Tuesday, December 07, 2004
AFC Picks Redux
As I was going through my AFC preview, I added up the total wins I had predicted with the total wins Stu had predicted and realized we had fallen massively short of the amount of total wins required in a football season. I am not sure by how many we missed, but as we are different prognosticators, we simply allowed on of us to be massively wrong. Well that person is me, with regards to the San Diego Chargers. I can’t believe I didn’t predict that Drew Brees was going to tear up the NFL. How stupid of me. Of course as QBs such as Kurt Warner, Brian Griese, and Brees have shown, most QBs can succeed in the right system, at least for a few years.
Why did Stu and I undershoot all of our predictions? Well because most of the teams in the NFL suck. I haven’t seen more than five games all year, but there is no other way around it than to say that the NFL has a lot of bad teams and more importantly, teams with inflated records.
AFC East:
Pats: I predicted 12-4 for New England, in an attempt to show false modesty and bias. Big mistake. Corey Dillon makes us unstoppable, and I would like to note we did not have him against the Steelers in our one loss. Belichick is saving our perfect season for 2005 when I can watch the whole thing. For that I thank him.
Jets: Well I had them starting off 8-4 and losing their last four games to finish 8-8 and out of the playoffs. Now they are 9-3, and probably the weakest 9-3 team of all time. They have one impressive win, at San Diego in week 2. They split with the Bills, beat the Dolphins twice, the Cards, the Browns, the Niners, you get the idea. There last four games are brutal however, but I think they’ll win at least one to finish 10-6 and in the playoffs.
Bills: Winners of three straight with an easy schedule to end the year, including possibly playing Pittsburgh in the last week when they may not have to try…but they still have Bledsoe at QB. An old Bledsoe. Thus I see them blowing a game they should win, such as at the Niners. I predicted 7-9 and I am sticking to it.
Fins: I said they would start hot and then crash. They just crashed. I had them at 6-10, but 3-13 seems more likely
AFC North:
Steelers: I had them at 7-9, anticipating a full year of Tommy Maddox, who I still think would have led this team to 7-9. Had I known they would have a good QB, I would have picked them to win the division, but not to go 14-2, or whatever they will end up. They will still lose to the Pats though
Ravens: Hey I predicted them 9-7 and they are on that road. Look Mom I got one right!
Bengals: Winners of 4 out of 5, this 6-6 team needs to win three out of four to make the playoffs, meaning they either need to win at New England or at Philly. Not gonna happen, despite my optimistic 10-6 prediction
Browns: 4-12! And thank you Kellen Winslow, for contributing so much to my fantasy team this year. What an asshole, breaking his leg and all
AFC South:
Colts: Is Peyton Manning on steroids? No seriously couldn’t this be an explanation for the crazy numbers he is putting up? 60 TD passes should only happen with Michael Vick in Madden 03, and that’s after a few years of building up his rating in franchise mode. 6-10 for the Colts was pretty dumb. Whoops
Titans: I said I originally had them collapsing, and they still might if McNair went down. Which he did. A full year of Billy Volek gives you this, so I don’t feel bad about missing this pick.
Jags: My sleeper team was fulfilling my prognostications so well until Byron Leftwich went down for a few weeks. There schedule isn’t that hard, so I am backing them to win out and make the playoffs at 10-6
Texans: They seemed to have things going in the right direction especially offensively, but struggled to show consistency. 6-10 looks more likely than 8-8. Part of this has to be attributed to a tougher than expected schedule.
AFC West:
Chargers: See above. Whatever
Broncos: I do not like the Broncos, so I tend to underrate them naturally. In the shock of shocks, it appears Jake Plummer will not be winning the league MVP. Whether Peter King picks him to win for the third straight year before the 2005 season remains to be seen. I see them losing there last three games to finish 8-8. Take that Denver.
Chiefs: The Chiefs have scored more points than they have given up, yet are still 8-8. Gunther Cunningham may be a defensive genius, but he can’t play defensive tackle.
