Were my 2010 NFL Predictions Any Good? (SPOILER: No They Were Not)

Back in August, I posted about some magazines' predictions on who would win each division in the 2010 NFL season. I also posted my own predictions, on the theory that "[i]n several months we'll see whether or not the big-time magazines should have drafted me[.]" But in order to "have a little fun and distinguish my picks" I stated that I was "gambling big in the AFC West and NFC East and (even bigger) in the NFC West." So let's see how everybody did.

AFC EAST

Sporting News: Jets

Pro Football Weekly: Patriots

Jhaeman: Patriots

Actual Winner: Patriots

Bill Belichick continues to impress. Year after year the Pats dominate the league, even with turnover in personnel and his coaching assistants becoming head coaches elsewhere. If only Belichick was the Browns head coach. Oh wait, he was.

AFC NORTH

Sporting News: Ravens

Pro Football Weekly: Ravens

Jhaeman: Steelers

Actual Winner: Steelers

Right now I look pretty smart. Don't worry, it won't last.

AFC SOUTH

Sporting News: Colts

Pro Football Weekly: Colts

Jhaeman: Titans

Actual Winner: Colts

There was a point about half-way through the season where the Colts were playing dismally and the Titans were 5-2, and then the Titans imploded and Payton Manning got his act together.

AFC WEST

Sporting News: Chargers

Pro Football Weekly: Chargers

Jhaeman: Raiders

Actual Winner: Chiefs

Nobody got this one right. I picked the Raiders on the thought that Jason Campbell would improve their passing game, which was kinda true, but not enough to overcome the surprising Chiefs. The Sporting News should get some credit for predicting the Chiefs would go 9-7, only one game off the 10-6 they actually posted.

NFC EAST

Sporting News: Cowboys

Pro Football Weekly: Cowboys

Jhaeman: Redskins

Actual Winner: Eagles

Well, we all whiffed on this one. I for one completely failed to foresee the Donovan McNabb/Mike Shanahan conflict.

NFC NORTH

Sporting News: Vikings

Pro Football Weekly: Packers

Jhaeman: Packers

Actual Winner: Bears

Even though they won the division and have a first-round bye, I still don't think the Bears are very good. I'm stubborn that way.

NFC SOUTH

Sporting News: Falcons

Pro Football Weekly: Saints

Jhaeman: Saints

Actual Winner: Falcons

The NFC South put it together in 2010, with the Falcons, Saints, and Buccaneers all winning at least 10 games each.

NFC WEST

Sporting News: 49ers

Pro Football Weekly: 49ers

Jhaeman: Rams

Actual Winner: Seahawks

I was *this* close to having my biggest longshot prediction pay off.

THE TALLY

As I noted back in August, there are four teams in each division so "pure random chance would result in about a 25% success rate" in picking teams. Let's see how everyone did.

Sporting News: 2/8 (Colts, Falcons): 25%

Pro Football Weekly: 2/8 (Patriots, Colts): 25%

Jhaeman: 2/8 (Patriots, Steelers): 25%

THE BOTTOM LINE: Nobody knows anything. But I know just as little as professional sportswriters do.

MISCELLANEOUS: For Super Bowl predictions, the Sporting News picked the Jets beating the Cowboys, Pro Football Weekly picked the Packers beating the Colts, and I picked the Titans playing the Packers. PFW still has a chance for validation.