern me b/c I'm looking for Leatherwood to just be better than Young/Parker since TB wasn't really around anyway. But C is a pretty important one to change. If he can just be good enough for it not to matter much, we'll be in good shape. He doesn't have to excel, just not be noticeable. I have a low bar, yet I'm oddly uncomfortable with it. But we do have 3 guys that can play center right now. We just need one guy to be serviceable, and I'm OK with this whole mission of cutting the OL cost in half.

[BayRaider]

5 minutes ago, mct288 said:

This is basically the biggest unknown. We saw him in a game like 2 years ago, so we really have no idea what he is. It also just so happens that it's probably the most important OL position that is being replaced. I'm honestly not concerned about replacing OG, as those positions should be probably the cheapest starters you have anyway. RT doesn't concern me b/c I'm looking for Leatherwood to just be better than Young/Parker since TB wasn't really around anyway. But C is a pretty important one to change. If he can just be good enough for it not to matter much, we'll be in good shape. He doesn't have to excel, just not be noticeable. I have a low bar, yet I'm oddly uncomfortable with it. But we do have 3 guys that can play center right now. We just need one guy to be serviceable, and I'm OK with this whole mission of cutting the OL cost in half.

Agreed, Center is so important, I’ve always held it in high regard and as equal importance as RT at least, and miles more important than your G’s. It’s not just blocking, the Center is like the Catcher in Baseball, needs absolute flawless communication with the QB, and has to be extremely intelligent. 

[Darbsk]

Agree with most that we could be anywhere from 6-11 to 11-6 (just feels wrong typing that 17 games). I've thought about it for several days going back and fore but voted 10-7 and here is why:

Offence should be better with the one big question mark being the OL and I think a lot of that is mitigated by the fact that Incognito and Brown barely played last year so we have a big drop in skill at centre but should get a boost at LG and be a wash at RT with the distinct possibility of being an upgrade. Injuries are the real possibility that might derail the whole thing but you can say that about any position. WRs should be better with Ruggs and Edwards contributing more though Brown might offer less than Agholor (though he's a more resumed player). TE will actually receive a boost with Witten gone and RB will be a slight uptick. Offensive production should be near where we were last season but we should improve redzone efficiency as that was poor last year. I expect Carr to have another big year.

Defensively we are comparing to the worst statistical D in franchise history, how can we not improve 😁. We have brought in an outside rusher and I keep saying it but Ferrell I'm very confident will have a big year........I'll go out on a limb with that prediction. I don't see a sure fire answer at DT though Thomas, Jefferson and Irving will be better than Collins. This could still be an issue though I really rated Solomon Thomas in college so I'm intrigued to see him at his natural 3T role. 

I fully expect Gus Bradley's scheme to be easier for the players, I like the snippets and titbits I've heard from him and expect for our D to improve a little. I anticipate around a #25 unit which although still below average I think with a genuine FS and some more pass rush we may have a year with disproportionate turnovers to our overall efficiency, kind of like 2016. I can't recall my initial thoughts when we signed Guenther so don't want to say I was negative at that signing but I'm genuinely optimistic with the D now we have Gus Bradley in charge. 

We have a number of players who are on a big year play wise after showing flashes but ultimately not living up to expectations or underwhelming so far;

Guys I see being given a new lease of life after underwhelming: Ferrell, Edwards, Littleton, Ruggs, Irving.

Guys I see failing to live up to the hope: Arnette, Abram, James, Thomas, Robertson.

 

 

Edited May 10, 2021 by Darbsk

[NYRaider]

On 5/7/2021 at 4:02 PM, BayRaider said:

My Predictions from NFL General. 

Tua sucks buddy.

[BayRaider]

28 minutes ago, NYRaider said:

Tua sucks buddy.

Good thing I think the defense is going to be Top 5, Offensive Cast is spectacular, and Flores a top notch coach. 

[MrOaktown_56]

1 hour ago, BayRaider said:

Good thing I think the defense is going to be Top 5, Offensive Cast is spectacular, and Flores a top notch coach. 

Agree with most of that, but the QB gap with Allen/Tua is pretty big rn. Obviously, Tua can get better, but the Bills are no slouch either.