Raiders: A potential spoiler team, I had them at 7-9 and am sticking with em.
So I was pretty wrong about the whole league. Luckily, I will ignore such triviality and give you my playoff picks when the time comes.
Why did Stu and I undershoot all of our predictions? Well because most of the teams in the NFL suck. I haven’t seen more than five games all year, but there is no other way around it than to say that the NFL has a lot of bad teams and more importantly, teams with inflated records.
AFC East:
Pats: I predicted 12-4 for New England, in an attempt to show false modesty and bias. Big mistake. Corey Dillon makes us unstoppable, and I would like to note we did not have him against the Steelers in our one loss. Belichick is saving our perfect season for 2005 when I can watch the whole thing. For that I thank him.
Jets: Well I had them starting off 8-4 and losing their last four games to finish 8-8 and out of the playoffs. Now they are 9-3, and probably the weakest 9-3 team of all time. They have one impressive win, at San Diego in week 2. They split with the Bills, beat the Dolphins twice, the Cards, the Browns, the Niners, you get the idea. There last four games are brutal however, but I think they’ll win at least one to finish 10-6 and in the playoffs.
Bills: Winners of three straight with an easy schedule to end the year, including possibly playing Pittsburgh in the last week when they may not have to try…but they still have Bledsoe at QB. An old Bledsoe. Thus I see them blowing a game they should win, such as at the Niners. I predicted 7-9 and I am sticking to it.
Fins: I said they would start hot and then crash. They just crashed. I had them at 6-10, but 3-13 seems more likely
AFC North:
Steelers: I had them at 7-9, anticipating a full year of Tommy Maddox, who I still think would have led this team to 7-9. Had I known they would have a good QB, I would have picked them to win the division, but not to go 14-2, or whatever they will end up. They will still lose to the Pats though
Ravens: Hey I predicted them 9-7 and they are on that road. Look Mom I got one right!
Bengals: Winners of 4 out of 5, this 6-6 team needs to win three out of four to make the playoffs, meaning they either need to win at New England or at Philly. Not gonna happen, despite my optimistic 10-6 prediction
Browns: 4-12! And thank you Kellen Winslow, for contributing so much to my fantasy team this year. What an asshole, breaking his leg and all
AFC South:
Colts: Is Peyton Manning on steroids? No seriously couldn’t this be an explanation for the crazy numbers he is putting up? 60 TD passes should only happen with Michael Vick in Madden 03, and that’s after a few years of building up his rating in franchise mode. 6-10 for the Colts was pretty dumb. Whoops
Titans: I said I originally had them collapsing, and they still might if McNair went down. Which he did. A full year of Billy Volek gives you this, so I don’t feel bad about missing this pick.
Jags: My sleeper team was fulfilling my prognostications so well until Byron Leftwich went down for a few weeks. There schedule isn’t that hard, so I am backing them to win out and make the playoffs at 10-6
Texans: They seemed to have things going in the right direction especially offensively, but struggled to show consistency. 6-10 looks more likely than 8-8. Part of this has to be attributed to a tougher than expected schedule.
AFC West:
Chargers: See above. Whatever
Broncos: I do not like the Broncos, so I tend to underrate them naturally. In the shock of shocks, it appears Jake Plummer will not be winning the league MVP. Whether Peter King picks him to win for the third straight year before the 2005 season remains to be seen. I see them losing there last three games to finish 8-8. Take that Denver.
Chiefs: The Chiefs have scored more points than they have given up, yet are still 8-8. Gunther Cunningham may be a defensive genius, but he can’t play defensive tackle.
Raiders: A potential spoiler team, I had them at 7-9 and am sticking with em.
So I was pretty wrong about the whole league. Luckily, I will ignore such triviality and give you my playoff picks when the time comes.
# posted by Marmaniac @ 4:29 PM 
