This post is just going to be regarding my W/L predictions from the preseason and during the regular season.
Let’s start off with some less than good predictions. The below is my preseason playoff predictions and the accompanying records. (bold is correct and the regular text is just bad) Getting half right is better than last year (by 1) but nailing a lot of their records besides the Ravens was good to see. I feel a sense of improvement from my rookie year predictions.
Browns: 11-5
Ravens: 9-7*
Chargers: 10-6
Broncos: 9-7
Texans: 10-6*
Patriots: 12-4*
Cowboys: 11-5
Vikings: 11-5*
Rams: 12-4
Seahawks: 11-5*
Saints: 12-4*
Falcons: 11-5
Let’s get into the big boy, my preseason W'/L predictions. (* denotes a playoff prediction). The scale is very basic. A zero game difference results in an A+, (+-1) game would result in an A, (+-2) games would be a B, then C, D, F respectively.
AFC North
Browns: 11-5* F
Ravens: 9-7* F
Steelers: 7-9 A
Bengals: 5-11 C
Total: C-
AFC West
Chargers: 10-6* F
Broncos: 9-7* B
Chiefs: 8-8 D
Raiders: 4-12 C
Total: C-
AFC South
Texans: 10-6* A+
Jaguars: 8-8 B
Colts: 7-9 A+
Titans: 6-10 C
Total: B+
AFC East
Patriots: 12-4* A+
Jets: 7-9 A+
Bills: 6-10 D
Dolphins: 4-12 A
Total: A-
NFC East
Cowboys: 11-5* D
Eagles: 8-8 A
Redskins: 6-10 C
Giants: 5-11 A
Total: B-
NFC North
Vikings: 11-5* A
Packers: 10-6 C
Bears: 9-7 A
Lions: 4-12 A
Total: B+
NFC West
Rams: 12-4* C
Seahawks: 11-5* A+
49ers: 7-9 F
Cardinals: 5-11 A
Total: C+
NFC South
Saints: 12-4* A
Falcons: 11-5* D
Panthers: 6-10 A
Buccaneers: 3-13 D
Total: B-
I feel semi bad about getting an F grade on the Ravens and the 49ers since I picked the Ravens to make the playoffs and gave the 49ers a chance to be good (if you look at my bold predictions). The Falcons are a troubled franchise and I really though thier second half this year was going to be them all season. Alas it was not mean’t to be. Be good or be bad don’t be a 7-9 guy for the foreseeable future. The NFC North should have been better for me if I just picked the Packers to make the playoffs over the Falcons. The AFC is usually a gimme even if they have 2 playoff teams this year. I don’t need to pat myself on the back for nailing the Pats and the Jets.
I’ve also listed a truncated version of the above so it’s easier to see how well I was able to predict each division.
AFC North: C-
AFC West: C-
AFC South: B+
AFC East: A-
NFC East: B-
NFC North: B+
NFC West: C+
NFC South: B-
Most Correct
AFC East
Most Incorrect
AFC North
No. of A+: 5.00
No. of A: 15.00
No. of B: 2.00
Good No: 17.00
No. of C: 6.00
No. D: 5.00
No. of F: 4.00
Bad No: 9.00
(Don’t count C's for either)
Finally let’s get into how well I predicted each teams success over the course of the year. I’ve listed how many times I predicted if a team would win or lose each week. You can easily recognize the rubric I’ve used for grading myself but it starts at 16 or 17 games correct equating to an “A+” then 15 games would be an “A” then 14 would be an “A-” and so on all the way down to 4 games or less which results in an F.
AFC North
Steelers: 8-8 C-
Ravens: 12-4 B
Browns: 10-6 C+
Bengals: 12-4 B
Total: 42-22 B-
AFC West
Chargers: 8-8 C-
Broncos: 10-6 C+
Chiefs: 11-5 B-
Raiders: 10-6 C+
Total: 39-25 C+
AFC South
Jaguars: 10-6 C+
Titans: 8-8 C-
Texans: 5-11 D-
Colts: 7-9 D+
Total: 30-34 C-
AFC East
Patriots: 12-4 B
Bills: 13-3 B+
Jets: 10-6 C+
Dolphins: 10-6 C+
Totals 45-19 B-
NFC East
Giants: 11-5 B-
Eagles: 11-5 B-
Redskins: 11-5 B-
Cowboys: 11-5 B-
Totals: 44-20 B-
NFC North
Vikings: 11-5 B-
Packers: 12-4 B
Bears: 10-6 C+
Lions: 12-3 B
Total: 45-18 B-
NFC West
Rams: 9-7 C
49ers: 9-7 C
Seahawks: 13-3 B+
Cardinals: 9-6 C
Total: 40-23 C+
NFC South
Falcons: 6-10 D
Saints: 11-5 B-
Panthers: 9-7 C
Tampa Bay: 9-7 C
Total: 35-29 C
Nothing over 13 is not great but the fact that I have a lot of 11 correct is encouraging. I’m surprised I was so wrong about the AFC South and the Texans considering I predicted them exactly correct in the preseason. I’ll grab more recaps for tomorrow for sure. It will likely be my bold prediction stuff.