Imagine coming off a dominant Super Bowl win, bring back the majority of your starters and then find yourself as the underdog in your own division. That’s life for the Seattle Seahawks coming into this season.
So the big question for this season is: Are the champs being disrespected or are the Rams worthy of this type of hype?
NFC EAST
Philadelphia Eagles
As much as there is turmoil behind the scenes and the departure of A.J. Green to deal with, the Eagles still have great talent in some key places. The defence should remain in at least the league’s top 10 and the offensive line is excellent when healthy. Now, Jalen Hurts just has to lead the way in the passing game.
Prediction: 11-6
Dallas Cowboys
This has been a more muted off-season from the always-loud Cowboys, which might mean they have some quiet confidence. As long as the team’s defence improves from historically bad to around average, that should put Dallas in playoff contention.
Prediction: 10-7*
Washington Commanders
The Commies need to keep Jayden Daniels upright and the early indicators about this offensive line are not promising. The defence should be OK at best, but memories of that promising rookie season from the QB are starting to fade as the franchise fails to properly build around him.
Prediction: 6-11
New York Giants
One of the safer picks that you can make is that Jaxson Dart, Cam Skattebo and Malik Nabers will have more trips to the injury tent this season than team wins. New coach John Harbaugh already has some critics and the overall confidence isn’t as high as many probably hoped when he was hired.
Prediction: 5-12
NFC NORTH
Detroit Lions
The Lions certainly felt the brain drain last season after losing both coordinators, but should be better off this year. The team’s offence started to pick things up down the stretch and the defence also should improve as the season moves along and key pieces return from injury.
Prediction: 10-7
Chicago Bears
Da Bears look to have found a true franchise QB in Caleb Williams and they’ll certainly need him to help bail them out of games again this season. An already poor defensive doesn’t look to have improved and this team should see some regression in their outlier areas from last year. We are still counting on coach Ben Johnson to lead them to a playoff spot, though.
Prediction: 10-7*
Green Bay Packers
They’ll be missing Micah Parsons for a while, lost some receiving talent and the Josh Jacobs situation is very troubling. Jordan Love will need to play at MVP level for this team to take to the division and he hasn’t approached that with any consistency.
Prediction: 9-8
Minnesota Vikings
Given how the Vikes played last season with their bevy of middling QBs, Kyler Murray could actually be a big improvement. The defence will once again be a pain to face and the receiving options are aplenty. The only problem is that Murray has been known to either get injured or slump later in seasons and JJ McCarthy seems like a lost cause if called upon.
Prediction: 8-9
NFC SOUTH
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
To say that Baker Mayfield got banged up last year would be underselling it. He showed that he’s capable of playing at a near-MVP-calibre level and with most of the team’s key pieces still around, there’s no reason the Bucs can’t return to the top of this division.
Prediction: 10-7
New Orleans Saints
The combination of a weak division and some growth from sophomore QB Tyler Shough should have the Saints floating around .500 this season.
Prediction: 8-9
Atlanta Falcons
While there’s a new coach in town and exciting weapons on offence, the QB situation with Michael Penix and Tua Tagovailoa is just plain awful and the defence will again have trouble pressuring opponents.
Prediction: 5-12
Carolina Panthers
Last year’s surprising run to the playoffs and tight game against the Rams aren’t something we see as repeatable. The jury’s still out on Bryce Young and the overall roster talent and coaching staff aren’t too inspiring.
Prediction: 5-12
NFC WEST
Los Angeles Rams
The stars will be shining for L.A. this season and if this is QB Matt Stafford’s last hurrah, there’s a good chance he could go out on top. Adding Myles Garrett to the defence only makes the Rams even more dangerous – just one of the many reasons they’re the prohibitive Super Bowl favourite.
Prediction: 13-4
Seattle Seahawks
The champs should be in for another powerhouse campaign, but will have to settle for a wild-card spot just behind the rival Rams. The defence in Seattle should once again be amongst the league’s best, but the offence could take a step back with the departures of OC Klint Kubiak and RB Kenneth Walker.
Prediction: 12-5*
San Francisco 49ers
Electric substation theories aside, this team just can’t stay healthy and there’s a lot of key players that are getting up there in terms of age. While it’s totally possible the Niners can keep things together, this might also be a season from hell, so we’ll split the difference.
Prediction: 9-8
Arizona Cardinals
The Cards may have some interesting pieces on offence, but the defence remains a liability and Jacoby Brissett is an uninspiring QB to say the least. Being in this powerhouse division doesn’t help, either, so a very high pick should await Arizona.
Prediction: 3-14