Now that I have thoroughly analyzed the hypothetical college football season, I have decided to engage in a similar analysis for the National Football League. Last season, I published my first set of NFL predictions on my blog, and given the popularity those articles garnered, I thought it would be worth doing them again.. Much like my college preview, I have gone through and analyzed every NFL team’s regular season and postseason, as well as selected my disappointment and surprise teams and upsets to watch out for.
Without further ado, here are the teams I am predicting to surprise this season. These teams are ordered in the relative disparity between my picks and the experts average while also taking into account the significance of each pick.
| Surprise Teams | My Predictions: | Experts Predictions: | |
| 1 | Seattle | 1st in NFC West; Projected Record: 13-4; 2nd in Power Rankings | 1st in NFC West: Projected Record: 12-5; 8th in Power Rankings |
| 2 | Minnesota | 2nd in NFC North; Projected Record: 10-7; 12th in Power Rankings | 2nd in NFC North; Projected Record: 7-10; 18th in Power Rankings |
| 3 | Miami | 2nd in AFC East; Projected Record: 9-8; 13th in Power Rankings | 3rd in AFC East; Projected Record: 9-8; 16th in Power Rankings |
| 4 | New Orleans | 2nd in NFC South; Projected Record: 9-8; 15th in Power Rankings | 2nd in NFC South; Projected Record: 7-10; 19th in Power Rankings |
| 5 | Las Vegas | 3rd in AFC West; Projected Record: 8-9; 18th in Power Rankings | 4th in AFC West; Projected Record: 6-11; 21st in Power Rankings |
| 6 | Houston | 3rd in NFC South; Projected Record: 4-13; 30th in Power Rankings | 4th in AFC South; Projected Record: 1-16; 32nd in Power Rankings |
As you can see, I am picking Seattle to overcome their offseason drama with Russell Wilson to win the NFC Championship. This is a team that has been one of the best in the league over the past few seasons and for whatever reason, everyone seems to be ignoring them this year.
Ramblings of the Ultimate Sports Sentimentalist 