Tuesday, September 4, 2012

NFL 2012 Division Champion Predictions

It's that time of year again!  Here are my picks for division champions in 2012.  Last year, you must recall, I was correct on 5 out of the 8 divisions and thus proved my conclusive superiority over Football Outsiders, Lindy's, and NebraskaSteve:

"OVERALL

Lindy's: 4/8 (50%) (pretty good results, especially for being the only one to pick Baltimore in the AFC North)
Football Outsiders: 4/8 (50%) (also good, with bonus points for being the only one to foresee SF's rise in the NFC West)
Steve: 3/8 (37.5%) (still better than random chance, though worst of the four pickers here; tempted to subtract points for picking Indianapolis and St. Louis, teams that went a combined 4-28 on the year ;)
Me: 5/8 (62.5%) (a big pat on my own back for Denver)

Thus, I am left with only one conclusion: Where my job at, Lindy's and Pro Football Outsiders?!?!"


Here's what I have in line for 2012, having watched far fewer preseason games and lacking time to include the predictions of professionals:

AFC EAST:  Patriots  I think the Jets and Bills will be better, but I don't see the Pats imploding yet.
AFC WEST:  Chargers  This is a tough one.  Most pundits will pick the Broncos with Manning, and I can't blame them.
AFC NORTH:  Bengals  Going out a limb here, but I liked what I saw last season.
AFC SOUTH:  Texans  Though I really liked what I saw of Jake Locker and the Titans in preseason.

NFC EAST:  Cowboys  Okay, okay, this year they put it together!
NFC WEST:  49ers  Though I think the Seahawks will contend.
NFC NORTH:  Packers  Extraordinarily awesome.
NFC SOUTH:  Panthers  If the defense steps up, I think the offense is there.

4 comments:

Steve - an Av in Nebr said...

Who shall I pick from the dart board this year???

AFC East - NE
AFC North - Balt
AFC South - Houston
AFC West - Denver (oh how I hate saying that)

NFC East - NYG
NFC North - GB
NFC South - NO
NFC West - SF

Steve - an Av in Nebr said...

Speaking of Jake Locker though, I can't help but remember him against the Huskers his senior year. Going into that first game he had all this hype around him, about being so good and an NHL quarterback and Heisman potential and so on but the Huskers completely owned him. He only completed 4 of 20 passes and was picked a couple times.

When they met again in the bowl game it was much the same. Again he only completed 5 of 16 for just a bit over 50 yards. He did hurt the Huskers running the ball and the Huskers were completely unable to do anything on offense and lost ... but the Blackshirt defense saw locker twice and both times made him look like a high school QB trying to play college ball.

Hope the kid does well in the NFL ... but against Nebraska he didn't come close to living up to the hype...

Jeremy Patrick said...

I haven't watched college football in years, but I'm sure it would change my perception of a lot of players . . .

Steve - an Av in Nebr said...

I love my Husker football ... don't know what I'd do without it. It's a slightly distant second to hockey for me but far outweighs the NFL...

Nebraska this year could go either way. Martinez's biggest knock against him was his passing style (it was horrid, no question) so in the summer he went and paid for teaching on it and his first game he looked MUCH better and the offense looked really good. The defense though didn't look as strong and I worry a bit about that. Just last year we lost Denard, one of the better defensive backs in Nebraska in years, Crick who was a poor man's Suh, and David who was an incredible all over the field roming guy. Those were three BIG losses and the defense will have its work cut out for them in the Big10 this year...