Predicting the 2016 NFL Playoff Field

Predicting the 2016 NFL Playoff Field

Well, friends ... it's been a while since you've seen anything new on the 'ole MTSS blog, say like 18 months. We are back just like football, and it is time to get after some playoff predictions.

It’s that time of the year when all the so-called national experts and football pundits take their shot at predicting the field of NFL playoff teams for the upcoming season. It’s a pretty mixed bag, with most of the ”predictions sure to go wrong” as some have labeled it. That’s pretty much the case here, too.

So with all the know-it-alls giving it a shot here in the opening days of the pre-season, I thought I’d throw my hat into the ring. I spend a lot of brainpower thinking about it anyway, so I just as well share it  and make a jerk out of myself like everybody else.

*Division winners

~Wildcard teams

AFC North – Pittsburgh*, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Cleveland

            The Steelers finally ride their offense to the post-season despite the Bell suspension.

AFC South – Houston,* Indianapolis~, Jacksonville, Tennessee

Texans are too talented to not take advantage of a weak division; Colts rebound.

AFC East – New England*, Buffalo, NY Jets, Miami

Despite injuries and suspensions, the Pats ride to another division title.

AFC West – Kansas City*, Oakland~, Denver, San Diego

The Chiefs ACL crew returns with a vengeance; Raiders resurgence gets the playoff berth.

AFC playoff teams – Steelers, Texans, Colts, Patriots, Chiefs, Raiders

NFC North – Green Bay*, Minnesota~, Chicago, Detroit

Packers rebound from a down year to retake the division;  Vikes squeak into playoffs.

NFC South – Carolina*, New Orleans, Atlanta, Tampa Bay

The Panthers take a step back but still rule the weak NFC South easily.

NFC East – Dallas*, Washington, NY Giants, Philadelphia

A healthy Romo/Dez combo plus a dynamic rookie at RB equals big Ws in Dallas.

NFC West – Arizona*, Seattle~, San Francisco, St. Louis

Arians leads the Cards to a division title and Seattle is right there, too.

NFC playoff teams – ­Packers, Vikings, Panthers, Cowboys, Cardinals, Seahawks

 

Super Bowl prediction: Kansas City v Seattle

The Chiefs ride their ball-hawking defense and opportunistic offense into the playoffs and run the table in the AFC. Seattle plays its typical ground and pound, smashmouth style, pounding the NFC to powder. These mirror image teams face off for the Lombardi with the hardware returning to KC after a 47-year absence and giving Head Coach Andy Reid his first ring.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come on … give it a shot. Who do you think will be the surprise and potential flop teams this season?

Until next time, thanks for reading.

Steve

Miller Mock 1.0

This is the week. T-minus four days and counting until the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night. I’ll be heading to Kansas City with my son and fellow Chiefs fanatic, Casey Miller, to watch at the Chiefs Official Draft Party. It’s an event for Season Ticket Holders only. Yeah, that’s right. Can’t wait … 

As I haven’t had the time to do multiple mock drafts this year, Version 1.0 will be the first and the last one. Who knows what will really happen … (actually only one and Jesus isn’t talking). Take a look, and let me know what you think. 

