NFC Contenders

And the logic behind this is?

The Packers lose their all world QB and that improves their record? Lol

And the Vikings go from 13 to 7 wins based on what? Lack of improvement? Yes, firing the dumbest DC in the league and replacing him with one of the better ones doesn't meet the "improvement criteria", apparently.

#whatabuffoon

Seriously, I like it better when the talking heads write us off, it always makes winning sweeter.

Is that logic or opinion?

I was using the rest of the divisions as a way to see how this guy is analyzing teams vs throwing out "takes". He has some very non-traditional views of how things will go. A few highlights:

Patriots - Bill O'Brien is a step up from Matt Patricia, well, technically yes, but beard on a sumo suit is also a step up from Matt Patricia. But, in his view, the Patriots will sweep the AFC East and knock the Bills, Dolphins, and Jets out of the playoffs. While I love making fun of Aaron Rodgers, the Patriots being the class of the AFC East is a stretch to me.  But that's the horse he's going to bet on.

Titans - His justification for Titans over jaguars is: "I also think that if there’s a team that can play the Jaguars tough twice a year and keep the ball out of Trevor Lawrence’s hands, it’s going to be the Titans."  Which seems to ignore that the Jaguars swept the Titans and in those two games won the turnover battle 5-2, so keeping the ball away from Trevor Lawrence isn't a thing the Titans excel at.  Still... they do have Ryan Tannehill going for them...

Chiefs - Really interesting for the pick he doesn't make.  He raises risks about the Chiefs, likes the Chargers, but keeps the Chiefs over the Chargers despite picking the Chargers to win the AFC West in 2022.  I actually think the Chargers odds are better this year than 2022.

Raiders - He says "The Raiders, I think, will be O.K. They won’t be disastrously bad so long as Jimmy Garoppolo can sustain a whole season in an offense he’s familiar with." So... the line between "OK" and "disaster" is Jimmy Garoppolo having a great season?   And he went with "OK"? Ok.

Eagles - He says the Eagles will go 2-4 in their division.  Cowboys have a lot of good players, so Cowboys over Eagles alone isn't that spicy of a take, but 10-7 with a 2-4 divisional record has the Eagles as the #7 seed.  Very down on them.

Packers - He says "If I had to do this exercise over again, I would probably have the Packers win the division. Jordan Love looks really good." So Pre-season makes you good? Love went 21/33 for 193yd and 3 TDs (not terrible). That's a 63.6% completion rate and 5.8 yards per attempt. NFL average last year was 64.2% and 6.1 yards per attempt. So Love is putting up slightly below average stats in a situation where most good QBs aren't even playing.

Rams - In the first 5 weeks, he says the Rams will beat the Seahawks, 49ers, Colts, Eagles (While losing to the Bengals) - that's coming out hot.  

I don't think I'm going to lose any sleep about this guy saying the Vikings will be bad.

Love the takedown of Conor Orr.

The Lions will be good on offense and their defense could be better with better corners. They seem to have a good Head Coach and OC. Green Bay has good coaches too, but Jordan Love is not proven. The Bears are usually tough in Chicago, and I have no idea how good or bad they could be. Fields can run; can he become a good NFL QB like Hurts did?

Philly was so good on Offense and Defense in 2022. They and the 49ers were the standard in the NFC, and Dallas has great talent. But there are surprises every year. What NFC team surprises and competes?

My take: The Vikings are not the Zimmer Vikings, so 9-8, or 7-10 is less likely. KO leads and Flores adds to this leadership advantage. KO gets more out of Cousins - more wins. The Donashell defense got less out of guys than possible; Flores will get more impact plays out of many players: Smith, Metellus, Pace, Asamoah, Hunter, Davenport... What if the CBs don't suck? It would be ironic if KO, KAM, and now Flores get more from the Viking CBs than Zimmer did at the end.

The Defense will be better than many think, and the offense will be better too. The Vikings can win the NFC North, and if key players develop, they can win playoff games too. It's still Optimism Season. September is when reality hits.

KO will be better in Year 2; he calls better plays in key situations, and this makes for many more good drives instead of stalled ones in the 2nd and 3rd Quarter. Cousins is better statistically. The IOL's pass blocking is better. Addison separates better than Thielen and makes the passing offense top five. The run game is better with Oliver and without Cook. RB running and receiving by committee works.

There will be more wins by 7+, the Vikings will still win many close games, and they are less likely to get blown out by Philly, Detroit, or Green Bay. (last year) The wild cards are the young players that need to step up and injuries.

This would be ideal. I doubt we win 13 games again. Honestly I think 10 would be impressive though. I would be happy though if we saw more no doubt wins and got some close ones against good teams and played well in losses against other good teams. 

Had to pull this back up.

Cowboys didn't get a single vote.



It's obviously super early, but they might be the second-best team in the conference this year. Puke. I hope they fall apart per usual.

*fingers crossed*

Interesting tid:



Nailed it on the Giants, though!

...and the correct answer is always the Vikings, as far as who scares us the most. Always.

I guess all of the Madden sims saying the Cowboys were the best were right!! My simulator also thinks they are the 2nd best team in the NFC behind the Eagles, and 3rd best in the NFL.

I still feel good about my 49ers pick, but it's them and the Cowboys right now as the scariest teams. The Eagles could certainly get whipped into shape and be nasty in the second half but I foresee some losses coming for them soon.