1. Tampa Bay – Jameis Winston, QB Florida State -- loads of off-field issues and on-field potential
2. Tennessee (or whoever ends up in this spot) – Marcus Mariota, QB Oregon -- get the sense many teams are underselling how much they like him; natural leader
3. Jacksonville – Leonard Williams, DL USC -- just might be the best all-around talent in the draft
4. Oakland – Amari Cooper, WR Alabama -- polished route runner and pass catcher; hate to see him end up with the Raiders
5. Washington – Dante Fowler, OLB Florida -- pundits have been raving about his upside; could go anywhere from 3 to 23
6. New York Jets – Bud Dupree, OLB Kentucky -- skyrocketing up the mock draft boards; Jets could go WR here very easily
7. Chicago – Kevin White, WR West Virginia -- only one year of production, but the Bears will run to the podium if he is available
8. Atlanta – Vic Beasley, OLB Clemson -- least talked about of the edge rushers; quietly productive
9. New York Giants – Brandon Scherff, OL Iowa -- consistently mocked to the G-Men; will likely start at guard and then develop into tackle
10. St. Louis – Andrus Peat, OL Stanford -- not really sure what Rams will do here; OL is a need but so is WR
11. Minnesota – DeVante Parker, WR Louisville -- reuniting Teddy B with his college teammate
12. Cleveland – Danny Shelton, NT Washington -- Browns need help all over the field; building the D line is a good place to start
13. New Orleans – Randy Gregory, OLB Nebraska -- not sure if the Big Easy is a great place for Gregory, but he shouldn't be bored
14. Miami – La’el Collins, OL LSU -- Dolphins are still rebuilding the O line; likely starter at guard
15. San Francisco – Arik Armstead, DL Oregon -- nice start to rebuilding the Niners' dominant D
16. Houston – Breshad Perriman, WR Central Florida -- O'Brien replaces Andre with this burner
17. San Diego – D.J. Humphries, OL Florida -- Chargers continue to shore up the O line
18. Kansas City – Eric Kendricks, ILB UCLA -- with no glaring holes, Chiefs can go multiple ways here; CB, WR and ILB are the most logical moves
19. Cleveland – Eddie Goldman, DT Florida State -- with two first-round picks, the Browns go O line and D line
20. Philadelphia – Trae Waynes, CB Michigan State -- the first corner off the board to the Iggles at 20 unless Chip goes crazy again
21. Cincinnati – Shane Ray, OLB Missouri -- the fall for Ray stops with Cincy; the foot injury scared people off
22. Pittsburgh – Marcus Peters, CB Washington -- with key secondary retirements this off-season, the Steelers need to reload the back end of the D
23. Detroit – Malcolm Brown, DT Texas -- beginning the process of replacing Suh and Fairley, Brown is a good start
24. Arizona –Todd Gurley, RB Georgia -- if the Cards strike out on the AP deal, drafting Gurley is a nice consolation prize
25. Carolina – Cedric Ogbuehi, OT Texas -- protecting Cam helps the passing game and the entire offense
26. Baltimore – Maxx Williams, TE Minnesota -- the draft's best TE option by far will help the Ravens in the middle of the field
27. Dallas – Melvin Gordon, RB Wisconsin -- Gordon may step in and start as a rookie behind the best O line in the league
28. Denver – Jake Fisher, OT Oregon -- free-agency defections mean Elway has to shore up the line
29. Indianapolis – Ereck Flowers, OT Miami -- Luck is great, but he can't block and throw the passes; Indy needs help here
30. Green Bay – Kevin Johnson, CB Wake Forrest -- as usual, Thompson stays pat and finds great value late in the round
31. New Orleans – Jalen Collins, CB LSU -- the Saints need back-end help, and Collins fits the scheme
32. New England – Landon Collins, S Alabama -- who really cares who they get? It's the Patriots for crying out loud. They'll be fine.

How does your mock look different from this?
Thanks for reading.
Steve

2014 Playoff Predictions

Wow ... it's amazing how time flies! It's been almost exactly a year since I posted to this blog. My last post was the 2013 playoff predictions, and I'm happy to say that my percentage turned out pretty good -- 7 of 12 playoff qualifiers correct (58 percent). Not great, but not awful.

Anyway, here we go with this year's edition. As everybody knows, the NFL has new teams in and new teams out of the playoffs every year, so chalk picks just will not cut it. Shoot holes in these if you think you know better. 

AFC

• North: Steelers

• South: Colts

• East: Patriots

• West: Broncos

• Wildcards: Bengals, Ravens

Comment: The conference will continue to be dominated by a couple strong teams in the Patriots and Broncos, with the Colts continuing to improve. I see bounce-back years for both Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

NFC

• North: Packers

• South:Saints

• East:Eagles

• West:Seahawks

• Wildcards: Bears, Cardinals

Comment: Problem with the NFC is that the best teams just beat the tar out of each other all season in the West. The Niners will drop off as will the Panthers. See the Cards continuing to rise and a good year for the Saints. Just too much offense.

Super Bowl Pick -- Patriots against the Packers. Aaron Rodgers wins league MVP, SuperBowl MVP and Hoodie Bill comes in second place once again. Maybe he should find a new way to cheat.

Thanks for reading. 

Steve